Sledding on Boulder

Nice jumpsuit.

Mae slept almost the whole time!

We took the kids up on Boulder Mountain one afternoon for a little sledding. We only had a few good working sleds so everyone had to take turns. But Kam kept the jump nice and groomed while the kids did their tricks. It was a beautiful, sunny day---perfect for the occasion. 

Ranch Christmas

Mae hiding in the favorite hiding cabinet...

The cousin gift exchange.

I am so bad at taking pictures-----meaning no skills AND not actually getting around to take them. So this is all  I've got for Christmas this year. 

But it was a great time. The only ones missing were Derik, April and family. April was just wrapping up her last round of chemo so she wasn't up to traveling this holiday. 

There was quite a bit of snow in Grover which made it picture perfect. I didn't feel like I watched enough Christmas movies, ate enough treats or took enough naps. Oh well. There's always next year. And, by next Christmas, Montana will already be home! Weird!

The BEST Christmas present ever (at least until next year)

I didn't care about anything else but talking to these 2 missionaries yesterday. We had to Skype over at the Hale house so we could use their wifi. I was so nervous that there were going to be complications or that we wouldn't be able to Skype. But, in the end, it all worked out perfectly. We talked to Finn for 45 minutes and Montana for about an hour. It was awesome! They both seemed happy and content. It was absolutely worth every sitting in that freezing cold house!

Missionary Service Project

We got an email from Finn's mission president a few weeks ago asking us, as parents, to send a small gift to the mission for a zone gift exchange they'll be doing for Christmas. They gave a list of suggestions of things that many missionaries would like----things like shampoo, conditioner, deodorant etc. My brain started turning. I decided to get my family in on the project and collect as many of those things as we could and put them on a truck to McAllen in time for the zone conference. 

The picture above is only a sampling of the amount of supplies we gathered. We ended up with about 100 pounds worth of goods. Hopefully, not having to buy these things for a month or so will help some of the missionaries in Texas.