New Years Eve

 Everyone wanted sea food for dinner, so I made shrimp, crab salad, fish, baked potato and garlic cheese biscuits. Then Jason and I hung out for a while downstairs together while the boys each watched Mine Craft video's on their computers in their rooms. Connor got a new computer for Christmas and just got the Mine Craft game for the computer so he can play against his friends. Kaiden got Connor's old Mac computer for his room. Their both pretty happy.  Piper snuggled in my lap since she could hear fireworks every once in a while going off. Surprisingly we really didn't hear hardly any fireworks this year though. Then the boys came down and we all watched a movie together. Nice, relaxing family time.

Ski and Sled

 Jason took the boys skiing at Mt. Spokane (I was working that day). Then the next day we all went sledding.

Christmas Day

 The boys did a great job putting lots of thought into presents for everyone this year. I thought my gift to Jason was clever. He's very picky and hard to buy for. So I got him a puzzle box and once you solve the maze a door opens and I hid $100 and 5 scratch tickets (which he won $2 off). He wasn't as excited about the gift as I was. The boys loved all their gifts. Connor got his first electric razor, a computer with dual monitors for gaming, books, etc. Kaiden got some army men sets, remote control tank, drone, games, etc. I got some kitchen gadgets from the boys and an electric wine opener. Connor said his favorite gift this year is the tickets to see the Michael Carbonaro magic show in February. Kaiden's of course was the Army men sets. For dinner I made individual chicken pot pies, which everyone loves. Then we watched some more movies and relaxed. 

Christmas Eve

 Family board games. The boys got to open a gift- heat activated Harry Potter mug. Connor and I delivered Rachel's gift to her. Rachel and Connor have been friends since the 3rd grade. They meet after school every day this year and Connor walks her home. I helped him make a shirt for her gift. After lots of thinking about what to put on her shirt (originally Connor was thinking of putting "I'm a poet and I know it" since she loves poetry) we decided to put one of her own poems on the shirt with some butterflies. Connor also got her some magnetic book markers since she loves to read. She loved her gift! That evening the Morris boys came over to exchange gifts too. Connor and Raheem used to always play this Lego game they creates where Raheem was "Iron Dog" and Connor was "Super Pig" characters. So, Connor incorporated that into Raheems shirt. Kaiden, Landry and Isaiah made up a game this last summer where they call themselves the "Damage Brothers." So, we incorporated that into 3 identical shirts for them. Tristan loves Paw Patrol, so that's what I did for his shirt. Connor also got Raheem some hot sauce jelly for fun. Landry and Isaiah each got a pack of Lego characters. Tristan got a Paw Patrol character. Then we watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation movie- this is Jason's favorite Christmas time movie. We have to watch it once every Christmas. Kaiden also insists we watch Home Alone and Prep and Landing every year. The boys opened their Christmas Eve gifts. We actually gave them the option to open all their gifts on Christmas eve or just one and save the rest for Christmas morning. They opted to save them for Christmas morning. Kaiden got his arm man set. Connor got a book series he wanted. Piper even opened a toy. She gently tore off the paper just like a person would.