merry merry

Another Christmas has come and gone. What a good one we had. We hope yours was full of fun, food, laughter and family.

Happy Holidays!

sick day

Or week. Why is it that when you don't have insurance, for a mere 5 weeks, every person in your family seems to get sick. Not just the run of the mill cold, but I'm mean sick, sick. I'm going on day four of having delightful flu like symptoms. Plus, both Scott and I have an issue with a tooth filling that needs fixed asap..... can't wait for January 1st! Let's hope we survive the next two weeks.

Here's to health and insurance in 2011.

christmas fun

Last weekend was my family's Christmas party. It was up in Logan, and we had a blast. It was so fun to get together and see everyone. We missed the Brennans and the Mark Hopkins fam!! Maybe next year??

To start our day, we met at the Food Pantry in Logan to do some service. It was great, serving alongside each other, helping out, and having a moment to teach our kids about service. Plus it was fun. I couldn't believe the amount of food we helped sort, it was awesome.

Then we headed to Mike's house for some festive partying. It wouldn't be a Hopkins get together without a great spread of food. We had yummy appetizers and soup in bread bowls. Plus everyone brought their favorite treat. We were full.... and happy.

This is my GREAT-nephew Carver. Yes, I have a sister who is a grandma, and I have a niece who is a mom. Carver is just two weeks younger than Eli. They are going to be buds, I know it. He is so dang cute, I couldn't get over his big cheeks. He was a sweet heart. A little more mild mannered than our E man, and we had a blast watching the two together.
After dinner, we had a snowflake cutting contest. It was a lot of fun. Everyone hung their snowflake up on the lights to be "judged." They even had great prizes for everyone. They did a kids category and an adult category. It was awesome. I guess because we are temporarily homeless, we one two of the prizes.... people take pity on us. :)
This was Will's snowflake, as you can read. He was so excited when he won a prize, although he was really bashful going to get his prize. Will has never liked being the center of attention and his big win was no different. Where does he get that? I guess it is because Scott and I are so shy..... j/k.
Cutting out our snowflakes. My personal favorite was Mallory's "Smellma Pitts." That is what she named her snowflake.
Here's all the kiddos with Grandpa and Grandma. What a cute group! We still missed the Brennans and the Mark Hopkins clan!! Can you believe that, all those kids and there are still 7 missing from the picture. Actually, more like 9 because the two babies aren't pictured either. Crazy.
Last year at Thanksgiving and when we were in Utah to seal Eli, we took pictures with Carver and Eli together. It is so fun to see how they grow up! But they grow up too fast. This is my sis GayLynn.... my entire life I have been told I look a lot like her, and have even been mistaken for her. I see the resemblence... except she's a Grandma! ;) Wink, wink. And those boys are really too cute for words. And they are opposites.... Carver has tiny little features, except those big fluffy cheeks. He also has no hair. Eli on the other hand, lots of hair, big manly features! :) I love it!
And of course, it wouldn't be a Christmas party without the man himself. He came, scared all the kids, and we had a great time laughing at what they were asking for for Christmas. Eli sat there for about .2 seconds until he slid off and crawled away as fast as he could. Will wouldn't even get close to him. Until I bribed him, and then he would only stand by him, with me, and whisper what he wanted.

Eli got a candy cane from Santa. He bit into it and was trying to eat chunks of it. I took it away, this is what I got. He was SO sad.
But then he was happy when he got to open a present. Christmas is so fun at this age, mostly because they have no idea what they are doing.....

It was such a fun day, I'm glad we were in Utah. I haven't been to a Christmas party with my family in almost 5 years. It is good to be home. :)

Thanksgiving.... and beyond!

We've had a fun little vacation the past few days/weeks. We drove up to Logan on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We had a blast, we stayed with Scott's brother, stayed up late into the night, bouncing in the bounce house (yes, they have a bounce house in their basement.... it is awesome), ate delicious Thanksgiving dinner, played in the snow, played with the cat and dog, .... the list goes on and on. Here are a few pictures for proof of the fun we've had!

Wahoo! The bounce house. When all the kids get in here, it is absolutely nuts, but they have so much fun.
On Friday after Thanksgiving, we took the kids sledding down Old Main. They had so much fun. Eli got a little cold, but he even rode the sled a couple of times. Will was so brave, and LOVED going sledding. He did it by himself several times. He was having a blast until I rode the sled with him and white washed us both. Then we had to go sit in the car and get warm.

We are so proud of ourselves, December 1st and we did gingerbread houses.... cross that one off the December to do list! :) Will and all his cousins had a lot of fun decorating their houses. I was so impressed with what sweet kids they are too each other. I heard so much positive talk among them, and they were so nice and sweet to each other, and helpful for the little ones to do their houses. It was a really fun thing to watch. They have a lot of fun together, laugh, and play.... and make a lot of messes. :) I also have to say, check out what beautiful kids we have!! Seriously, they are all so dang cute.
We had all but two of our little people here. We missed you Lia and JD! And in case you are wondering, they are just as cute as all these little people!

Lots of food, lots of sugar, lots of fun. While we've been in Logan, we've also enjoyed lots of time helping Grandma (who broke her ankle :( ), watching movies, playing with all of the millions of toys that Grandma Martha has, visiting Grandpa and Grandma Hopkins, going out to eat, eating Aggie Ice Cream, working out with the sis-in-law at 5:45 :), and just plain enjoying life.... and the snow, it is so gorgeous. And there is a lot of it!