The rest of December

I've mostly given up on trying to get Richie to want to come to temple square to see the lights. I understand how much he hates it, so I haven't pushed it for quite a few years. :) This year, going to see the park lights in Draper was an excellent compromise. It's pretty spectacular, and almost no crowd. Win win!! The lights were a hit, but the real highlight to Gwen and Lindy was rolling down the hill multiple times until Gwen got an epic bloody nose.


Jeffrey and McKenna finally tied the knot!! We're so excited for them and to officially have McKenna in the family! They are such a perfect, perfect match. We worked hard the night before the wedding to get everything ready for the luncheon the next day. It turned out beautifully! The next day was a marathon of wedding events including the sealing at the Provo City Center temple which we had never been to before (it was so pretty), pictures afterward, then the luncheon, then after a busy break, the ring ceremony where Miles was the ring bearer, and Lindy and Gwen were both flower girls, then the reception. Getting to the ring ceremony was stressful for us for a number of reasons, and then Benson was beyond tired at the reception and wasn't afraid to show it. :) Life! We were just glad we were able to participate in all of the events and support Jefrrey and McKenna!


Scone day at Dad's work is always a good excuse to make the trek up to West Valley!


Since Mom and Dad are still serving at Cove Fort and couldn't be with us on Christmas, this being our on year to be together, they threw a party for our family the week before Christmas. We all met at the fort and had lunch, a white elephant gift exchange, and a horse drawn hay ride! I hope my kids always remember these types of gatherings and the love they feel from their family members.


The Sunday after Christmas, the primary typically does "rolos for solos" during singing time. All three kids performed, but this picture of Lindy playing her glockenspiel was the only one that turned out. I was so proud of them for being willing to share their talents. They are way braver than me! Gwen played piano and sung, "I am a Child of God", Miles played ukulele and sang "Away in a Manger", Lindy played "I am a Child of God".


This is an old poem, but I never documented it. Gwen wrote it for her herb-loving Grandma Garner, and I just get such a kick out of it. Gwen seems to have a real knack with the words if you ask me. :)

Christmas 2018

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. I felt more relaxed than I do about things typically, so that's always nice. :) Some things just didn't get done, and that's ok. Christmas Eve day was mostly spent at the Garner's house. Uncle Tanner was making his missionary call at noon, so we gathered there to talk to him and have our family meal around lunch time, instead of later in the evening. I love getting to see far away faces and hear their far away voice, but I admit, chatting over computers with everyone else around is a little awkward for me. So I just laid low. :) Then we ate a delicious meal, opened gifts, and really enjoyed our time together.


We made it home later than expected, so instead of making cookies for Santa, we just threw some neighbor treats on a plate with notes, got in our pj's, checked where Santa was on the Santa tracker, and got to bed. One of my favorite traditions growing up was all of us siblings sleeping in the same room on Christmas Eve. It's fun to watch that tradition live on through my kids. They usually do a pretty good job at getting right to bed on Christmas Eve because they want Santa to be able to come, but I caught them sneaking out quite a few times this year. *ahem, Gwen.


Christmas morning was magical. Richie built us a fire and we worked on our traditional Christmas breakfast of German pancakes, bacon, oj, and grapefruit of course. We finally let the kids through the curtain to the living room and tried our best to savor the gift opening that morning. Richie really surprised me this year with a beautiful new leather purse and wallet, and other goodies he snuck into my stocking, which I believe is a first. My other favorite memory may be showing Richie the poem that Gwen wrote me for part of my Christmas present, and watching him immediately tear up. Other top moments would be watching Richie teach Miles the basics of long boarding and watching the kid's reactions when they opened their sibling gifts.


Later that morning, Grandma and Grandpa Garner, and uncle Jacob came over to take part in the chaos and helped keep the kids entertained while Richie and I ran around trying to get things packed and ready to go to St. George.


I am now realizing that I took a measly amount of pictures while we were down in SG, but it was wonderful, as always, to spend time with the Crosby side. Highlights include: seeing the new Mary Poppins with everyone, getting to Celebrate Ilah and John getting married at Ilah's shower, playing games and eating snacks with everyone on Christmas Day,taking our kids to walk around the temple grounds, getting Gwen's ear's pierced as a part of her Christmas gift, the kids sleeping over at the Lamb's, and taking our kids on a tour of a water reclamation facility in Hurricane. (side note, this is something we've wanted to educate our kids about for some time, but they don't allow young kids on tours typically. Long story short, through a connection here in Riverton, we were hooked up with a private tour and it was so cool!! Way cooler than we were expecting. The kids probably thought it was fun just to ride in the back of the truck, but Richie and I geeked out the entire time.)



We were tired by the end of our trip. That's the status quo with little kids and traveling right? But we were tired in all the best ways. Merry Christmas 2018!

1st half of December

The girls performed at Riverton Holly Days. It's a fun community event that I am usually glad we're pushed into. Otherwise, I wouldn't make an effort to attend such things. We got their early, so we were some of the first kids to see Santa, which was a plus! We're not very good at waiting in lines. The girls did a great job performing!


First big snow of the season! I'm always so torn when it snows. It's beautiful and the kids have such a blast in it. But it means hauling out all the snow gear, making sure we have fitting pieces for everyone, consoling the little ones when they inevitably pull their gloves off and their fingers get wet and cold, dealing with the snow tracked in and all the gear strewn about the house after they come in. It's wonderful and exhausting.


Richie enjoying a quiet moment on Sunday with all of his kids cozied up on the couch with a fire nearby, watching one of his childhood favorites, "Little Lord Fauntleroy".


Cori Connors concert!!! We look forward to it every.single.year, and it never lets us down. We always have a bit of a cry, and leave feeling uplifted and full
of the Christmas Sprit.



*Studying Russia and their famous Russian Ballet with Aunt Makenna at homeschool group
*Miles making a bucket out of tin foil. We love the book about being bucket fillers, and the CD of songs with it. We were on a big bucket fillers cd kick, and he came out of quiet time with this one day. *Gwen and Miles showing off their reports on their North American countries of choice. * Trying to keep Benson busy during school with contact paper and tinsel. it was highly entertaining, and one of the biggest messes I've ever cleaned up. True story. Don't know if I have it in me to do it again!


I really have to restrain myself when it comes to taking pictures of my kids sleeping. :) They are so beautiful and peaceful.



Aunt Makenna has been performing in "Savior of the World". We took the two oldest to see it at the conference center. It was really fun to be with just the 2 older ones. We are starting to be able to joke with them etc. Makenna did a great job and we thoroughly enjoyed the performance.


Make your own pizza night is always a success. :) It took longer and we ate dinner later, but I think it was worth it.


Too hard to resist putting these on and snapping pictures at the Walmart checkout.



Our Idaho friends, the Fogles, were in town for a family event and they stayed with us over the weekend! Between our 2 families, there is now 10 (soon to be 11) kids under the age of 10. WOW! So there was some craziness involved, obviously, but I'll take it if that means I get to stay up late and chat with my friend Lauren. It was so good to see them. We made a quick visit to Gardener Village to hunt for the elves on display. :)