Going Bowling!

We spent the past few weekends bowling and had a great time.

First, I went bowling with the Aggies in Boise in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Greg was a real champ and stayed home with the kids and sent me away on a fun weekend. The game was a bit of a downer until the last 5 minutes when Kerwynn Williams exploded and the Aggies ran away with the game. We went to the game last year and were so bummed when they lost it in the last five minutes, so this one was much more fun when they won!  

Brooklyn and I went down on the field after looking for some friends and ran into the one and only Chuckie Keeton!!! We caught him just before he was swarmed by everybody else and were lucky enough to get this picture. He was so gracious and is such a class act. He was so patient with all the kids (and their parents) and is probably still there on the blue turf signing autographs and taking pictures with all of the adoring fans.

 Greg's family has some really good friends whose son (Forrest Dabb) also plays on the team. We met up with them after the game and Brooklyn was excited to get a picture with another player.

The high was high, but the low was low when we got home and heard Gary Anderson was leaving for Wisconsin. Brett spent the day glued to the computer watching for updates. We were sure glad he had this lovely stuffed animal to comfort him during his time of great difficulty.

Garrett and Gracie had their preschool program and were so cute! There are some videos below you can watch of them singing their cute little songs.

We spent the next weekend in Price bowling at the annual Phillips Family Christmas Party. It was a LONG day in the car for a few hours of bowling, but we had fun and it was great to see the family. Aunt Sandy won the kids over when she paid for them to play the arcade games after mean old mom and dad said no.

Welcome Home, Elder Phillips V!!!

He's home! It was a perfect reunion and a joyous day. Greg was already in Salt Lake, but the kids and I almost didn't make it to the airport (due to bad weather and traffic). It was nothing short of a missionary miracle that we arrived with time to spare and were there to welcome him off the plane. Garrett attached himself right to Uncle Matt and it only took Matt a day or two to win Abby over. We are so happy he is home and so proud of him for the great work he did in Spain!

The shoes say it all! He was the 5th missionary from his family and signed all of his letters "Elder Phillips V." It made me smile every time. I asked Jan how it felt to be done with missionaries and she pointed at Garrett and said she is far from done and the next generation will probably be harder than the first. Only 14 more years... (or less if they keep lowering the missionary age limit.) ;)

It's Just Too Much To Ask

I must be a special kind of crazy to think I could get a decent Christmas picture of both kids. Garrett was actually very cooperative and a cute little model. Abby--not so much. Oh well, there's always next year.

Santa Baby

The visit to Santa is always a highlight of the Christmas season. Don't worry...we will get to that in just a minute. We were driving home from SLC a few weeks ago and passed the light display at Willard Bay. Garrett said, "I wish we could go to that North Pole with Brian and Sher." I thought it was sweet, so I texted and told them what he had said. I didn't expect us all to really go, but Brian is a great uncle and planned an outing for us to visit the North Pole together. My parents rented a big van so we could all enjoy the night together and it was a huge hit! 

We met at the Pizza Plus in Brigham before making the journey to the North Pole. My cousin, Jan, came with us and uses this little scooter thing because she just had foot surgery. The kids loved playing on it and made a few laps around the game room. 

 Somebody took pity on the kids and gave them money for the rides. I've never seen a Tonka truck ride like this. Needless to say, Garrett was in heaven and could not get enough.

 We finished our pizza and made it to the North Pole just in time to see Santa. The kids were all so excited and no tears were even shed this year.

We got to babysit Owen for a few days while Eric and Gini looked for a new house in Sweden. After I agreed to babysit, I realized I had made a huge mistake and told Gini I didn't want to do anything to encourage this move, but she wouldn't let me out of it. ;) Owen is an angel baby and we loved having him here. It makes me so sad to think he is going to be Garrett's age when they get back, but we are trying to be excited for them and the fun opportunity this will be for their family. We took advantage of having a baby around and had a lovely little reenactment of the Nativity for Family Home Evening. Does it get any better than this picture?

The kids were so mesmerized from their Santa visit they decided to "play" Santa Claus. They put a chair at the top of the stairs and gathered a basket full of trinkets and treats. They took turns being Santa, the elf, and the kid who got to visit and choose a prize. It was so funny!

Owen couldn't leave the stairs alone and we had to dig out our old gate. This played nicely into the Santa game and Garrett even made a sign that said, "Get in line here for Santa." (Or something like that.) They loved opening and closing the gate and letting the "customers" in to visit Santa.

It just so happens Santa himself was visiting the town library, so we got to see the Jolly Old Elf again. Two times in less than a week! The kids were thrilled to see him and I was overjoyed that Garrett still wants a pirate ship and a Jack in the Box and Abby wants a princess castle. Phew! The elves have already made and wrapped their presents and we are hoping for no last-minute change orders.