In January, we spent a few days in Salt Lake City visiting with Steve, Valerie, Kyle and Jaxon (and more of the Terry family). While Ryan was at a museum meeting, Lincoln, Marina, and I visited the Clark Planetarium.
Learning about fog
Marina on the moon
They are not huge fans of Mars
Lincoln likes electricty
Then, Steve, Valerie, Kyle, Jaxon, and Karlene joined us at the Children's Discovery Museum.
How long 'til I can drive?
I want to climb!
Nothing is more fun than plastic food
Lincoln might be a little too old for the lamb costume
But he is not too old to fly the helicopter
Marina makes an excellent co-pilot
Marina is very versatile - she also makes a great newscaster. The day was only complete after a turn as construction workers and a shift at the grocery store. Then we got to ride the train all the way back to Steve's house.
Ryan, Lincoln, and I visited the Utah Natural History Museum.
Lincoln made a friend
It was so foggy, you could not see the building next door or the mountain right behind us.
Then it was bowling and the arcade. Lincoln and Gabe won these awful teeth. They were pretty pleased with them.
Then, an evening of chasing and wrestling followed. The kids had a great time together.
Lincoln and Marina each auditioned to be in the play Wizard of Oz. They both made it in! Lincoln is a munchkin and a flying monkey, and Marina is a munchkin. The performances are in April, so they will be very busy with rehearsals until then. Here are videos of both auditioned - they were both so brave!
Once the preparations for Christmas were done, we still had one last ornament craft at the museum. Lincoln and Marina had a great time painting a wooden spool and adding their own Christmas list to it.
Finally, the big day arrived!
Waiting for Christmas Eve dinner with the cousins.
All the cousins except Kaden: Ella, Lincoln, Jaxon, Kyle, Marina, and Carter
A Christmas Eve performance!
On Christmas morning, Lincoln and Marina had to wait for everyone to be awake before they could check out what Santa left.
Christmas morning smile - tired but happy
Look at the loot!
Marina got two new friends for Christmas - Flowers (the dog) and Waddles (the penguin)
Lincoln got a Hobbit Lego game - met with an "awesome!"
Marina and her friends watch a movie
Even when Marina was tired of the movie, her friends kept watching.
One of Marina's Christmas outfit. Stylin'!
To celebrate New Years, Ryan and I went to an Elvis tribute artist concert. It was a fun way to spend New Year's Eve.
Then, on New Year's day, we watched some Elvis concerts with the kids. Marina was inspired, and tried to pick up on some Elvis moves.
Even further inspired, Marina wrote her own song and agreed to perform it for the blog.
Before we get to all the Christmas happenings at our house, here are a few Thanksgiving shots. It was our first Thanksgiving in our new house, our first Thanksgiving to stay home together, and my first full Thanksgiving to cook on my own. All around, it was a great day!
Our Thanksgiving feast
Hooray for turkey!
Marina made a craft out of a tomato container. It is now her bank. She is so creative!
On Thanksgiving night, Ryan and Lincoln went to Las Vegas to see The Adams Family Musical. They loved the show, but the pool at the hotel stole the show. The waterslide takes you through the shark tank before it spits you out in the pool. That is what Lincoln could not stop talking about!
While Lincoln and Ryan were in Las Vegas, Marina and I decorated the house for Christmas. It is so nice to have room to put out some of the many decorations we have (yeah new house!). Marina loved setting up the nativity (we never had room to put it out before). She changed the location of each of the statues daily. She said she figured they all needed to take turns being close to the baby Jesus.
Then, we all decorated the tree together - beautiful!
Lincoln has been doing very well with scouts. He received several activity pins at the last pack meeting - traveler, swimmer, artist, and I can't remember the others.
It's not Christmas until we have had Christmas at the Homestead at Ryan's museum. Our friend, Kevin, was manning the printing press, but stopped long enough for a photo opp with the kids.
We also got to put our requests in with Santa.
The kids also made candles, and then we lit them when we got home. Marina's was nice and straight, and Lincoln made his a mutant. They were both pretty to burn.
The museum has also had "An Ornament a Week" project, so each week the kids have gone and made a Christmas ornament. Here they are with a couple of their ornaments.
There is currently an exhibit of quilts at the museum, and Ryan is displaying a quilt I made for him. It is a t-shirt quilt - each block is a different t-shirt that had some significance for him. Yes, Elvis is on there three times.
At church, we had a Christmas party complete with a Christmas pageant. Marina and I read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever together, so we both giggled a little bit that we got to see a show of our own. Marina was a sheep with all the other kids there. As you can see - lots of sheep, lots of shepherds. But it was very cute.
Another of Marina's creations.
Lincoln and Marina had early Christmas with Amy-Mama last week. Marina got a camera and was eager to put some of her photos on the blog. Somehow, they all got deleted from her camera, so she is taking more photos and we'll include them next time.
Marina's grade did a Christmas program of Christmas carols. Here are a couple of photos and some videos of some of the songs.
