Christmas Vacation was fun

Picture overload from our December/Christmas happenings. 

 Clayton has some shark teeth on the bottom, and his first baby tooth fell out after Christmas. Still working on that other baby tooth.

 Kaden's candy confection from his school Christmas party. It sat at home for two weeks while we were in Idaho. :)

 Warm-ish, sunny weather on our first day in Soda Springs. It didn't last long.

These three boys had so much fun together.

Tyler and Devon.

Clayton figuring out what a landline is. He loved to listen in on the conversations.

Devon loved this horse at the Arnell cousin's house.

Beautiful Logan Temple. All the adults in Tyler's family went to do a sealing for Grandma Martinsen. It was really nice to all be in the temple together.

Kaden's first hunting experience with Tyler and Jeff.

Toboggan rides behind the four wheelers. 

From left to right, (I think), Carson, Clayton, Brynlee and Kaybree. 

Devon loved being outside in the snow!

We went to Lava Hot Springs as a family one night. Super fun and the water is so warm!

Devon waiting kind of patiently for popcorn. Yum!

We spent a few days in Salt Lake City, where we met Shaunie and Ben and their family, along with Grandma and Grandpa and Ryan. Ryan was entering the MTC on December 31, so we did all the touristy things around Temple Square before he left.  It was in the single digits and windy the whole time we were there, but we had a great time. The kids had so much fun being together again, in the "Year of the Cousins". 

On our way to Salt Lake, everyone that we were meeting there were coming from different directions. We were leaving Soda Springs, Grandma and Grandpa were leaving from Idaho Falls, and Ben and Shaunie came up from California. We pulled onto the freeway south of McCammon, and Tyler checked the rearview mirror before he merged over. Right behind us was Grandma and Grandpa! Really though, what are the odds that we would be in the same place at the same time? 

The music mixing room underground on Temple Square. Ben knows one of the guys that works there. That was pretty cool to see.

Clayton reading the "Friend" in the Church History Library.

Devon visited Mars in the Clark Planetarium.

Everyone squeezing into the elevator...14 people.

Making gingerbread houses with the Martinsen cousins. Grandma made homemade gingerbread and the kids absolutely loved making these houses.

How many kids can you find?

Christmas Eve jammies! 

Jaren and Clayton both asked for footie jammies. Devon opened his present first, then Clayton, and then Jaren. Kaden was watching all of this with a look of dread on his face. Right before he opened his, I could tell he was thinking that he was getting the same thing. But, thankfully, he got regular pajamas. He was relieved. 

Christmas morning chaos. They had fun, and it was fun watching them open their presents!

We enjoyed some vintage root beer and soda. By this time it was really cold outside. We didn't have to leave them in the snow bank for long.

Playing games with all the cousins. They are funny!

Grandpa snuggles are the best! It took Devon quite a while to warm up to Grandpa. It didn't help that Devon was sick for the first four days that we were there. He definitely wasn't his usual self.

Lights at Temple Square.

Mom and Dad left with Ryan to take him to the MTC, while the rest of us perused Temple Square a bit more. The Tabernacle had been closed to tours the day before, so we were happy to see it open.

City Creek Center

We ate at Tucano's here, and that was amazing! Everyone loved the food. Kaden kept getting more and more meat, and he was on the opposite end of the table, so I had no idea what was going on. My Dad said later that Kaden should probably eat some fiber here pretty soon. The next day on our way back to Idaho, we stopped to get lunch at Wendy's. Kaden said he didn't want a hamburger or anything with meat, since he had too much meat the day before. :)

Devon did lots of planking on this trip. He was off of his regular nap schedule, and recovering from being sick. Perfect storm for a lot of two year old tantrums.

Martinsens at the Logan temple.

Tyler got the four wheeler stuck, so of course he had Kaden pushing him out. :) 

We went on a short snowshoe jaunt in the powder. The snow was awesome, and it was beautiful!

Playing duck duck goose at the church building. All those boys have to run their energy out, and they had a lot of fun with all the different games we played.

We went skiing for a half day at Beaver Mountain. It was pretty chilly in the morning, but the sun was out, and we stayed warm chasing kids down the mountain. 

The resident turkeys of the neighborhood were almost daily visitors. They got comfortable enough that they would eat out of our hands.

Spinning cookies on Lost Lake, another annual tradition.

Grandpa needs a bigger recliner!!  :)

Shooting at the gun range for a few hours one day.

The big boys found a great sledding hill and would spend hours out there, even when it was only 5 degrees. They stayed plenty warm hiking up that hill, but I couldn't believe how long they wanted to be out there.

Our last night there, the three big boys slept in at Jeff and Ashley's. That was actually super helpful, because we could pack up almost everything, without kids ripping into packed bags. While we were packing, Devon found a chair and some books downstairs. He thought a chair that was just his size was the perfect thing.

We had a lot of fun with cousins, and, like usual, it always goes by way too quickly!