Ornaments 2021

This year's ornaments didn't actually get put up on the tree, because of our kitty-Christmas tree-light-eating fiasco.  

The kiddos all chose their own ornament this year:

Little Guy wanted a violin since he started taking violin lessons this year.

BB wanted an ornament of a boy singing since he started taking voice lessons this year.

Little Lady wanted a Hermione Granger ornament since she loves all things Harry Potter and it was her costume for Halloween this year.

Little Man has been loving Mandarin Chinese.  He's on his second year of learning the language in school and it has really made him love China.  He got his very own Chinese dragon ornament.

Ornaments from trips this year: Our summer road-trip to Yellowstone, our couples get away to Mexico, and our quick stop in Branson.

Other ornaments of interest:  Their cousins, Anna and KK, made them a hat.  KVC also gave us an ornament for being a foster family this year.  The cats got in the bag and bit off the ribbon for it before I even got it out of the bag.  Sigh.  Stinkin' cats!  Maybe next year we'll actually get to put real ornaments up on the tree.

Young Love

 BB has a "girlfriend."  They walk around the playground together during recess and get chased by Adalyn's friends.  She got him a present for Christmas.  We cleaned out BB's closet and came across note after note from her.  We even came across one they had passed back and forth.  Sigh.  I have a feeling we're in trouble with this boy of ours.  

A Quick Visit

Aunt Liz popped in for a bit and the kids were so excited!  She and Little Lady had a mini cello jam session.  It was so fun to hear them play together.  Little Lady has decided it needs to happen more often. 

We love Aunt Liz!

Christmas Loveliness

The kiddos have yet to learn how to sleep in on Christmas.  The oldest two were actually up around 5:30/45 in the morning arranging gifts.  Joel and I dragged ourselves out of bed at 6:30am for opening stockings, and then Grandma and Grandpa were upstairs by 7 for gift opening. 

We do a secret sibling swap each year.  They draw a name of one of their siblings and get a gift for them.  I have been impressed by their thoughtfulness, and they get just as excited for their sibling to open their gift and they would for themselves. 

Santa brought one big gift for the four of them and they squealed with delight when they went down to the basement and saw it.  

Once presents were open they got right to work enjoying their gifts...

until a late Christmas breakfast.

It was a quiet and lovely day. 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a lazy day which equals a fabulous day.  We baked sugar cookies, watched The Grinch, decorated cookies for Santa, and picked up subs for dinner.  The kiddos all opened up their Christmas Eve pajamas that fit perfectly with watching Grinch. 

They loved their pajamas!  Our evening devotional was lovely.  Everyone chooses something they want to contribute.  Little Guy played "Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing!" on the piano.  BB chose to play his recital piece, "Carol of the Bells," since Grandma and Grandpa Stuetz weren't there for it.  Little Lady chose to read out loud The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  The littles acted out her reading.  Little Man played "The First Noel" on the piano.  We finished up our advent calendars, nativity, and Grandma Stuetz read A Little House on the Prairie Christmas.

We opened and played our family game.  It's beautiful and fun!

We stayed up way too late after the kiddos went to bed to get Christmas ready.  We had some less than stellar help.  Poor Joel was up until 12:30am building a Foosball table.  My mom and I helped him after the stockings were done.  

Temple Night

We got home from Missouri late Thursday afternoon.  We decompressed for a couple of hours and then we took Little Man to do baptisms with his grandparents at the temple.  We thought the shadows on the side of the temple were pretty cool, because they look like mini temples. 

Living in the Ozarks

When I was 6 weeks old my parents packed up and moved from Los Angeles, California to a tiny town in the Ozarks.  They lasted about two and a half years before returning to California.  Missouri is known as the "Show Me" state and to this day my mom still refers to it as the "Show me the way out" state.  On our way back home to Kansas we stopped by Monett and Verona, Missouri.  They rented this home for $125 a month in Monett for 6 months until they bought 80 acres of land in Verona.  The home is no longer standing, but the root cellar and barn are still there.

It is legitimately in the middle of no where.  My mom was a teacher's aide in a K-8 one room school room. I was not quite 3 when we left, so I don't have any memories there, but I am extremely aware of how different my life would have been if my parents had not moved back to California.   

Silver Dollar City

Everyone says you need to visit Branson at least once in the Summer and once during the Christmas season.  I completely get it now.  Christmas is magical in Branson.  Silver Dollar City was absolutely beautiful with all of the lights.  

Riding the train after sunset is a definite must, because you get to see all of the lights throughout the park and the nativity is even more beautiful.

Everyone tried a true roller-coaster for the first time.  It definitely scared Little Guy.  He's not quite ready.  Little Lady is still afraid of heights, so she's only willing to try the ones that don't have loops.  BB was brave and tried 3 of the roller-coasters.  He said they were ok.  It's Little Man who is the true adrenaline junkie.  He rode and ranked all of the roller-coasters:

#5- Little Man ranked Thunderation as last place.  BB actually liked it quite a bit and this is the one that Little Lady and Little Guy tried.  It was the tamest of the roller-coasters, but there was a lot of whiplash.  After riding it I have determined that I am too old for these rides now.  My stomach did not thank me for the ride.

#4- Powder Keg:  It was incredibly fast (0 to 83 in 2.5 seconds), but that's about all it had to recommend itself.  Little Man also felt it was too short.  BB agreed.  This was his least favorite.

#3- The Wild Fire:  It was a solid roller-coaster with good looptie loops, but nothing out of the ordinary.  BB loved this one.  

#2- Outlaw Run:  Little Man was the only one brave enough to try the wooden roller-coaster.  He loved the long drop and it looptie looped the entire way to the finish.  It also didn't have the whiplash of the Thunderation.

#1- The Time Traveler:  Little Man was the only one crazy enough to ride this.  He said this is by far is the best ride in the park.  The seats rotate as you ride the roller-coaster which means your stomach is turning from multiple different angles.  As you plunge downward the spinning gets faster.  He loved it!  I was freaked out just watching him, but he got off saying his stomach felt great.  He's got a stomach of steel! After all the rides all he wanted was hot chocolate to get a little warm.

There were also a lot of rides that the other kiddos loved.  Little Lady loved the Balloon ride the best.  Grandma braved that ride.  I know better than to get on the circular rides.  They make me sick every time.

The bakery at the entrance of the park is amazing!  We had to each get a ginger cookie!  We took cinnamon rolls home on our way out- yum!

The kiddos really want to come back and try out all of the water rides during the Summer, so this is definitively not a final goodbye.  We'll be back!