Ice skating...

When I was a kid, my Dad would take the family ice skating on lakes that had frozen over.  We've skated on Baker and Pine Valley Reservoirs.  He used to drive the Big Red 3-wheeler out on the ice and tie sleds and tubes to the back and we would ride around.  It was good times.

Part of me wants my kids to experience ice skating as well.  There used to be an ice skating rink in St. George a few years back but I don't think it was cold enough here and they ended up moving it to Cedar City.  I just recently found out about it so we decided to head up to Cedar to skate!  Merril went home with Mark so he could have a nap.

Maxine and Juliet have been before.  It seems like both times, Jack had been off playing with cousins or Dad.  This was his first time skating and he did amazing.

Maxine and Juliet, who considered themselves pros, struggled more than they thought they would.  Juliet hugged the side more often than not and kept trying to get the walkers and buckets that Mikayla was using.  By the end, everyone was getting the hang of it.

Mikayla was so cute and had a good attitude the whole time.

Jack skated the most but also fell down the most.  But he kept getting right back up and going again!

It took me a few turns around the rink but I remembered how to skate and only fell twice, mostly because one of the kids I was helping fell and took me with them.  

After a few hours, we were freezing and ready to head home.  Everyone fell asleep on the drive back because that is a lot of exercise!

Christmas 2015...

On Christmas Eve there was a prediction for snow!  SNOW!  Unfortunately, we didn't get very much.  This is the closest I've ever been to a white Christmas!

We had fun getting up and opening presents.  Mikayla loves her Frozen purse.

Jack got Legos, of course.

Mark wasn't sure what was going on but was excited nonetheless.

Good times at 5:00 a.m.

Christmas was a little different this year.  My whole family couldn't get together until the day after Christmas so instead of running from one family event to another, we had a more mellow day.  After opening presents, we hurried and got ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa Campbell's house for Christmas Carol Roll.  We had to be up there by 8:00 a.m. because Justin and Rachel had a brunch they needed to be to at 10:00 a.m.  So we ate, hung around until mid morning and then came home.  All the kids wanted to play with their toys.

My new toy was an itty bitty camera to take places when I don't want to lug my big one but still want the quality of a camera.  So we were playing with it.

Julie had been up most of the night on Christmas Eve/morning so she was beat.

It was refreshing to go to a Christmas get together and then have the rest of the day off.  We usually meet up at my parent's house in the afternoon so kids fall asleep on the drive between grandmas' houses and by 6 or 7:00 p.m., they are all so tired.  This year we just had a chill Christmas afternoon and I secretly loved it.

Christmas Eve Ride...

For several years, Merril would ride mountain bikes in the dark on Christmas Eve with his buddies and brothers.  The last few years, that tradition has fallen off.  He still like to go ride and this year took the 3 older kids.

It was a good activity to get them out of the house so they didn't explode waiting for Christmas to come!  

A Christmas picture with 5 kids...

I used to take a group picture of my kids in front of the Christmas tree every year.  It seems like I haven't taken any since Juliet was small.  I decided to break out the camera to snag some pictures of the kids.  Mikayla had a sad moment but we were able to pull her out of it for a smile.  They ended up being pretty cute!

Holiday Season...

We went out to the live nativity at Tuacahn and the kids thought it was fun to see the live camels and horses.  All the kids wanted their picture taken in the face holes.

Merril went to a bonfire with Ryan and Jared and some of their kids.  Just Jack and Maxine went.  It was getting late and so me and the 3 younger kids stayed home.  The kids thought it was so cool to see adults playing with fire.  They poured gas on the sand and lit it on fire.  I don't disagree, the sand on fire is quite a spectacle.