Christmas 2012

Christmas Eve at our house always ends with Christmas pjs and Daddy reading the story of the birth of our saviour in Luke 2. We put out some cookies for Santa too before we tuck the little ones into bed for the night.

After a long winter's night, William woke us all up to see what was left under the tree. Our children were spoiled beyond rotten after they saw what they had each gotten. (Sorry a little corny I know!)

We started a new tradition this year with the children each drawing names and then working all December to earn money for the gifts they would exchange. It was pretty fun to see their enthusiasm in giving this year! Much better than all the focus on getting.

We headed over to my parents home for breakfast and more gift exchanges. The kids were loaded with treats and fun toys. Brooklyn was overwhelmed with everything going on around her! It was a very fun Christmas;even though most of us were battling the flu and sugar comas too!

We are so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who sent His son to be an example for us, to sacrifice and die for us. We can truly feel the Christmas spirit this year. The Lord lives and loves us. We can see our blessings beyond measure. This year has helped us grow and learn as a family. We are truly blessed with these wonderful children, good jobs, a nice home, reliable transportation, money enough for our needs and a little extra here and there, friends and family and each other! What a wonderful celebration of the Lord's birth to finish off the year.  

Christmas Dinner

The Bonewell Family Chrismas dinner is put on by Stephanie each year. She does a great job and always has activities for the kids with lots of festivities all around. This year we had a candy hunt followed by a special visit from Santa Clause. The kids loved it. We kept with the spirit of Christmas and all ate yummy food!

 

 

Family Christmas Pictures 2012

Stephanie took some great shots of our family for Christmas! The kids were in good moods and everyone seemed to be genuinely happy about the pictures!

Cub scouting

 

Taylor earned his bear in cub scouts. I have just been called/asked to be the new cub master. It is a bit overwhelming but should be lots of fun and adventurous! I am so thankful for the cub scout program. It is wonderful for these little boys and helps them accomplish such noteworthy goals!

Snow in Southern Utah

 

We really don't get very cold here so snow is a rarity. This year the kids woke up to snow. I let them spend a little time playing in all the snow before school. By the time they were home again, the snow was all melted!

Gingerbread Houses

Family home evening was time for Gingerbread houses. We made a big mess and had lots of fun. The kids loved making them. Next year we might have to go with the kits since they kept falling over!

Brunettes have all the fun

 

Happy Birthday to me! Stephanie spoiled me with a little bit of color at the Salon. She's currently a student at Taylor Andrew's Hair School. She did a great job!

Onions anyone?!?

My mom used to tell me stories about when I was really young and I would go out in my Grandpa's back porch to eat their sweet onions. Brooklyn seems to be rather fond of the onions as well. Everytime the kids open the fridge door she'll grab an onion and take a nibble. Like Mother like daughter, I guess!

Brace Face 2

Look who's a metal mouth?

Thanksgiving Day weekend in Salt Lake and surrounding areas

We headed up north to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with Zack's family. Thanksgiving day was at Grandma Benson's home. She had quite the houseful. Uncles, aunts, cousins and Grandma Benson too! It was very fun and the food was wonderful.

We were pleased to be able to see so much family! Zack's cousins who are attending BYU-Idaho came down for Thanksgiving too. It was lots of fun.

David, Zack, Stephen, Danielle, Rachel, Jordan, Daniel and Samuel

On Friday Zack was sick and we didn't get much playtime. Erica and Alisha did a little black Friday shopping after the crowds had dispersed! Charles took us all over to the Air Force Museum while the babies slept. The kids thought it was awesome but really didn't get enough time to see everything there was. It was pretty cool!

Saturday we headed back down to Salt Lake and visited with Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Karla. It was nice to visit with them and check on Grandpa after all of his knee surgeries. He's a trooper! Grandma Karla fed us some yummy leftovers. She is doing so much to keep Grandpa going!

We headed over to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights! It was beautiful as ever except the nativity wasn't working. That was a bummer. Taylor says he wants to live in a city since there was so much going on there.

We played lots with the Charles and Erica while we were in town. They were kind enough to let us stay at their home for the whole weekend. Adding 8 people to your household for 4 days can be quite crazy! Poor Reed was sick the whole time and had a hard time sleeping but they were troopers. Charles was good to let the boys play wii with him and rake up piles of leaves to let the kids jump in. Erica made sure we always had plenty to eat and activities to do. Thanks for making are stay so nice.