Jackson turns 12!

 Well, I'm not quite sure how it happened, but Jackson is now 12 years old!

We drove home from the Meine's cabin on his birthday and celebrated by going out to dinner to the his choice, Umami. The kids love it because you grill your own food right on your table. We headed home after for cake and presents.

Jackson had a birthday party with his friends the following weekend. We rented out a movie theater for he and his friends and watched the movie "Shazam!" Afterward, we brought the boys to our house for pizza and games. It was easy and low key and I think the boys had a lot of fun. I was impressed by how much these growing boys can eat! The teens are definitely right around the corner!

 

Jackson's 12-year questionnaire:

A few other notes about Jackson at 12 years old:

-Continues to love reading and is reading at an 11th grade level (he's in 6th grade) according to his teacher and the testing at school.

-Loves basketball and has made huge strides this year in confidence and play

-Loves lacrosse and did awesome this past year-- often scoring multiple goals per game

-Is having fun serving on student council

-Was ordained a deacon by his dad at the beginning of the year and is enjoying being in Young Mens

-Responsible, hard working, and dedicated

-Social and loves hanging out with his friends, but is ok being a homebody sometimes too

-Has really gotten into skiing this year and has confidence to go pretty much anywhere on the mountain

New Year's cabin trip

Our annual New Year's Eve trip to the Meines' cabin was awesome, as usual!  Sledding, games, and yummy food always make it such a fun trip. 

Apparently Jackson and Eric were sledding down together and didn't quite make a corner and went flying off the edge. Jackson hit a tree and got the wind knocked out of him, but lived to tell the tale and was back to sledding in no time. Davis also ran into a random, bent metal pole on the side of the road that nearly impaled him. It somehow slid down the collar of his coat and he was hanging from the pole! He could have really been hurt but thankfully he just had a pretty nasty scratch to show for it. Usually sledding isn't quite so eventful!

Cassidy started a new tradition with a this giant candle holder she has where you pick two candles and light them while saying one thing you were grateful for in the past year, and one of your goals for the upcoming year. It was so cool and so fun to hear everyone's responses. 2020 definitely was not a normal year for any of us, but it was neat to hear everyone's responses. 

We made it to midnight and the kids banged on their pots and pans on the patio. We're looking forward to 2021!

Christmas 2020

This year on Christmas Eve we decided to go to Top Golf. We met the Heinholds there and went and got lunch nearby while we waited for our bays to open up. Our kids (besides Jackson) had never been before and they loved it! I think this is something that may become tradition!

Christmas Eve

Molly looked so cute dressed up on Christmas Eve. I had to take her picture and document it.

 We were laughing because Charlie kept howling while I was trying to take her picture.

Per tradition, the kids each opened one gift on Christmas Eve from their nana and papa. The boys were excited about their new Hess trucks and Molly loved the building blocks she received.

We always track Santa online on Christmas Eve and I had to take a picture because this year Santa was wearing a mask!

Davis scattering his reindeer food he brought home from school.

Santa came!

Christmas Day

 

Everyone was excited Santa came! We spent the morning unwrapping gifts and everyone seemed very happy with the gifts they received. This year, Santa surprised us by leaving a note that said to look downstairs. The kids screamed and ran downstairs and found a new fooseball table and were so excited!

Molly was very excited about her gifts. Her main requests were a pink Kindle, play dough, and an umbrella. She has been asking for an umbrella for a very long time. I thought she'd likely forget about it, but she didn't and I think it was one of her favorite gifts!

Davis was excited to get an interactive Mario Lego set and Hot Wheels Criss-Cross-Crash. 

Bode was so happy about his new BB gun!

and Jackson was really excited about his new Harry Potter clock tower Lego set.

The kids were all happy to get their very own Saranoni blankets. 

I always love a good aftermath picture.

My parents drove down on Christmas in the afternoon and had Christmas dinner with us and I am so glad. It's nice having more than just our family to cook a fancy dinner for and nice to be with them for Christmas. Dinner turned out so well this year with way less hiccups than last year! The gravy wasn't ruined and the prime rib never fell on the floor this year, haha! I'm grateful for another awesome holiday season with my family.