Deer Valley

 A long time ago, in a land so far away that frozen water falls from the sky, the Packers went skiing.

But first they saw family and ate delicious food.

Because that's the meaning of life, is it not?

The 3 bigs loved the first morning at Matt and Melissa's where they got to play out in the snow for an hour or so.

Ben, he was not as impressed with the cold.

Then the skiing thing happened...

Ethan and Greg have matching long underoos, which brought out "real smile" in Ethan that we rarely see in photos anymore.

The bigs took their first ever cousin selfie.

After the first day, I was getting a recap with Drew and he got a very worried look on his face and said, "Mom! I don't think I got a picture with Anna in our ski stuff!"

I made sure to make that happen the next day. Cause I'm amazing like that.

Sunday was a day of friends. We have been so so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives. The fact that a lot of them live in Utah now so we can see them when we visit makes it so much more wonderful!

LOTS of cozying up by this fire.

The very last night, Alissa's parents invited us up for some sledding and chili. We were all pretty beat and really weren't sure that we were up for it, but we knew it would be fun so we went for it. I think it was the highlight of the trip for all 3 kiddos. (Even Ethan, who took a face plant into the slide at the bottom of the hill. One of those oops parenting moments that may require therapy in his later years). I had to force Drew down the first time, but he did not want to stop. It was so so fun.

I'm telling you, food and family. It makes the world go round.

And speaking of food, the Cafe Rio at the airport has breakfast. Yep. We did that.

Christmas

Oh boy, did we have a good Christmas this year. 

My very favorite thing about this year was a 25 days of Christ advent calendar that my mom gave us. It has a scripture that we read, usually a story, we watch the corresponding Bible video, and then read a passage about that day. 25 days leading up to Christmas took us through the birth, life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. There was certainly a lot of baking, presents, and overall merriment that went on, but it was so nice coming back to the scriptures each night to talk about the reason for the season.

Of course I don't have a single picture of any of it. But here's what I do have:

let's see if I get this right: "I want a Lego Star Wars Ship that something something something and shoots out the side."

Greg: I believe that model has been discontinued

Drew: Santa can do it.

And what do you know? He did!

"Roller Blades"

"XBox with Madden"

"Please don't surprise us this year with another dog. We already have one. Thanks, though"

Ethan has been saving since the beginning of the summer for a new bike. The deal was: he earns $100, we'll pay the rest. He was really close when school let out for Christmas,  so he was extra laundering, dishing, and dog poop picking like it was his job. 3 days before Santa came, he got to go on a date with Greg to pick out his new wheels. Thankfully, we had Benny to inspect. 

I didn't think it was fair for Ethan to do all this work, and Drew slide in for the leftovers, so we made him pay Ethan $10 for his bike. 

Last year, on Christmas Eve, Kate lost a tooth, which meant that the Tooth Fairy and Santa came on the same night. The whole crew thought it was the coolest thing, so when early December came and a tooth was found wiggling, Ethan held on with all his might, and December 24th rolled around and let it go. Double magic happened again. Think we can have a three-peat?

I know. Ben's not in any of these pics. I'm a jerk.

When Drew stops smiling like a weirdo, I will cry my eyeballs out. 

Oh, there he is!

Kate loves making presents for the boys. She embroidered a little car scene for Drew and made Pokemon cards for Ethan- colored, cut and laminated. They both were extremely appreciative and she was so happy. 

I really scored on a couple gifts this year. One was these bow and arrows. They're really fun- even for Greg and me!

The other was sweet MaryEllen. Kate had originally wanted to ask Santa for her, but I told her she already had an American Girl doll, and to ask for something else. When that something else turned out to be something really small and she was so sweet about accepting my answer, I couldn't resist but to bring out the big guns. By golly, she was excited. 

And once Kate saw how cool Ethan's new bike was, she laundered, washed, and dog poop picked up her way to a new bike as well.

We had a wonderful after Christmas with beautiful weather where we enjoyed each other, new toys and games, and lots of treats.

Unfortunately, the state of Texas still thinks my kids need to go to school, so I sent them back like a good citizen. But I didn't want to.