Christmas Week

Quite often on Sundays we go to the cemetery to visit Blake and to check on things. We took   a Christmas tree and a snowman that glows in the dark down there the first of December. Delwyn took this selfie of us. Taking selfies is hard!! For me at least. I thought this was a cute picture of us even though it is a little sunny.

We only do Christmas cards about every three years. Mostly because I forget about them or we don't have a good picture. The middle of December Delwyn really wanted to send some out this year, so we used Britta's wedding picture and Denya wrote a letter about our year. We didn't get many cards this year and I think Christmas cards might be fading out, which is kind of sad.

Denya, Britta and Kade, and Ryan got here on December 22 and stayed until December 30, except Ryan, who stayed for 2 weeks.  I felt like Christmas lasted a whole week and I loved every minute of it. Here are some random pictures of things we did while they were here.

Dagny and Lincoln saw the Santa hats down the basement and wanted to play elves making toys. They were so cute and have such good imaginations.

Lincoln is combing the dog's hair so he will be extra fluffy when it's time to get in Santa's sleigh.

The grandkids LOVE to play cards with their aunts and uncles. I bought a Christmas version of Go Fish/Old Fish and they played several rounds this week.

Denya bought books for all the kids this year. She loves to read and wants her neices and nephew to love books too. They were pretty excited about a present from Denya.

Dagny got "The Nutcracker," by Jan Brett. Her books have such beautiful illustrations. Dagny was so happy since she performed in The Nutcracker this year. And Lincoln loves dragons, so this book is perfect for him.

We haven't played Head of the Herd for a really long time. I forgot how much laughing happens during this game. You have to do silly things while playing, such as keep one hand on the table, or you can't call people by their first name.

Britta and Kade were the last two left and you have have to make a duck bill on your face with your hands.

Kade won and so his moose got to wear the crown.

Landon bought a couple of new games for his kids and he brought them over to give them a try. It's fun that they are getting old enough to play games besides Go Fish and Old Maid. I especially like Sleeping Queens. It's fun to get some new kid games. I get so tired of Candyland and I don't like Hi Ho Cherry O or Sorry at all.

Claire got a skateboard for Christmas and she was so excited to show us.

I swear this girl was born with wheels on her feet. She goes so fast on everything! Bikes, roller blades, and now a skateboard.

Calista's doll tries out Kade's roller skates.

The doll had so much fun, Calista wanted to try them out too. I'm sure her Dad will have her skating before too much longer.

Britta loves on the babies. Everlee is 6 months older than Emma, but they are close to the same size. So cute!

Britta and Kade love pickleball. Landon wanted to learn how, so they one afternoon when the weather was nice. Denya went as well, since it's more fun to play in teams. It sounds fun, a combination of tennis, ping pong, and badminton. I want to give it a try some time.

We went to the movie West Side Story.

It was a little slow getting started, but after that I really liked it. It was sad though!

Ryan and Gavin love this Japanese ramen restaurant on Araphoe Road. Ryan has talked about it a lot and Denya really wanted to try it out.

They went for lunch on Tuesday before we went roller skating. Denya was not disappointed, it lived up to all Ryan's compliments.

Look at those chop sticks! These kids are official! I love that they enjoy spending time together.

Austin's girls were pretty excited to get a present from Aunt Denya. Just look at their cute smiles! It was actually because Denya wanted to give Claire a graphic novel that she decided to give all the nieces and nephew a book.

Emma's book was a baby board book based on Jane Austen's "Emma," teaching about emotions. How fun to have a book with a title that is your name!

 Austin and Melissa got a new game, Willy Wonka and the Golden Ticket. They brought it over to give it a try and it was pretty fun.