January always feels like it lasts forever. After the craziness of December, it's so crazy for the pace of life to be at a standstill. We made the most of the month together as a family.
We started out the month visiting old friends from our first time in Germany. These "kiddos" were my piano students from 16 years ago. One of them was getting married up in Ogden, so we drove up to see them. His sister, is already married with a kid. It's crazy how fast they grow up.
We got a few good snowstorms & the kids were able to build some snowmen in our backyard.
Bladen finally got his esports jersey. It's so fun to see his name & title on his uniform.
Canyon built his whole Hogwarts mini lego set all by himself in January.
Taya & Bladen performed at the Multi-cultural assembly at the school. They both learned a cha cha & performed it with some other kids in front of the whole school.
We also spent a day ice skating as a family. My family loves ice skating.
When we woke up the next morning, Santa had arrived & left the kids some very special gifts
Taya got a cute pink chair for her desk at home.
Bladen has been wanting some hand weights for a while now. He was thrilled to get some.
Canyon got some Harry Potter magnetic bricks & a mini-brick Harry Potter castle to put together.
And Craiger got a bean bag for his room.
We had a great morning taking turns opening gifts from each other. Because there are so many of us, it took over 3 hours to open presents. It was a lot of fun.
After opening presents, Trek & I made breakfast for everyone. I made french toast & Trek made omelets. It was delicious.
After breakfast we sat back down & opened up our stockings which is my favorite part of Christmas morning. We each put something in each person's stocking so the surprises we pull out of stockings are extra special. It's my kids' favorite part of Christmas.
My mom opened up some fun gifts from my friend Nancy who always showers my mom with special things to remind her that she is a princess. (There's always crowns on things she sends my mom which is so sweet.)
After we finished up Christmas at my parents' house, we went back home & opened up our presents from Nancy. That felt like a 2nd Christmas altogether. She seriously spoils my family. She is family to us. Family isn't always blood. One of these days I'm going to convince her to come spend Christmas with us so she is not alone.
Like always, she restocked my kids' wardrobes with new clothes & shoes plus a few fun little goodies here & there.
She always spoils me with the most beautiful jewelry. This year she got me a gorgeous sapphire & diamond ring. It's GORGEOUS.
After Nancy gifts, we opened up presents from Opa & Oma.
And Auntie Tylee & Uncle Jeff got us a fun karaoke system.
I tried to get the kids to do a picture of everything they got this year, but it didn't happen. Trek, Canyon, & I did, but everyone else immediately put away their new things.
It was a great year for the entire Potter clan. Merry Christmas & a very happy new year!
