Project Beard

The holiday beard has come to an end. It was a little over two weeks of fun filled excitement every day. I took a picture each morning so I could create something fun, but it never really turned out the way I had planned. Too grey, too thin, too creepy and the family was a bunch of beard haters! I was also surprised at how many others displayed ridicule and annoyance with my beautiful beard. The world is full of people who judge, and it was a great learning experience to see how it all plays out when it's aimed at you. Lesson learned...don't judge by appearance people. Enjoy the collage.

Ski Day!

RaLyn : Lexi : Matt : Holly

Why do my knees hurt? I've been doing this for over 40 years!

Two little lovers sittin' in a chair...

Lexi : Some guy with a "Ski Beard".

Sisters

On Wednesday, we took a trip up to Snowbowl in Flagstaff for a ski day. The kids have been there previously, but it was the first time for RaLyn and me. Travel time = 3 hours each way. Better than Sunrise, but still a lot further than the 15 minutes it used to take to get to Sundance from home in Provo. :-(

The weather was perfect! Nice temperature, no wind, sun, but the snow is a little thin and we could use another 3-4 feet or so! We did have a total blast. It is so much fun skiing as a family. Holly and Lexi are getting really good and will go on any run and keep up with us. We do love skiing, but wish we lived closer to a resort. Snowbowl was extremely crowded, especially the rental line, which took us an hour and a half to get Lexi's rental snowboard. Next time we either borrow one or buy her one. That was a little crazy.

Lexi and Holly approaching the top of the lift.

RaLyn : Lexi : Holly

Looking down at the bottom and the lodge.

The LINE. It was about a 10 minute wait. Not too bad.

Merry Christmas

Christmas on Sunday! This is the best day of the week for Christmas. With older kids, it is even better because they got to sleep in a little, go to Sacrament Meeting at 8:00, which only lasted 50 minutes, then come home and have Christmas! We opened presents, ate brunch and just spent the remainder of the day relaxing.

The annual "stand on the stairs" before you come down to see the Santa stash picture!

Holly : Lexi : Chris : Kiley : Jami : Brandon

Opening Gifts

Kiley had a blast. She was an expert gift opener! She also made a haul!

More gifts out on the patio

Lexi's new bike, Holly's longboard, Chris' bedframe

Squish got a wagon like Barry's and she hauled around all her gifts.

The Aftermath

Christmas Eve Extravaganza

The annual Heninger/Richards Christmas Eve party started at 5:00 and was non-stop F-U-N! Dinner was served and was delicious soups, sandwiches, fruit, chips, salsas and of course, "road-kill-stew" chip dip! After dinner, we had the White Elephant gift exchange and the Nativity presentation. Following those two spectacular events, we topped the evening off with musical presentations of the famous and legendary men's straw armpit band, lead by the famous conductor, Uncle Eddie. Then we finished the evening with the bell music jam. Unfortunately, our famous conductor, Johnny was not in attendance and was sorely missed. It was just not the same without his special skills. We also missed Eli Dees tonight, as he was home with a fever.

Nativity Play

White Elephant

Awkward moment for Grandpa Richards when he opened the Victoria Secrets gift card!

The Legendary STRAW ARMPIT BAND!

Once again they were phenomenal.

Homemade Chocolate Goodies - We finished off the Scotch Mallows!

More, More, More!!!

Lexi : RaLyn : Brittney : Jami

Temple Lights

On Monday, December 19, we had an FHE road trip. Dinner at In-N-Out Burger followed by a visit to the Temple lights in Mesa. It was fun and we also took Ryan, one of Chris' room mates. He had never been before so it was great he could make the visit with us!

Mesa Arizona Temple

Lexi : Kiley

Ryan : Chris : Lexi : Holly

Christmas Bowling Party

Saturday, December 17, marked the annual family Christmas bowling and pizza outing. Once again, it was a blast and we had a great time. Unfortunately, the Men's traveling trophy did not make its fourth trip home with me. After three victories in a row, I am proud to lend the trophy to Shaun for this year. However, by next year it will once again be in my possession. I felt the need to soften my heart and try this act of service in order to build Shaun's self-esteem. Hahahaha! I kid! Shaun won it fair and square. My game was WAY off that afternoon. After bowling, we had a tasty dinner of pizza and wings at Barro's Pizza. Good times were had by all. Enjoy the pictures below.

Photo Collage

The coveted trophies : Matt's complete lack of focus

Maddie : Holly : Lexi : Chris : Shaun @ Barro's Pizza

The Fam - Goofy Photo

[Left to Right]

Shelly : Shir : Kurt : Kiley : Holly : Brandon : Haley : Jami

Kurt : Grandpa : RaLyn : Chris : Grandma : Matt

Lexi : Nate : Shaun : Ed

Old and Feeble

So we had a little challenge at work. Some of us old fogies felt the desire to act like we were 17 years old again and we decided to have a sprint to see who was the fastest. I haven't sprinted for about 30 years. I don't run, I "spin" three days a week at the gym. Obviously, spinning is not the same as sprinting and doesn't use the same muscles. So, I took the challenge and rolled up my pant legs to make sure I didn't trip. Off to the races... Enjoy the video.

I can't wait for Christmas!!!

Cruise: Day 8 - Arrival in Miami & Arizona

It was all over too soon! However, it was good to be home and we had a great time!

Here is a sample of our towel animals provided to us each night!

Waiting for our bus ride to Ft. Lauderdale Airport

Notice everyone catching up on e-mail, texts, etc.?

It is difficult to live without the Internet for a week!!!

Cruise : Day 7 - At Sea

RaLyn in our room : RaLyn and Veli

Veli's name is Velislava and she is from Bulgaria. She was EXTREMELY shy and was our assistant waiter in the dining room every night. She told us we helped her not be so shy and to talk more with the passengers!

Card Sharks

Cruise : Day 6 - Grand Cayman

Out of all the places we visited, I'd have to say Grand Cayman was my personal favorite. Probably because I'm not all that comfortable in a third world country and Grand Cayman is very civilized! It felt like home, yet tropical and beautiful. The only issue was the traffic drives on the left side of the road, since it is a British colony. It is very modern and the buildings and homes are extremely nice. Our excursion for this stop was a trip to go snorkeling and to Stingray City, which is out in the middle of the North Sound part of the island. You can see it on the map below on the right. A lot of our family also joined us, so it was even more fun! We found out that Wayne is a "Stingray Whisperer"! He is the master of handling the stingrays and they seemed to love him! He was always holding one and was the most impressive of all! Pictures are below and I'll explain each. Needless to say, if I had a few million just laying around, I think I may move here for part of the year!

Grand Cayman is the red starred island on the left map.

We dropped anchor in George Town and drove along Seven Mile Beach and took a boat out to Sting Ray City, shown on the right map.

Our Moby Dick Bus ride through town to the boat dock.

Me and Ms. Lovely - I think the fish had an affect on RaLyn

Sting Ray City is by the boats in the distance.

The new underwater camera worked great!

All the photos I took on the cruise were with the underwater camera.

I highly recommend it. It's a "Canon PowerShot D10".

This is the reef where we snorkeled.

My vacation home.

STINGRAYS!!!

On the tour boat. Notice the boat in the upper right that is stuck on the reef! LOL!

My snorkeling adventure.

Live Star Fish!

A guide on our boat saw them on the bottom of the ocean and dove in and grabbed two for us to look at for a few minutes. We had to throw them back within 5 minutes so they didn't die.

Walking the city shops by the Pier.