December and the week of the Brown's

It has been a while since we posted, however we have been busy and we let it slide. Here are the things that we remember:

On last Friday the kids were invited to a sleepover at Grandpa Craig and Grandma Julie's house with Ellie, Aelfric, and Victoria. They also got to see a play too. The play was "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever", which we like a lot.

They came straight from the play to Grandma Sheila and Papa Mike's house on Saturday to go to the Giving Machine. This is a new tradition, where Papa and Grandma give each family a certain amount of money to donate to different causes. We chose ducks, a garden, and polio vaccines. Then we walked around Temple Square to see the lights and then got cookies at the Deseret Book across the street. Our family parked at the edge of the free fare zone and took the train downtown and back, which the kids loved. They're always excited for train rides. It was a very fun evening.

Sunday we had a Brown family dinner. All of Papa Mike and Grandma Sheila's kids were there - Heather, Dan, Sheila, Amy, and Mike. It's been a long time since we've all been together, and it was wonderful

After eating we went to see Max at the treatment center he's in. We brought sugar cookies to decorate and played Uno and had fun.

Sheila offered to help us make moccasins, so most of the week we sat around the dining room table and worked with leather. Most of Monday was working on Heather and Clancy's, since they had to leave Monday night. Our family ended up with two pairs of custom moccasins for Gideon, so he'll actually have some shoes to fit his feet. It was a lot of work, but we're glad to know how to do it in the future - Sheila gave us a pattern so we can make more. Rea is making herself a pair as well, but it's not quite done.

Rea and Sara got to go with Sheila and Olivia to the Clever Octopus and to the fabric store. (Sheila made a bunch of clothes for Rea, and now she's going to make some for Sara too.) They had lots of fun. Alison spent the time trying to figure out some new options for math in the new year. Sara is going to have to learn new math skills to solve problems in recipes so that she can cook them; hopefully that will motivate her to work on it. Mike and Gideon and Timmy and the Plastow boys spent a lot of time playing Terraria. They are working together as a team and have beaten three bosses already.

Wednesday Grandma Sheila helped the kids paint treasure boxes and then gave them some things to fill it, including a special rock that glows under a black light, and tiny black light flashlights. The kids were very excited.

Thursday was the last day Dan and Leah were here, so we had Christmas that day. We made traditional Toy eggrolls and acted out the Nativity and had a wonderful time.

Speaking of Dan and Leah, Thursday was when they announced their engagement. We are thrilled! Leah is wonderful and we all love her. (She and Dan also have excellent taste in rings. :P) They don't have wedding a date yet, but we're excited for them.

On Friday we went over to the Brown's house again because Grandpa Mike invited Mike over to make a knife. It took Mike a few hours to make it, and it came out pretty good. The knife that he made was made for the purpose of hunting mushrooms and he used the idea of cutting mushrooms from the forest floor to guide his design decisions. It ended up very strong and with a shorter blade than others of the boys that made knives. Mike is happy with it.

Saturday was Christmas eve. We stayed home and cleaned up the house in preparation for Christmas. Alison also made a lot of hints for the hiding of the Christmas presents. We had roast beef for dinner, which was excellent. Mike and the kids also played more Terraria

On Christmas we opened our presents and then played a bit before going to Church. Mike made apple dumplings which turned out really good this time.

Boo really liked her Eeveeloution pokemon, and she also loved eating all of her candy and stuff in her stocking.

Gideon loved his fluffy plush squid and also pokemon let's go pikachu.

Timmy loved Spore the most, and he has already adapted himself to be able to dance.

Sara really liked her gumball machine, her doll, and her books, and she is also excited the be able to play with the new neighbors, who are moving in right now, and seem really cool.

Rea is really excited about her new books, her gardening tools and the stationary and writing things that she got, but she is also playing with the neighbors, so she is excited about that as well.

Alison really is looking forward to Mike installing the new whole home humidifier that she got for Christmas.

Mike is the most excited about the new ram that he got for his computer. He is also excited to have a week off from work. Hopefully he gets a lot done during it, and also relaxes too.

Rocket got some gifts too, but he didn't really like any of them. Who knows why? He did like cuddling with all of us in the living room as we played with our presents, however.

It was a good Christmas.