NOEL ... en fin...

Well, I couldn't find my charger for my nice camera for Christmas so I had to borrow my mother's camera. And, I just got my pictures off of her camera! Yeah! So, here is my attempt to catch up.
This is the best picture we have of our tree. So amazing, right?

Dennis made some salt dough ornaments to give to our neighbors and gg. (unfortunately, ours broke... so I guess they weren't too sturdy.... don't feel bad if yours break too... I guess we have to try a different recipe.)

Christmas eve we went to my parents house for dinner but on our way out the door Dennis split his chin open and we turned our kitchen table into an operating table to glue it shut... even though Ryan thought it needed stitches. We had a party to get to... glue would have to do. Luckily, Ryan had some medical grade super glue and a butterfly band-aid thing to hold it together (it worked like a charm). Dennis is so brave and took it with stride, tho he didn't want his paparazzi mother taking pictures. Here are the few that I got.

It sure is nice to have a doctor around the house.

We were way later than we planned for Christmas eve dinner, but at least we made it! They were nice to hold off eating until we got there. Then we sang some songs and waited for Santa to come! Here is Zola's reaction when she saw him! 

 He brought some gifts for the kiddos.

 They must have been really good this year because, they got enough gifts that night to last the entire holiday, Thanks Santa (and Grandma & Grandpa).

 But then we had Christmas morning at Grandma's house and they got more presents!

 Zola was a little lady walking around in her high heal shoes and carrying her purse.

 Dennis made Zola ear warmers.

Zola loves her new baby. 

Dennis also got gifts... I promise, just no pictures of them.

Then we went to GG June's party for Lasagna. 

 The kids got to look for Santa... again!

 We played some "minute to win-it" games.

That was a lot of partying! 

Thanksgiving trip to Utah

 I am so proud of my cute kids. They are the easiest to take traveling. 

 Zola had a hard time for the first day adjusting to having a hyper puppy that towered over her always wanting to play. But she quickly learned how to stand up for herself... when needed and when not. She is quite the bossy one when it comes to dogs. "no", "stop", "no biting", "sit". Zola sure loves dogs and she would often give her big hugs and kisses. Her night time kiss was on the wrong end of Jazzie 2 out of 3 times. At the table, I overheard Zola sharing her drink with Jazzie: "want a drink?" holding her cup down to J.  Jazzie licked her hand. "NO! Want a drink?" holding her cup down again. The same thing happened again. It was pretty comical.

 Dennis and Zola playing on the same horse that daddy and Papa both used when they were kids. They were both thrill seekers so they got the horse jumping around like crazy.

 We had a dinner gathering at my dear friend Allison's house. I have such great friends.

 Allison's boy Ethan, Zola and Dennis

 I love this girl. I wish we lived closer because she is definitely one of the coolest people that I know. I feel so fortunate to have been her roommate.

 Kristen has some of the coolest shoes.

 Then I got to see another dear friend, my two time mission companion, Nonie and her family.

 She made us the most wonderful sourdough crepes.

 Here she is! We had such a great time together, twice!!

 Here are two of my favorite pictures out of a million that Dennis took on my phone. He is quite the artist.

 Everyone likes reading books with Nonnie.

 Zola is so stylish. She came downstairs with an array of Kristen's underpants around her waist and neck. And, yes, Dennis and I played our share of super mario brothers wii (in the background).

 Zola getting cozy with Jazzie in her bed. So adorable.

 We went to the children's museum in Salt Lake. The downstairs part is super crowded and gets me tired in 30 seconds but they added a second floor that was super amazing and Dennis LOVED it!

 Zola loves music! She was pretty enamored with all the pianos that we came across during the trip. We might need to buy one.

 ... and of course... cafe rio.

 ... and a visit to Nonnie's house wouldn't be complete without a smoothie or 2 or 3....

 We got to go skating! That was super fun. Dennis worked on his bubbles

 ... and zola got to experience her first time on ice. She was very hesitant at first but LOVED it once I went around the first time.

 And, because Kristina couldn't make it the first time we got together, we had to do it again. This time with Ryan. Here are three of my bestest friends. L to R: Rach, Allison, Brad, Lee, Kristina, us. I seriously wish I could hang out with these guys every week. We laughed the entire time.

 We took the train to Salt Lake to see the lights. It was pretty cold.

 But the lights were very much worth it!

 families are forever.

 Our trip home was a long one. My kids were angels... but we didn't get home to my parents house until 3 am.

 waiting in line for an hour... thinking we missed our flight that was just delayed 3.5 hours.

When we finally got to MPLS, both kids were fast asleep so I carried Dennis on my back with the baby carrier and Zola in my left arm, dragging our luggage with my right arm. It is always fun to accomplish something that is difficult.

I can do hard things.

I loved our trip and miss everyone already. We are so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives.