New Years, Dance Recital, Rose Bowl, Snow, Oral Surgeon Evaluation, Family Fun

We had a low key New Year’s Eve celebration.  We were going to meet up with some friends, but it fell through.  Earlier in the evening while Sarah and Daniel were with us we all played the Switch for a bit:

We had some yummy snacky food, too--brookies, mozzarella sticks, taquitos and a veggie tray:

We also finished this puzzle we had all been working on throughout the week:

Sarah and Daniel eventually left to go hang out with friends.  That left me, Noah and Matthew.  Aaron was out of town for a few days so he wasn’t around.  Matthew only lasted until about 10:30 pm before he went to bed.  The rest of the evening it was just Noah and me.

At midnight we celebrated by banging some pots and pans together outside:

Then had a toast with some sparkling apple cider:

It ended up snowing all that night.  The next evening Daniel and Matthew were around to help clear the snow off the porch, driveway and sidewalks which was nice:

Matthew is such a social guy and LOVES talking to EVERYONE.  I am still wondering how he could be my child since I am the exact opposite--haha! Anyway, anytime any of our neighbors would come outside he would run over to talk and start helping them shovel whether they wanted the help or not.  I don’t know how much help he actually was, but he tried.  I finally had to call him back inside because he was a bit too helpful and ended up getting in the way--haha!  He has great intentions, though.

Sophie is a very food motivated dog.  It doesn’t matter what anyone is eating if she sees you eating she will be right there with you until you finish it hoping for a scrap.  She didn’t get anything from this candy cane, but it wasn’t from a lack of trying and staring:

Daniel is HOPING to pass the 6’ height barrier.  It isn’t looking good....He thought he had grown taller than Aaron so he wanted to measure this past week.  Aaron is a bit over 6’ so being taller than him is the ultimate goal.  Too bad the results weren’t what Daniel wanted.  My extended family’s short genes are strong with him--haha!

Over New Years Aaron got the chance to go with a friend, Blaine, to the Rose Bowl in California to see the University of Utah Utes football team play.  There were some big snow storms coming in so they ended up leaving earlier than they had originally planned to avoid those storms on the way down.  They left the afternoon of Saturday December 31.  They spent that night in Saint George.  They got up early the next morning and drove to Pasadena, California where the Rose Bowl was going to happen.  The next day they got up early and went to the tailgating parties before the game.  They had a great seats at the Rose Bowl by the 45th yard line.  Here’s their vantage point:

The football game was great for the first half then the Utes struggled during the second half and ended up losing which was too bad.

They did get to see the Blimp floating around in the sky:

It was a lot warmer (55 degrees) there than here (25 degrees) despite the rain they were having.

After the game they spent one more night in California and drove home all the next day Tuesday, January 3.  Aaron had a fun time and was glad to be able to go.  Hopefully, Blaine had fun, too.

Daniel and a bunch of friends thought it was funny to buy a bunch of wife beater tank tops.  They then showed up to see Daniel at work and took a picture of everyone in their wife beater tanks. Daniel was wearing his under his shirt so he was prepared--haha!  They then got themselves some free pizza--one of the perks of working at Little Caesar’s.  Daniel is in the center of the picture with the tan pants on:

December 27th the Chicago Mission had its first ever Spanish Conference.  They were lucky enough to have Elder Coombs, their area 70, and Brother Littlefield who is their mission specialist come and speak to them.  It was to instruct and inspire the Spanish missionaries to work more effectively with their Latino friends. The Mission President and Companion posted this picture of those in attendance.  It wasn’t hard to spot Josh and his companion.  They definitely stick out or should I say up--haha!  They are the two tallest on the back row:

During the Christmas/New Year’s break we did some fun things.  We went bowling and ice skating.  I also took the kids swimming at the Bountiful Rec Center which was fun.  I also had to work one of the days so the kids got to veg and not do anything that day while I was gone.  They didn’t mind that.

During the break Daniel also got to get evaluated by an oral surgeon since it is time for him to get his Wisdom Teeth out.  He’s pretty nervous about it, but I am sure he will be fine.  He got evaluated and will be getting them out next month.  Fun times--not really, but what can you do?!

Sarah had her dance recital Tuesday night.  It was fun to watch her perform.  She was in four dances.  Here’s the Plants vs. Zombies dance:

Her ballet point dance:

Portal dance:

Mario Kart dance:

Her team:

Here’s her head shot for the program:

I forgot to get a picture before she left for the recital so I grabbed one after she got home:

We were glad that Grandma T was able to come and watch:

Sarah also had the chance to perform at a few skilled nursing care facilities last week and has another performance tonight.

Sophie is not only food motivated, but is a snuggler, too.  She sleeps in her kennel every night, but as soon as she is let out in the morning she comes to get loves by anyone who is awake.  This morning it was me and she jumped on my bed to get pets. She is not allowed on my bed most the time, but she got a pass this morning.