Christmas Festivities

The Nutcracker

Even though we've lived in WA for almost 6 years now, and we've seen The Nutcracker quite a few times, we've never seen PNB's Nutcracker.  So this year, Jordan and I went.  It was amazing!  Getting Jordan to pose for a picture was NOT amazing.

Decorating the House

I absolutely love decorating for Christmas, but I think it took me an entire week to finally get it all done.  Summer and the girls were eager to help...Tyson and Mike, not so much.

Baking

Seems like I never quite get all the baking done that I plan to.  This year, the Pula got forgotten.  But Mike got his Nanaimo bars and Summer got to decorate sugar cookies.  And the girls did their baking extravaganza with their friends.

(Can you tell which ones Summer made?)

Christmas Sunday

One of my very favorite days of the year!

 "Bishop" had to stay late...even on Christmas Sunday, so we got a picture of the two of us when he got home.

Lights

We only managed to get a couple of us at Evergreen lights this year, BUT...we made up for it by taking the whole family to Zoolights.  Too bad it was POURING rain the entire time (only in Seattle is the zoo completely packed full of people looking at lights in the pouring rain).  But it was a pretty great display and Summer was so excited to see a tiger and sharks!!  

 

Preschool Performance
It's nice to have a little kid Christmas concert to go to again!!  Summer walked in with her tongue sticking out, they sang so many cute songs, then when it was over some kid yelled "what about the cake"--hahaha.   They all wore crowns that said "Happy Birthday Jesus" so I guess she hadn't been to a birthday party without cake!  I love that she goes to a church preschool...even if it isn't our church.

Here she is with her best friend Dana...I should have taken one with her other best friend Antone as well.

Thanksgiving 2018

It was a low-key Thanksgiving this year, but I loved it!

They did a "feast" in preschool that consisted of chicken nuggets and pumpkin pie...and I'm not sure what else;)

Had to make the brownie trifle...a family favorite for sure!

I used Grandma Winters' old cookie jar for our thankful jar this year...I think I should make that a tradition.  

 Our table looked beautiful.

 I snapped a picture of the turkey before I put it on the nice plate...but boy does it still look delicious!!

President Nelson at Safeco

We were lucky enough to have our Prophet, President Nelson travel to Washtington to speak at Safeco field in Seattle!!

There were enormous lines, blocks of walking in the pouring rain, crazy crowds, terrible seats, busy parking lots and major traffic jams...but totally worth it.

The most memorable part for me was standing and singing "We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet" while President Nelson walked off the field.  Grateful to have a prophet today and to hear him speak in person is extra special.

JV Volleyball

Last year when Kya was a freshman, she decided to try out for the HS Volleyball team.  Even though she played in middle school, we had no idea how competitive North Creek High School would be.  She made the C team (developmental team) and we were all thrilled.  She had a great season, played really well and made lots of new friends.  But after the season ended, most of the girls continued on to play Club but Kya didn't.  The reasons for not playing were many:  she didn't want to play volleyball every day all year round, all teams had either games or practices on Sunday and it was super expensive...like $3000+ expensive!

So when tryouts came around this summer, we weren't sure if Kya could even make the C team.  Well, she surprised us all and made JV!!!  And her C team coach moved up to coach JV, so Kya was really excited.  The girls had a great season!  Kya didn't get to play that much because she was one of the new kids, but she did really well and had a great time (except when she sprained her finger-ouch).  Once again though we opted not to do club....so we'll see what happens next year!  Hopefully, she'll get at least one more year.

Little Baby Blackberry

I was sitting at a restaurant in Mt. Vernon with Ginny when I got a text from Mike "Little Baby Red is dead"

Little Baby Red (Kiki) was Kya's hamster, but Summer really LOVED her, and claimed her as her own.  She played with her almost every day.  She was going to be devastated.  Well, turns out being able to pick out her very own new hamster was just what Summer needed to...um...forget Baby Red ever existed?  Yeah, she was a little too happy. 

So back in September (I forgot to post) we welcomed Little Baby Blackberry into our family--Summer's very own hamster (which means Mom gets to clean the cage every week-ugh).   

Look how happy she is!!

Halloween 2018

We had everyone dress up this year (to some degree) for either the ward party, friends party, trick or treating or BOTH!

We found this Rapunzel dress at Auntie Lisa's house (that Grandma made for Alaina a few years ago) and it was so beautiful and fit Summer perfectly.  And when Summer said she would wear it for Halloween (she usually hates wearing dresses and prefers animal or firefighter costumes), I snatched the opportunity to dress her up like a princess.  She even let Jordan put some makeup on her. 

This is the gang (minus Tyson who had a tennis match--which his school took first place in and Tyson won the final match to put his school on top--too bad I missed it because I was running a booth at the ward party) all ready for the ward Trunk or Treat!

  Jordan had a Halloween costume party with friends.  She wore the sundress I bought for my Arizona trip back in 1999.

Kya and her friends dressed up like Hula girls for their party.  They were adorable.

Tyson and Summer all dressed up for trick or treating.  Summer informed me the day before Halloween that she couldn't wear the same costume that she wore to the party for trick or treating, so I searched for a Cheetah costume last minute.  We did the best we could....she was actually thrilled with the leopard print unitard:)

So for some reason, Summer was more afraid of trick or treating this year.  She refused to knock on any door and would only go to houses that had left the candy in a bowl on the porch.  Very frustrating for Mom and Dad...and a lot less fun too.

Tyson went trick or treating with some friends from church.  He came home with SO MUCH candy, it made up for Summer's small haul (which was actually the perfect amount for her)

3 Teenagers in the House

Tyson is now THIRTEEN!!  

He's taller than his sisters.

He loves Fortnight...and all video games

He solves the rubics cube (all sorts of types and sizes)

He is working toward his Eagle Scout

He currently has straight As in 8th grade

He is friendly, fun, and a good friend

He is growing up...but still gets teased by his sisters endlessly

We sure do love Tyson and all that he brings to our family.

 

I arranged to pick up Dylan (who moved to Portland 3 years ago but Tyson still considers him one of his best friends) to surprise Tyson for his birthday.  After I pulled him out of school and told him we were going on a two-hour drive, he kind of figured it out.  But the boys had such a good time hanging out for the whole weekend.

Bishop Emonts

Big shocker for the Emonts family this September.  

Mike was called to be the Bishop of our ward!

 (Bro Richins (Stake 2nd Counselor), Royce Riddle (1st Counselor), Mike, Scott Pope (2nd Counselor), President Williams (Stake President))