Jackson's 10th birthday

This awesome kid entered double digits and turned 10! He had a great birthday this year. When we got home from the Meines' cabin, we drove up to Salt Lake and ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (his choice). We had a bit of a wait, so while Sean and the other kids parked the car, Jackson and I walked around the stores for a few minutes. As we passed a sports store, Jackson saw a city edition Donovan Mitchell jersey he had been wanting for a  really long time. He didn't know this, but Sean and I have been putting him off on getting one because Sean was able to get a signed Donovan city jersey through work and we were just waiting til his birthday to give it to him! Anyway, I think he was surprised when I said, "Sure! Let's go see if they have your size." We went in, and sure enough they did. I bought it for him and figured he could have one to wear and one to frame and put on his wall. 

Dinner was great and we headed home for cake and presents. He opened the signed jersey and was SO excited. It was really fun giving it to him because we knew how much he would like it. 

This toffee loving boy requested "better than what" cake (chocolate cake with caramel, sweetened condensed milk, whipped cream, and toffee bits)

Jackson is such a great kid. I think all of the time about how I feel like even as his parent, I learn so much from his example. I'll forever be grateful for this boy. 

A few notes on Jackson: 

-He is still a HUGE reader and it isn't uncommon for him to read a decent-sized chapter book in a day. He re-reads books all the time. He also scored the highest score in his entire school (not just grade) on a reading program at school.

-He still loves basketball and skiing and is excited about baseball starting up soon. 

-Growing like a weed. Currently up to the top of mom's shoulder and wears the same size shoe.

-Favorite dinner I make is probably my mom's cream enchiladas, which is ironic, because he usually isn't a big fan of chicken.

-Still loves legos and hanging out with his friends.

Here is his 10-year birthday questionnaire:

New Years trip to Meine's cabin

For the past few years we have been lucky enough to be invited up to our friends' cabin to celebrate New Years together. A few families go and it is always a lot of fun. There is no cell service and we just hang out and play games, sled, and eat lots of snacks and yummy food. This year was super cold and there was lots of new, fluffy snow. The guys did some extreme sledding and it was hilarious!

The rest of us kept to sledding down the road. We'd sled down and take turns using the four wheelers and snow cat to transport everyone back up to the top. 

I didn't take many pictures, but we also had fun counting down til midnight and then wishing Jackson happy birthday. We had mini msartinellis (that had frozen out on the porch- whoops!) We went home exhausted but so happy for the fun couple of days with friends!

Jazz game

Working at Vivint has its perks, one of which is awesome tickets to Jazz games from time to time. Sean got four tickets to a game a few days after Christmas, so we took Jackson and Bode and had a great night together.

The arena is actually named "Vivint Smart Home Arena" and Vivint has a huge court-side suite that is pretty amazing. There have been articles written about it, calling it one of the coolest suites in the United States! There is always food, plus an ice cream machine, candy wall, huge wall with like 9 huge tvs on it, an upstairs with games, etc. Anyway, any time our family gets to go, we are definitely excited about it. 

A few pics of the suite from a GQ article (pics by Weston Colton)

My favorite part: the candy wall!

Bode eating dinner before the game

Just outside the entrance, waiting for the game to begin

Our tickets were actually for 2nd row seats, but we had access to the suite also. It was the best of both worlds! We were SO close to the players and it was so fun to watch a game being right there. We could hear the refs and players talking to each other. 

Donovan Mitchell (in white) is one of the boys' favorites!

I kept telling the boys how lucky they were to get to see a game this way and that I was seated in the nosebleeds at the only NBA game I went to as a kid. We all had such a great time. I hope the opportunity comes again!

Christmas 2018

After all of our celebrating all month long, it was finally time for Christmas!

I started Christmas Eve this year with an ugly sweater early morning run with some friends. It was a lot of fun and we got some funny looks on the trail!

A little later we went with the Heinholds to Hang Time and let the kids jump and play in the foam pits. I only took a couple of pictures, but we had a great time and wore the kids out.

That night we went to dinner at the Heinholds and hurried home after to let the kids open one present before bed and to get everything ready for Santa!

For the last few years they have opened gifts from Sean's parents on Christmas Eve. The boys all got Hess trucks and Molly got a new cabbage patch doll that she can put in the tub. All were very excited!

Santa came!

Each of the kids got what they asked Santa for, so they must have been good this year!

I am always amazed at the aftermath and have to take a picture.

Testing out his new bike from Santa

My parents ended up driving down to eat Christmas dinner with us and I am so glad they came. We had a yummy prime rib (I look forward to it all year) and it was fun to  have them to share it with!

Christmas card 2018

Davis's first ski day!

We decided this was the year for Davis to start skiing and we took a family ski trip up to Brighton in mid-December (minus Molly). We weren't sure how Davis would like skiing in the beginning, just because typically he does not enjoy being outside in the cold and sometimes he takes a bit of persuading to do things like go sledding. Sean decided to work with him one-on-one on the bunny hill, while Jackson, Bode, and I skied together. Davis ended up doing really well! He was a bit apprehensive at first, but got into a groove and said he liked it, so we consider it a win! 

He looked so cute all geared up!

One of my very favorite things in the world is to ski with my family. I hate seeing my kids grow up, but I do look forward to when all of us are able to ski together and take family ski trips. Those are some of my fondest memories of growing up.