January Happenings

January, as usual, was not too eventful, but we had fun nonetheless getting back to a normal routine and enjoying time together. 

With church from 2-5pm, we had to come up with some ways to keep the Sabbath day holy in the morning; Looking at books at the library on a day off from school.

   

We’ve had some beautiful sunsets; The boys like the new Light Bright our neighbors gave us.

   

Camille and Bryce came for a quick visit when Bryce found out he had to do inventory in Portland over the weekend.  We’re always glad to have visitors!

              

Asher with his buddies post-nap; Sad Asher as he waits for his monthly RSV shot.

 

Post-shot ice cream cheered everyone up!

 

James wanted to build a tower taller than me; Looking at books at the library after story time; Asher is learning young to clear his own dish.

   

An Asher selfie during a car ride; Davis at school with his good buddy Luke; Going on a run with the jogging stroller for the first time.

Asher protecting the family; Some superheroes jumping on the trampoline; Asher looking way to grown up on his scooter!

   

Pinewood Derby

This year, Landon found a little more complicated design for his pinewood derby car, but he and Shane went to work and soon had created a pretty cool car.  Things seemed to go a big smoother this year, but maybe we just knew what to expect this time around.

   

Landon wanted to decorate his car in Oregon Duck colors this year.

   

The night of the race:

      

This was Shane’s last pack meeting as Cub Master.  It’s been fun having him in there with Landon.

  

Landon led the flag ceremony at the end of the pack meeting.  He got 2nd place this year.  His car turned out pretty cool he thought!

     

La Fête des Rois (Three Kings Day)

Today, we celebrated our final activity of the Christmas season with our yearly French Epiphany celebration.  I made a galette des rois, complete with a fève inside shaped like the baby Jesus in the manger.  James went under the table to say who each piece was for.  This is probably his last year with this job since Asher should be old enough next year.  James was excited to find the fève in his piece and to be crowned king for the evening.

I didn’t notice James’s face when I was taking the picture. 

     

Asher wanted to try out the crown too:

New Year’s Eve

For New Year’s Eve, the kids spent the morning playing and trying out some of their new Christmas toys – especially the Legos and Maggie’s cash register.  For dinner, they were excited to eat pizza and drink mini root beers. 

   

After dinner, my mom had a piñata for them, so they each took turns with the bat.  Asher had a moment of sadness right as it was his turn for some reason, but he came out of it and ended up hitting the piñata a couple of times.  James took such a good swing at it that we had to have the others only have one quick hit because all the candy was falling out already. 

       

After the piñata, we turned out the lights for our traditional New Year’s Eve glow stick dance party.  The kids love dancing around with glow sticks around their ankles, around their wrists, in their hands, etc.  They also love having a circle, where they each get to go in the middle of show off their dance moves.  It’s pretty fun to watch them all dance.

 

The kids finished off the celebrations by watching the ball drop live in New York (9 p.m. our time), popping some poppers, throwing around some confetti, and drinking some Martinellis.

   

Once the kids got to bed, we had a fun evening relaxing in the hot tub while my dad unsuccessfully tried to take a selfie of all of us in there while we all just laughed hysterically at his attempts.  We then played a competitive boys against girls came of Cranium, in which the girls lost despite their significant lead, and the followed by watching the ball drop again, some Martenillis, and some New Year’s kisses.  Happy New Year!