New Years Eve

We hosted our annual New Years Eve party this year. We had some yummy brisket and lots of food. Unfortunately Russ' traeger wouldn't ignite and so we asked Scott to smoke the brisket at about 11 pm the night before. Also, I decorated so cute and the other families just let their kids destroy the decorations. I was mad about it but pretended I didn't care. The families kids were out of control. One kid had our plunger at one point and was walking around with it. Another kid stole a permanent marker and drew on our walls. One kid had a gross runny nose and cough. Overall it might take me a whole year before I'll want to host again. Maybe not ever again with those same families.  

Kids

 Christmas Sunday picture

Winter has been weird in that we have had almost no snow. There was a teeny bit of snow on the groud and Hallie and Taco went and built the tiniest snowman.

Family dinner date to Porcupine with the Naylors

Stockton and Flora

All the Nickle cousins together to see Zootopia 2. 

Breck, Emerson, Xander, Lachlan, Hallie, Pratt, Elsa

Stockton, Brooks, Zeke, Mia

Organizing their basketball cards. Russ says this activity brings him back to his childhood. I was never into sports cards as a kid and it surprises me how much entertainment it has brought for my kids.

Brooks

Brooks and his love for his mullet is growing strong. My hate for his mullet matches that strength. Haha. I braided it this month just to see what it would look like. Surprisingly I liked it better braided. He also loves basketball and in particularly "dunking." He gets in trouble often for hanging on our hoops but apparently he can't resist the urge to do so. He put a pretty hilarious sign on our front door that said, "It stinks. Don't come in. Someone farted." 

Christmas

Christmas was magical as they say. Our kids are at such fun ages. Russ and I have been looking forward to Christmas for awhile now knowing what each kid was going to get. They all absolutely loved their gifts and there was not one complaint that they "wished they would have gotten such and such." Hallie even said, "This is the best Christmas ever." Win!

Hallie: Tickets to The World Cup in Kansas City!! These tickets cost a fortune but boy am I excited for her to go and experience this with Russ. They are going to 2 matches, one of which is Messi's team, and staying at The Great Wolf Lodge. She also got "how to draw mythical creatures" books, a lego set, bracelet making kit and soccer/basketball cards.

Brooks: Trip to Texas to see 2 NBA games (Mavericks vs. Warriors and Mavericks vs. Lakers). He will get to see so many big name AllStars. Russ and he will also stay at The Great Wolf Lodge. He also got a camcorder (he loves to record himself playing basketball and pretend he has his own "YouTube" channel), basketball cards, giant fat head of Michael Jordan, and 2 NBA hats and an NBA book.

Stockton: Stockton got Jazz tickets to see the Warriors (Steph Curry) play in Salt Lake City. It will be just him and Russ that go and he felt pretty special about that. He also got a runaway basketball hoop, a new bike, basketball cards, and an over-the-door basketball hoop.

Hallie gave the boys a "scavenger hunt" for the boys from Santa. It was really thoughtful and cute. At the end of the scavenger hunt, they each got a treat. She also put hand drawn pictures in their stockings as well.

Daddy gifts: Russ gave each of the kids Nike slides. Hallie and Brooks love them but Taco refuses to wear them. So we returned his. Russ also gave everyone a new blanket for the year. One of my favorite gifts. 

Family gift: Tickets to the Harlem Globtrotters

We blocked the stairs so the kids couldn't peek through the night. We both really wanted to see their reaction to their "Santa" gifts. We made a little doggy door for Rosie.