Pearson Family Christmas Party

This was the first Pearson family Christmas party since Grandma Pearson passed away.  It was fun to get together and see some of the Pearson relatives and know that Grandma would be so happy that we continued on with the tradition.  It's always a fun night to catch up with relatives and see how kids have grown and people have (or have not!) changed.

The highlight of the evening for the kids is always the gifts that Santa drops off at the party.  It's usually the first gift for Christmas and the joy of a simple gift is always evident with the kids.

All my pictures are of the Smith family relatives since I'm kind of shy to take pictures of others...but it's great to see them all at least one night of the year.  We missed those who could not attend and hope that we will continue having the party each year so we can always catch up!

The tree is up!!

We got the tree up on Saturday this year.  It is one of my favorite parts of Christmas because I love seeing the ornaments that we have let the kids pick each year and the ornaments of places that we've been that year or gifts from friends of ours from all the places we've lived.  Our tree does not have a decorator's touch or follow the latest trend, but it is so beautiful to me because of the memories and love that is on that tree!

McKinley wanted to put the angel on the tree this year and Ethan was trying his best to help her get it up there.  They did this attempt 3 or 4 times before Ethan decided he would get the angel up straight  by using a chair.  It was funny.

I love having the tree up and sitting with the lights of the tree shining brightly.  It's a peaceful time and I feel the love of the season.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanksgiving

So we celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of our family this year.  It was also Marlee and Keegan's 10th birthday on the Sunday we celebrated with my side.  It was a delicious meal and a very fun evening hanging out together.  I can't believe these two are 10!!

This was the first Thanksgiving in 5 years that we were home.  We missed seeing our friends in California and spending time with soccer family, but it was really nice to be home with Dave's family.  There were 53 of us this year and it was a wonderful day.  We were all able to eat together in the basement and spend the day enjoying each other's company, watching some football, and making some graham cracker candy houses.  It was a great holiday weekend with a lot of the kids home from college and married grandkids stopping by.  The family is really growing up, but we had almost everyone there this year!

Maylene also brought a game of Bean Boozled that some of the brave people played.  You had to answer a question about Thanksgiving and if you got it wrong you had to spin the wheel and take your 50/50 chance of getting a good or nasty tasting jelly bean.  Some of the bad ones were stinky socks, skunk spray, and vomit.  Boy...those were gross!

There were some pretty fancy graham cracker house architects, but they all turned out yummy!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween this year was super fun.  It was a warm night and it was fun to walk around the neighborhood with McKinley and her cousin Emma.  It's so fun to see all the kids dressed up and enjoying themselves.  There are some really fun houses in our neighborhood to go to.  A couple houses go all out with decorations and music and of course we love getting our hot dogs from Bishop Mel and a soda from Nana and Grandad!  We end up at Mike Mischele's house and enjoyed some yummy wassle there too!

Evan went off with some friends this year and was responsible for hauling in 27 pounds of candy!  We're all helping him through it and a lot of it will be saved in storage or some how end up in the garbage!  While I love the Halloween fun, I'm not a huge fan of the candy or having it around the house for very long!

Fall Friday Fun!

There was no school on Friday and it was such a beautiful day that Mischele and I decided to take the girls to the zoo!  It was perfect!  The girls are such a fun age and the zoo is quite enjoyable when you can just wander around and see the exhibits and not chase little ones everywhere.  We enjoyed the new exhibits at the zoo and learned a little bit about elephants and giraffes and more!

We enjoyed the 5 minute train ride that takes you behind the animal enclosures and to the mining town exhibit.  Cute times!

The two ladies have a lot of crazy fun in them!

Swearing In

On Tuesday, Ethan was sworn in to the Draper Mayors Youth Council.  He will be working with a group of youth and the city of Draper to put on a bunch of activities and services in the city of Draper.  He is excited to learn more about the mayor's office and how things work in the city of Draper as well as help out with community events.  It will be a fun experience for him!

 We thought we were taking pictures and it was a video, so these are all we got.  Blurry, but proves that he was there.

Mayceleen's bridal shower!!

On Saturday we had a bridal shower for my niece Mayceleen!  She is getting married in October and we are so excited for her.  This is the third bridal shower of the summer and we are getting good at pulling these parties together.  I love planning parties and I have the best helpers to delegate to, so they are always such a success.  It takes a lot of work, but they are so fun!  It's fun to shower the special guest with love and attention for the event!

We had a beautiful evening for the shower and it is always fun to get together and celebrate the upcoming wedding of a great couple.  We are so excited for Mayceleen and Kelly and look forward to their wedding next month!

Labor Day - Snowbird - Oktoberfest

With the season getting colder and the official end of summer we decided to take a trip up into the mountains for the day.  We were planning to ride the tram at Snowbird and enjoy the outdoors.  We headed up to Snowbird and discovered that it was Oktoberfest at Snowbird that day!  So, bonus!   We still took the tram up to the top and explored the magnificent views from the ride and at the top.  Then Ethan and I rode the tram back down and Dave, Evan and McKinley took the chair lift down (Brrrr...).  It was so beautiful up there and we enjoyed ourselves.  Afterwards we went to lunch and prepared for fall at our house!  The cooler temperatures are nice and the leaves will start to change soon.  A new season!

Justin is home!

Just a few days after his twin brother returned home, we were at the airport to welcome Elder Justin Cederlof home from his mission to Australia.  What a sweet reunion it was with his family.  We are so proud of his service and look forward to all he will achieve now that he is home!  Welcome home Justin.

Zachary comes home!

Elder Zachary Cederlof returned home from his 2 year mission to Hong Kong.  It's always so fun to be at the airport when these missionaries come home.  The emotions run high and the reunions are so sweet!  He was a wonderful missionary and is going to do great things now!  Welcome home Zach!