Gotta love SNOW!!

Two weeks of Christmas vacation has about done Mom in!!!  We went out and made snow forts all day on December 31.
Payton went snowboarding and missed out on the fun!
Totally "pooped" out after all the hard work!  We had a lot of fun and hope it snows big again...since we used up all the snow!

The Elves are out!!

 

We had fun creating the elf faces!  We wish there were

6 elves so Greg could be one, too.  Funny...I don't think

he cared much!

Celebrating the Christmas Season...

Building the first snowman of the season...with Ryan and Kate Pexton (neighbors).
A last minute gift idea from Santa...Payton shows off some fancy moves and some serious ping pong attire at our Christmas night Ping Pong tournament!  This tournament started at about 10:45 pm and went until some time after midnight.
Getting ready to bring down his opponent...which happened to be his mother.
Donning the sweats after his victory and Jantsen starts to warm up!
The Thorpe grandkids on Christmas morning.  Of course wearing our "Ute" shirts we received from Grandma and Grandpa.
The Thorpe wives also wearing our warm and cozy Ute sweatshirts.
Porter, Brooks, Nick, Gracie and Ryann show off their cute little backsides.  "Go Utah!"
A remote that Grandpa can see and might not lose!
The "Card Shuffler" for one with really agile fingers!  :)
Sometimes "bad" little boys really do get coal for Christmas!  (Riley and Savannah's gifts)
Christmas Day!  About 7am, the boys are just about to see what Santa brought!
Christmas Eve at the Fauxes.  This is the gift Jay and Shea gave Grandma and Grandpa.  We thought is was totally cool and want to make one for ourselves!  Always a fun party!!
Playing the Faux Family Christmas Bingo game that Catryna made.  Everyone's cards had faces of every member of the family...just in different order!  It was a great idea and a fun time for us all.
Greg, Payton and Jantsen wait patiently to open gifts!
All of the "younger" grandkids getting ready to watch the Nativity.
December 20th.  Grandma Goe's Christmas party at Rob and Sherston's house.  Doesn't Grandma look fantastic!  She's 86 here.
A great picture of Mindy, Casey and Jessie.
December 19.  Brooks is dressed sharp and ready for his Preschool Christmas program.  He sang every song loud and strong! 
This picture was taken towards the end of the program.  Notice his hat about to fall off...it had fallen off once and while leaning over to put it back on, got his tie caught between his hat and head making it stretch in front of his face.  Notice his shirt untucked...you'd think he had been through a lot more than singing a few songs!
Just about all the kids! (this is 2 four year old classes)
The beginning of December brought the Singles Ward Christmas party/dance.  Jantsen, Nick and Brooks had a blast dancing with the cute Sumsion girls!

We had a fabulous Christmas this year.  We are so grateful for so many blessings!!  Especially each other and for our Savior, Jesus Christ.

A little update on the boys...

Brooks went with a few Primary kids to the Art City Nursing Home to sing some Christmas songs to the residents there. December 3. He loves to sing!!
Right after they finished singing...cute bunch of kids!
Jantsen #4 has been playing on two basketball leagues (5th grade Bantam, and 5th grade Mr. Basketball league in SF) They have a great team! Dad and Kirk Boyer coach both teams. Jantsen loves that cousin Seth plays with him.

Payton #25 has also been playing in the two same basketball leagues. (Of course, the 8th grade teams) He is also playing city basketball and has started practices, but no games yet.
Sadly, Payton sprained his ankle during the first 2 minutes of yesterday's game. His ankle immediately looked pregnant and now is still swollen and black & blue. Hopefully, his strikingly handsome, Physical Therapist will have him ready to play next Saturday. :)

Bryan & Rocio's new house!!

After looking for 2 years, Bryan and Rocio finally found the home they wanted!  They had a "house-warming" party and about 30 of us went to celebrate...
                                                 Steve, Catryna, Jason & Shea
                                               Dad, Mom and Rob
                                                   Sherston & Jared
                               Cute little Jessie (the youngest of the family)
                                                  Jessie and Mindy
 Some of the guys eating...Greg, Casey, Payton & Jantsen seemed to avoid the camera.
Most of the girls enjoying food and time without the kids  (they were downstairs watching a movie in the "theater room".
About half of the kids playing Red Rover in the theater room.  We loved the home!  It is very cute and perfect for Bryan & Rocio and Rocio's mom.  She is living in the separate apartment downstairs.   It is in a perfect location for them, close by Mountain View High School which means Rocio can jump on the freeway to UVU and Bryan has easy access to work for UPS. Congrats again, guys!!

Taking #!?@!!...family pictures!

Why is it so hard to get everyone to smile and look at the camera at the same time?
The boys looked good in this picture, so I cropped myself out!!
  Thirty minutes of torture about did us in!!  That is why we only do this once a year...and that is just with our own little camera.  The big, above the fireplace, professional family picture is done like every 3-4 years!!!

Thanksgiving...

No pictures taken!!  I had good intentions of taking photos, but when the turkey took 2 extra hours to cook, I became a bit flustered!!  We had some of the Faux clan here for the holiday.  Mom & Dad, Steve, Catryna, Annika, Ethan & Emily, Jason, Shea & Hailey.  And of course me, Greg, Payton, Jantsen, Nick & Brooks.

We planned to eat at 2pm, but didn't end up eating until about 4:30pm.  No one complained and when we at last sat down to eat, it really tasted pretty good!!  Everyone pitched in and brought yummy food.

We, especially the women, got to catch up on what everyone has been doing and really enjoyed each other's company.  The kids made up their own treasure hunt and watched "Kung-fu Panda".  Hopefully Mom (Grandma) was able to relax for once.  We missed those that weren't there!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

The Utes vs the Cougars...48 to 24!

Utes are #1!!  The Thorpe family came to our house to watch the Utah Utes beat the BYU Cougars!  Poor Grandma Crandall (BYU fan) was a great sport and even let us put a U of U blanket on her!!
Another #1 picture to get Savannah in there.  All the little kids were upstairs playing and Jantsen was at a tailgate birthday party for Josh Elison (BYU fan).  Poor Josh.
Watching intently...
Riley and Savannah lovin' every minute of it!!
The first half was a little tense, but we knew our Utes would continue their undefeated season and show those Cougars a thing or two.  During the game our "Cougar fan" neighbors put blue and white balloons on our yard and BYU signs on our front window.  So after the huge win, we put on all our red, grabbed those balloons and went caroling to their house singing "A Utah Man Am I", and popped the balloons as they opened the door.  Ooh, it is nice to win!  Way to go Utes!!

South Dakota Hunt...

The annual South Dakota pheasant hunt started out with a stop at Mount Rushmore. Greg, Payton, and Jantsen took off in Laura's car on Monday, November 17.  1080 miles later they reached Mitchell, South Dakota.
They rode with another vehicle driven by Robert Ellis.  He took Conner, Alayna, his brother, Brian, his son, Tyson and Brian's brother-in-law, Jeff.
This is a picture of the crazy ones that drove.  Everyone else flew.
Most of the mighty hunters ready to shoot some pheasants.  It was just a little cold. (16 degrees with 25 mile per hour winds.
Greg, Payton and Jantsen trying to stay warm.
The whole group after a day of hunting: The Ellis', the Thorpe's and the Child clan.
Payton and Jantsen and the beautiful sunset...
Enjoying a meal.  They came home on Saturday, November 22.  Nick, Brooks and Laura held down the fort at home and were very excited for their return.  They did make it home in one piece.  (Barely)