Happy Birthday, Will!

The day began with Carolyn's favorite missionary breakfast:  Mantou buns.  The kids love these.

I am one of those people who says, "I don't know if I will like this, so I probably won't."  But I did try one.

The sauce terrified me.

I needed to find room in the fridge.  Jacob and I enjoyed the last of the cherry pie for our second breakfast.

Will turned 17.  The Cannon family joined Dave's family in sledding, and then came over for hamburgers.

These kids get along very well.  It's really fun to see.

Nate wanted to give his brother a happy birthday hug.

I inspired Tom to give Zach a hug.

Julia and Chelsea had a slight sledding encounter with a tree.  I think we are done with dangerous sports for this vacation.

Papa Ben stood outside in 16 degree weather to grill us burgers.  Dave "took care of" his father afterward.

I made a lemon cake for Will.  Not a bite was left.

I made chocolate tortes for everyone else.  There are still plenty on the counter.

Melanie is such a trooper.  We have not heard one word of complaint from her.  Various people helped her up and down the stairs last night and made sure her needs were met.

Shabu Shabu

We worked together to prepare Shabu Shabu for our New Year's Eve dinner.

Everyone helped in their own way.  My new guitar sounds wonderful.

Melanie grated the daikon, honestly my favorite part of this meal.

Julia, always eager to help, cut all the tofu into squares with a table knife.

She also set the table.

Shabu Shabu is a fun, almost interactive meal.

It is also delicious.

Everyone enjoyed it.

My least favorite part of this meal is the noodles, but I stand alone there.

Ending the year with a bang, two young men had a blast at a multi-stake dance, Papa did the dishes, and the other adults enjoyed a little ST.

Again! Again!

The morning started quietly, with the kids hunting for things to do.

Nathan found our battery-operated Darth Vader in the basement.  He about died when Darth raised his light saber.

Jacob successfully solved some wooden puzzles.

This was a lot of fun.

Will is working on Moonlight Sonata, and making fine progress.

About 10 am, Dave and I got our act together and took the kids to Rock Canyon Park.

This hill is steeper than the ones in our neighborhood, but Julia loved it.

She said, "Again! Again!" over and over.

Notice she's on the back of Nate's sled.

She took every opportunity to go down the hill.

No one resisted.

Notice her pink headband over her eyes.  Clever girl -- this prevents snow spray.

She found a clever way back up, too.

This was hilarious to watch.

Everyone got into her groove.

Sometimes she took the front seat.

But most of the time she let others take the spray.

And back up again.

Yes, she is the adorable little sister.

And Nate is the cute little brother.

Everyone was happy to take him down the hill.

It was a beautiful  morning, but heading for single digits.

The family that sleds together crashes together.

But not very often.

Will caught a little air.

Things didn't always go as planned.

I have taught these kids all the tricks about dressing warm.

No one complained this morning.

Matt liked the steep hill.

I encouraged him to sled head first.

I saw many races this morning.

Did I mention we had fun?

I am not standing above them, by the way.  They were being creative.