Snowy New Year!

We woke up New Year's morning to snow! A rare occurrence here in the desert, the kids were in heaven. Unfortunately our sprinklers came on for maybe a minute before I got them turned off so it was extra wet snow.

Annie decided the best snowman to make in this case would be a Calvin and Hobbes inspired snowman:

 Megan didn't realize that snow was wet. She got bundled up and lasted ok for a while. Once we got good gloves on her.

 Annie eagerly ran upstairs for her "Arizona sled" aka laundry basket.

 Jacob became the pack animal and gave all the kids a sled ride.

 Inside looking out at the snow while they thaw out.

 After some fun in the backyard, Jacob hurried out to the desert near our house to snap some pictures of the snowy desert. It was really wet snow (even without sprinklers to help) and made for some really neat pictures:

Our neighbor across the street texted me a picture of our house dusted so prettily in snow.

 After the kids had recovered and dried some of their gloves and shoes we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Knight's to play in their snow.

 The kids made a decent snowman but they didn't like my idea of using the Olaf hat we have for the actual face.

 We got some rocks and a carrot and sticks and they had their snowman.

 Then Rachel made one more mini snowman:

 When I went inside to get them ready to head home they were all huddled in front of the space heater soaking up the heat.

 The next morning we woke up to even more snow than the day before. You can see my huge tomato plants covered in the background. They have survived the freezes and I wouldn't be surprised if we have no more freezes this winter. There are so many green tomatoes slowly ripening. We'll be rolling in the fresh tomatoes in a month or so, unless we do end up with a harder freeze.

 The kids jumped right in, except Ryan, who woke up with his fever going up. A little ibuprofen and he couldn't be kept inside a half hour later. Rachel made a super tall snowman which collapsed. She managed to rebuild it, but not quite as tall. It lasted 3 days in the back yard.

 Annie's snowman:

 We went over to Grandma's again to make sure her snow didn't go to waste.

 Megan enjoyed jumping on the trampoline with the snow.

 On the way to take Ryan to the doctor, the desert was too beautiful to not snap a picture.

 A mile down the road the snow was almost nonexistent. Much of Tucson didn't see any or much snow at all. We were lucky to get a decent amount two days in a row.

Back at home yesterday the kids pulled out the new paints and canvases they got from Grandma for Christmas.

I forgot to get a picture of their finished products. Maybe we'll remember soon...

Christmas break

The week after Christmas we had lots of fun playing some of our new games, watching more movies, shows and football than we normally watch in a month, and spending quality family time. The kids were super eager to hit the after Christmas sales at Walgreens to get a few of the toys they had been eyeing, but knew would soon be on sale. They all got foam play-dough type stuff and came home and enjoyed playing with them for a good long while.

Rachel made a giraffe.

Two days after Christmas we went to the temple and let the kids hang out outside with Rachel in charge while Jacob and I did some baptisms and confirmations. It was the first time in our marriage that we've done that together. And next time we'll take Rachel along.

After the temple we went to Chick Fil-A for lunch, then headed to the Planetarium at the U of A to put our membership to good use.

As usual, we all enjoyed the puzzles and games and the mineral museum.

That was our one family outing over break. The next day Ryan came back from playing at Grandma's complaining that his back hurt and didn't feel well. And thus began his week long fever. We thought it was the same thing his cousins came down with because they had back pain to start and it started at the same time. After pretty high fevers Saturday and Sunday we took him in to the minute clinic at CVS where they tested him for the flu. It came back negative and she thought it was weird to have that high of a fever for a virus that wasn't the flu, but couldn't think of anything else, as he had no other symptoms. We kept him on Tylenol and Ibuprofen the next few days and took him in to his regular doctor the day after New Years where we found out his strep had returned AND he had a urinary tract infection. We got some antibiotics and got them started, but he still had the fevers going strong until two days later we got the results from the culture that had been sent to the lab and got switched to an antibiotic that the bacteria would respond to. He was fever free by the end of the day. Finally. A full week after the fever had started. The doctor said his white blood cell counts were up above 250, where anything over 5 is a flag and indicates infection. I'm so glad to have him finally feeling better.
The kids, however, loved that Ryan was sick because it meant they could watch way more TV and movies than they otherwise would have. Besides TV, we played lots of games, finished two puzzles, and cleaned up Christmas and read lots of books.

One of the puzzles Ryan got for me for Christmas:

Driving back from Grandma and Grandpa Knight's house sometimes the kids move to different seats since it's in the neighborhood and we don't go on any main streets. They thought it was hilarious that the only seat they left for Jacob to sit in was Ryan's booster.

When I went to put away all our Christmas decorations I noticed this awesome procession to visit the baby Jesus.

If you'll notice, third in line Baby Jesus from a different nativity is waiting to see Little People Baby Jesus. :D

Megan became super biker last week. She's been pretty good at riding her bike, just needing help to get started for a while. While Jacob and I were packing up the outside Christmas decorations Megan took the initiative to learn how to start on her own. She now rides like a pro and has better endurance than her older siblings.

She asks multiple times a day if we can go on a bike ride. And now going to Grandma's house is even faster since we can ride instead of walk.

Sunday we had a FHE lesson talking about the upcoming study for the new year and how the kids could get more out of scripture study. One of the ways was to write down what they're learning and the promptings the get while reading. We gave them their own scripture journal, then on New Year's Eve, since Ryan was still sick and we were looking for something to do, we went over to Grandma's house and borrowed her washi tape and duct tape and brought them back to fancy up their scripture journals with.

Later that evening before bed we did pop-its and sparklers and the most delicious Apple Mango Martinelli's to celebrate the New Year.

Megan spent most of the time yelling about her Happy New Year hat and blower being pink--she wanted one pink, one blue, but Ryan already had used the blue blower and couldn't share, since he was still feverish. The rest of the kids had fun, anyway.

It had been a great 2018. Here's to a great 2019! Happy New Year!

Christmas

We had so much fun on Christmas Eve with Peyton and McKenzie we forgot to take pictures. They had stayed over night the night before, Peyton at our house with Megan and Ryan, and Rachel, Annie, and McKenzie at Grandma's house. Then Christmas Eve they went back and forth between the two houses until we ended up at Grandma's for dinner and our traditional acting out of the Nativity story. The acting was rather mediocre this year. We video chatted with the Seattle Knights and opened cousin presents, which was exciting for all, then headed home to open our Christmas PJs.

 This year we all got matching PJ pants. So Megan is set with plaid PJ pants for the next 6 years or so as she moves through the different sizes.

After a movie we put the kids to bed and they all actually slept relatively well for Christmas Eve. Rachel came in at 5am to tell me she couldn't go back to sleep. Annie and Ryan kept to the rule we had established to not come out until at least 6am. We finally had to wake up Megan at 6:45 when the kids couldn't wait to open presents anymore.

 They were all excited about their poofy emoji stuffies and the exciting stuff they got in their stockings.

 Grandma came over to join in the excitement of Christmas morning.

 Megan was pretty excited about her new Pete the Cat books. And especially excited about the box they came in that she plans to use as a lunchbox at preschool.

 Ryan has been wanting a suit for months and finally got one he's excited to wear to church.

 Jacob got a rocking camp chair. Along with the huge easy-up tent I found nearly brand new at Goodwill for a family present, he will have a pretty cushy camping experience next time we go.

 Megan has been wanting her own jean jacket for months and is so happy to have one of her own now. She gets excited every time we are heading out and I get it down for her to wear.

The aftermath of the present carnage:

 We headed over to Grandma's for Christmas dinner and more presents to open. And again, we were so caught up in the excitement I hardly remembered to take pictures.

 The kids were very excited to get new paints and paintbrushes and canvases to paint on and have already put them to use. The kids all said this was the best Christmas ever. Emoji guys, lego sets, nerf guns, My Life Doll accessories, baby doll accessories, a Hatchimal, and games and lots of family time. It was a fabulous Christmas.