December Happenings

We're still getting our hiking in each week!  Last week we went to Walnut Creek again and this time we actually managed to walk a few miles, rather than just playing on the playground!  I would have loved to walk longer but the kids kept stopping to look at beaver signs and skip rocks, which are also wonderful things to do, so I tried to not let myself get antsy.  For this hike we had Kristen and her four kids and Adam.  And we discovered that Kristen's oldest daughter, Ember, LOVES hearing riddles!  So she and Ryder had the best time EVER and I actually got to chat with my grown-up friends some, too!  Everyone wins!

Colton hadn't brought his coat, so I suggested he wear Kendra's.  This picture is very... blue.

I can't believe Sydney could get herselfinto the baby swings here!

Running around the lake (creek?)

These two!  They are peas in a pod!

Beavers did this!

Camille wanted to stand in the middle of these trees

So then everyone else needed to, also!

What a goofball!

Back at the playground!  Camille's face here...  And Colton's!  My kids are insane.

Later in the day...

Colton & Camille got to help Sydney & Beth decorate their tree, too!

And Bentley had fun with Kendra's Medusa costume!

And on Sunday, after we got to sleep in and have a Zoom Stake Conference broadcast (with no cameras on our end of things!)...

We had spontaneous snowflake making!  This was one of those moments that if you'd TRIED to make happen, it would have been awful and everyone would have been fighting.  But since it just happened organically, it was really lovely and everyone had a great time!

I kept either blinking or giving myself extra chins for this picture.  Gah!  But I do make nice snowflakes!

Disco party with the tacky Christmas lights in the basement!

On Tuesday we had the YM and YW meet at our house to roll out, bake, and decorate sugar cookies!  We tried very hard to follow all the rules-- families were stationed at the same tables together so the only people within 6 feet of each other all lived in the same house anyway; everyone was masked the entire time; and we managed to stick to the 25 person limit!  Despite all that, I still worried what the neighbors must have been thinking.  But everyone had fun and it was great seeing people!

The Hunsaker table

The Rougie table

We hadn't seen Monica in ages and she'd changed her hair and clothing style a lot.  That, combined with the mask meant that nobody recognized her at first!

Bentley and Kendra got this end of the large dining room table

While the Osmans got the other end!

And their dad napped nearby! 😄

And this was the Andersen table!

That happened on Tuesday, and Thursday our governor announced more stringent lockdown guidelines, so I guess we got to this activity in the nick of time!