Ethan's birthday "man cave" present!

 When I asked Ethan what he wanted for his birthday he came up with a good idea of finishing off some space in the basement as a "hang out" place for when his friends come over.  We had ping pong down there, but with the unfunishedness of the basement we never really went down there.  So he suggested it and we decided we would do a 24 hour room makeover for his birthday!  We invited our family member to help with ideas and support and then kicked Ethan out of the house for 24 hours to get it done.  It was really fun!

Here's the before shot (actually we cleared out some thing before this, but it's pretty much the before shot!)

 Dave and I worked late into the night building and measureing and priming and painting and moving stuff.  The next day I still had the decorating and final touch ups to do.  It was a long night and a crazy day...we kind of felt like we were on an HGTV special and were going right down to the wire!  But we got it done and brought Ethan over for the big reveal.

TADAA!!:

 We think it turned out really nice.  He loves having a hangout place already and plans to have friends over on Friday to test it out!  We weren't able to get the carpet installation scheduled in time, so carpet and baseboards are TBT still.  Behind the camera is the ping pong table and 6 person high table to eat at in that part of the room the same size as this one with a second window.  So he's got a big "man cave" space to be in.  Well, it's also our second family room and we're allowed to be in there too.  ;)

After the big reveal we had some of the family over for cake!  They enjoyed celebrating with Ethan and seeing his new space.  He also got a few other presents that made him all smiles!  I think he had a great birthday.  Happy Birthday Ethan!

Bring on 2015!

 This year we celebrated at two different parties for the New Year!  We were excited that we were able to make it to our neighborhood party hosted by the Dunn's and then head up to Dave's sister's house for the traditional ringing in the New Year with all the family.  It's always so much fun and good food.  This year Lisa set up a photo booth that was really cute.  Several of us took advantage of the fun props and background to take some photos.  See the fun below:

Christmas 2014

This Christmas seemed to creep up on us...probably because the weather was very warm for Utah and we hadn't had any snow storms.  But alas, December 24th was upon us and it was Christmas Eve.  We went next door to Dave's parents for our traditional Christmas Eve pancake breakfast and then came home to read the Luke 2 Christmas story and open jammys before heading to bed so Santa could come!

 While we were asleep a big storm blew in and we awoke to a white Christmas!  It was beautiful outside and nice and warm inside as we started our Christmas Day by opening presents at our house.

 We each took turns opening gifts and sharing the things that we got/gave with each other.  It was a nice exchange of gifts and I think most everything was a hit!

 After opening our presents and playing for a bit we headed back next door to see the different family members that showed up during the day at Dave's parents house.  It was fun to see some cousins and to get new books from Nana for Christmas!

 After visiting for a while we went back to our house and Dave was able to install the bars that he made for McKinley's Christmas!  They are really cool and she can't wait to do her stuff on them...maybe when it's a little warmer!

Later in the afternoon Grandma Libby came down and we talked Austin into going for a walk!  It was still snowing and pretty chilly facing the wind, but it felt good to get our a moving for a bit...especially before our big dinner that was coming up!

 After an afternoon of skiing, Aunt Vicky and Uncle Jim and the girls came down the mountain for dinner and more presents!  We enjoyed opening gifts again and giving our gifts to our family!

Finally it was time for dinner and we had a feast!  We made a turkey, leg of lamb, acorn squash with walnuts and cranberries, roasted carrots, turnips, parsnips, and sweet potatoes, rolls,and mashed potatoes.  It was delicious!

After dinner we finished up with a few rounds of Uno and then a traditional Christmas afternoon talent show with all the grandkids sharing their talents of gymnastics, karate, artwork, piano, and violin!   What a magical Christmas and a fun packed day!

Pearson Christmas Party

 With Christmas coming up again this year it was time for the Pearson family Christmas party.  This year's party was over shadowed by the failing health of Grandma Pearson.  She was not feeling very well and wasn't able to make it to the party, but we still carried on!  After the dinner and festivities we all went over to grandmas house and sang a few Christmas carols to her on the porch while she laid in her bed inside.  We sure hope she is comfortable and felling better soon.

 Eating, hanging out and connecting with family members is so much fun!  We really enjoy getting together!

 It is always so fun to see family and celebrate together.  I snapped this picture of 4 generations of Smith's...Darla, Nana, Maylene, and Braxton!

The kids were sure excited when the bags of presents arrived from Santa.  They gathered together to wait their turn to receive their first present of the season!

San Diego Free Time

After the tournament was over Evan and I had all of Sunday to ourselves before our Monday morning flight home.  We slept in, went to church, and headed to the beach.  We hadn't had time to go to the beach yet and that's a must do when coming to California, so we headed out to Oceanside Pier.  We walked down the street and down to the Pier and talked.  It was a nice stroll.

We got brave enough to get near the pelicans that are sitting by the fishermen waiting for scraps.  There were signs all along the pier that read, "Beware of pelicans...we bite stupid people", so we didn't get too close.  Evan made me take a picture too!

After the pier we got down to the sand and the water to get our feet wet.  I had been stung by a bee at the fields on Saturday and it felt really good to put my feet in the water.  Evan ended up getting more than his feet wet...some things never change!  It was a very pleasant day and very warm!

From Oceanside we drove down the coast...through Carlsbad, Del Mar, and other fun beach towns.  We made our way to La Jolla and the San Diego Temple there.  It was beautiful to walk around the temple grounds and talk some more.  A great trip just the two of us!

Surf Cup - San Diego California 2014

The Apex 01 Premier team headed out to San Diego for the Surf Cup Tournament this Thanksgiving weekend.   Evan and I decided we were going to fly down this time.  We flew out Thanksgiving afternoon after having been bumped off our morning flight.  It was so nice to be there so quickly and just hang out with my boy.

The boys played very well at this tournament and won their first game 1-0, handed out a huge defeat 6-0 in their second game, and then tied the third game 0-0 (to the 4th place team in the nation!) to advance to the quarter finals!

The team stuck with it and were defeated 0-1 in the quarter finals to finish off a very good run!  I'm really excited for this team going forward as they have figured out how to play with the best and have a great attitude that they can win!

Halloween

Halloween this year was a super warm day and it was a lot of fun.  McKinley wanted to be a "nerd" and Evan wanted to trick or treat, so he came up with a referee outfit.  Ethan had some friends over and we all had a fun time.  We went trick or treating with cousins and friends and then ate candy all night!

McKinley and her zombie friend Kaylie!

Nana's house is always our first stop of the night.  We had a nice visit and got ready to hit the neighborhood.  It was a fun night all around.