The week before Christmas until the week after Christmas

Luke loves his big Mastadon nerf gun! This thing is a monster! 

We've had some pretty lively Nerf fights in the last few days!

Josh is playing intramural basketball again, and we went to watch one of his games while Gramma and Grampa Harley were here.  He was on fire -- made a few baskets, stole the ball a few times and was just "on" so it was extra fun to watch. 

Luke got this color rush jersey for his birthday. He loves it, and especially once he learned that 54 was daddy's college football number. 

Tuesday was cookie baking day.  Luke loves to do the rolling. 

This is such a sweet tradition that these two have together. 

We, mostly Grampa Harley and daddy, worked hard on this Christmas puzzle.  It's such a fun scene. 

The next morning we saw this scene.  Champ had knocked the puzzle over and was snuggling in the felt that we built in on.  She would have been in so very much trouble if that puzzle wasn't done. 

Wednesday was Josh's last Holiday Program of elementary school.  This is him with his good friend, Aden, looking so dapper in their suits. 

They did a duet of Up on the Rooftop on their trombones.

Luke was all fancy in his suit, too.  

The second graders looked and sounded terrific!  Luke's classmates told him that he looked a business man in his suit. 

We started Christmas break off right! Wednesday night we all slept on the floor under the Christmas tree.  That was a lot of fun, maybe something we will try again next year.  

Thursday we went skiing with Kyler.  Super fun day, and a terrific way to start the holiday break.  

This is Josh on a jump in the terrain park. 

And Luke's turn...

Our tree fell over randomly on December 23. Perfect timing. 

We sadly broke a lot of ornaments, but we got it all back and straighter than before.  

I don't know why we have this picture, but I can't just not post it.  His hair and smile make me too happy.

Pre Christmas Eve Church picture. Love these handsome boys.

Funny faces for the win.

After church we got into comfy clothes and continued to puzzle. it was intense. 

We played a fierce game of 31 and it ended with a stare down from mother to son. 

Santa brought a "bunker of presents" for the boys. 

They were so excited!

The stockings had football cards, so they opened them and went through each card.  Patience!

Ruby had a great Christmas. 

He's so funny.

Silly boy.

Christmas night we played fantastic games -- including this game Googley Eyes.  It's like dictionary but sillier 

We went to Kalispell on the 27th and they had a gob of snow.  The boys went straight from the car to the snow to build a fort. 

First part of fort building is to tunnel between the forts. 

More games!  Josh got this game Klask from Gramma and Grampa. So fun!

We went to Big Mountain the next day. We had a few moments before we could ski (we bought the swing shift ticket from 1 PM to 8 PM) and so we mapped a few routes.  big plans!

Just a pre-ski selfie.

The snow was incredible, and the trees were gorgeous.  Family ski days are my new favorite. 

We spent most of the afternoon on the backside, and when we went to the front side we loved the view of the lake and the valley. 

Look at these happy boys!

Power Jesus for the second time.  

Soon enough we were in the darkness, skiing happily.

Luke liked the lodge a lot. 

This is the face he made when I told him we could play foose ball. 

Thursday we hung out with John and his family.  Rylan was a hoot!

We took the group to a fun zone type of place...this was 1 of 2 pictures I took there. 

And this was the second picture. 

And then we went to 1 of 2 bars.  The boys wanted to go somewhere that had shuffleboard, and who are we to argue.  

The boys played pool while the grown ups played shuffleboard. 

Shark face...

John said that he hadn't played shuffleboard in seven years.  perfect partner!

Dad was serious as always.

Gramma was a fierce partner.

We got back to town on the 30th, and Luke and I hung out while Josh and daddy went skiing. We did some shopping and  got him a hair cut.  He looks so grown up!

Josh came back on cloud 9.  He and daddy went to the ridge, which is the most extreme place on the mountain.  You need avalanche safety gear to go on the lift that services that part of the hill.  He was SO happy!

Mike took some great pictures from the top.

Check out this terrain!  I'm so glad that I was not there -- this looks so so so scary to me!

He was so happy to be there!

The view is pretty breathtaking!

More games!  Luke got a gigantic Jenga game that was so much fun!  While Luke and I were running errands, we decided to have a little New Years Eve party of our own. Luke decided on snacks and games for our big evening. 

Luke came down with the Jenga and a hardhat.  Smart!

Today the boys decided to de-ice the trampoline. Hard workers. 

Luke found this humongous icicle on the trampoline! 

The Week In Review

Sparkled was teaching all of animals some valuable Christmas lessons.
These animals would be easy to shoot, Luke informed me.  We have a clear shot on every one of the game animals. Great to know. 

The rules.  1.  Elves love candy and sugar.  2.  Santa is REAL.  3.  Rudolf is so funny.  4. Smiling is my favorite. 

The next day she was in the bathroom with a toilet paper snowman. 

Luke snowplowing.  They're to the age where we'll offer them money if they do a good job snow-blowing/snow-shoveling. Luke's pretty good at it...

His lines are a little crooked, but then again he's only done it twice. :) 

This is a random picture of Connor and Josh -- they have the same shoes, but so many sizes apart. :) 

Luke's Birthday Week

Luke's birthday was on Friday this year, which was the same day as our Company meeting and Christmas party.  We decided to let him open his gifts on Thursday before we took him to dinner.  He was so excited to open his gift from Josh. 

What about this custom wrap job? 

That face is INTENSE.

He's pretty happy with just a glimpse of the side of the box.  

It's the Mastadon, the biggest baddest nerf gun ever. He's thrilled.

He asked for a Go Pro, so we wrapped a pair of pajama pants in a Gear Pro box. (That's the knock off Go Pro that we bought a few years ago.) He was very confused when he saw the wrapped gift inside the box. 

The next gift was the GoPro he wanted, wrapped in a  shoe box and recording, so that we could see his reaction. 

Buffalo Wild Wings for birthday dinner.  He said he thinks this is the 3rd year in a row that we went to BWW for birthday dinner.  

Sparkles helped wish him a happy birthday!

I brought treats (brownies shaped like Christmas trees, with green frosting and m&ms on them) to the classroom.  This is during the singing Happy Birthday. 

Saturday morning was Barnard Santa brunch.  The boys looked so handsome in their suits. 

We had a lively game of 31 after we watched Rogue One and had Panda Express for dinner.  What a fun day!

Sunday was Luke's birthday party at the Ridge.  I love that they have this announcement sign. 

We chose the Ridge because they had Zorb balls for a party activity.  they were so much fun! 

Kyler had a great time attacking people with the safety of a big ball of air. 

They'd charge from across the gym!

Josh kept yelling "This is awesome!"

Gabe, Josh, and Kyler.  The Big Boys.  

Ty and Connor were the cutest to watch because they were so short their little feet hardly even stuck out of the bottom. 

That's a heck of a charge!

After the Zorb Balls, we did sang to Luke and had cake and ice cream. 

They were quiet for about 1 minute right after everyone had their food. 

After presents, they had more time in the Fun Zone.  It's funny to me that after all this time, they still like the ball pit. 

Snowy Week

Luke was well prepared for the cold weather. He had an assortment of hats at the ready.  

Sparkles was trapped, and it was quite an issue for the boys. Do they try to set her free and risk touching her/losing her magic, or do they play it safe and keep her stuck in the glass?  They opted to save her. 

Sledding Party! 

This group loves a pyramid.  Usually we do this drunk at the end of the night, so this was a lot more self-conscious than our normal formation. 

The Crew

Obligatory girl picture, and this time Ashtyn is front and center.  Love that! 

These boys are thick as thieves.  We missed Kyler, who was on a school trip to Yellowstone. 

All the kids.  I love that they HAD to have their sleds with them in this picture.  Silly!

After sledding, the boys took care of our fresh snow on the driveway and sidewalk.  They created this mountain of snow, and are so proud of it! 

It was time to get warmed up, so they made a blanket fort and watched some Star Wars.

A chairlift go pro picture...love these goof balls. 

They were so jacked to go to Bridger on it's opening weekend.  They love their boys' days on the mountain!

Sparkles, Reading and a Tree

Sparkles came back when the boys came home from Hunting Camp, and she's been super silly so far. 

Another picture of my sweet boys reading in class together.  You can't really tell, but Josh's arm is around Luke's shoulder. 

Ruby and I took a nice, snowy walk Friday morning. 

Friday afternoon I got to come into the classroom while they did stations.  This is one station where you read to your partner.  I love Rogen's hair. 

I told you Sparkles has been silly!

Saturday morning we were supposed to run in the Santa Run 5K, but instead we took Joshy to the doctor. He's got bronchitis, and was given a breathing treatment on the spot.  Poor guy.  They sent us home with an inhaler, some antibiotics, cough syrup, and the joking instructions to play 12 hours of video games each day. 

Saturday afternoon we decorated our tree.  It's a beaut.  Not too tall, not too short, just right. 

I love Luke's smile in this picture.