Grandmpa G's retirement

One last post for December! After 42 years (I think) my Dad is finally retiring from the State of Utah as a Mechanic. He has been a dedicated employee to the state for many years! He was always an example to us kids of being a dedicated, hard worker. We celebrated by spending an evening with him and the adults in the family at a fun dinner at Maddox (always a favorite). I look forward to him being able to spend some time doing what he loves and not having to get up for work every Monday morning.

Christmas Day

I don't think the excitement of Christmas ever goes away, even as your kids grow up, there is still that excitement of what surprises will show up Christmas morning. Even the dog got a surprise this year :) After the morning festivities out our house we always get to enjoy a yummy breakfast with our awesome neighbors hosted by the Clarks. What a fun tradition this is! The kids love to see their friends and I must say the adults love to see each other too. Oh, and the food is always YUMMY! After breakfast we always get a fun visit from both Grandparents. The kids love to show what new stuff they have received.
After a little rest and relaxation we then get to spend the evening with the Watkins family for more Christmas fun. Our tradition for this get together is to have breakfast with crepes. YUM! This is definitely a favorite for all! We also do the fun gift exchange and "sock gift". As you can see the boys all got a entertaining gift from grandpa and grandma. These toys entertained them until they all starting breaking, but they were fun while they lasted. It's always a fun night together as a family. This year did not disappoint. We all got a little surprise this year when before the night ended, Grandma and Grandpa had a special gift for everyone. They had a card with poem for each of us that told us that they were turning their papers in to serve a couples mission for the Church. This is something Grandpa has always wanted to do and apparently finally talked Grandma into going. It was a fun but a little emotional surprise for the evening. It will be fun to see what the next few months bring as they await their call.

Christmas Eve

We don't have any real set Christmas traditions for Christmas Eve except spending the time together as a family. This year we headed down to the Gallivan Center for some ice skating. It was a little crowded but minus a few sore behinds still a great time. After the ice skating we enjoyed dinner at Texas Road House. Always fun to have a yummy Christmas Dinner that you don't have to cook or clean up.





After dinner we headed home for some dessert fondue. At the last minute we invited our good friends the Hammonds to join us on their way back home. It turned out to be such a great time that might just become a new tradition. Funny how I ended up with just pictures of the Hammond family.




After the fondue it was time to settle down and get ready for that long winters nap. The kids opened their one gift (PJ's of course), we read the Christmas story together as a family and then it was off to sleep to see what the next day brings.

Temple Square

We made the annual trip to Temple Square at Christmas time. We ended up going with 2 of Blake's brothers families. After our dinner stop at Crown Burger we bundled up and headed out to Temple Square. It is always so beautiful and fun to feel the spirit of Christmas. I'm sure we take it for granted to be so close to just a great Christmas tradition. The kids weren't too great cooperating with pictures but we did sneak a few in of the beautiful sights.

Godfrey Family Christmas Party

So, the Godfrey Christmas Party was at our house this year. I must say it's always nice to be home and not have to make a snowy drive home. Well, this year I decided to go for it and do a formal dinner with real plates and tablecloths. Yes, definitely more work but certainly worth it. I should have taken more pictures before we made a mess of it all, but I did get one of the kids table. We enjoyed the evening together exchanging gifts and letting the kids do a little talent show for us. The highlight of the evening was Eliza and Avery getting there little doll cradle, made by Grandpa. He has made them for all the girls so far so it was fun for him to carry on the tradition. We feel so lucky to be close enough to enjoy the holidays together with our family.

November

Well, as I look back at November it was really not too exciting of a month at our house. We did get to attend a baby blessing for my brothers cute little Jacob. He is such a sweetie. We tried to do some quick pictures as a family which didn't turn out as well as I would have expected, but some pretty dang cute kiddos.



Brookelyn with her new braces! Yeah! She is going to have beautiful teeth before we know it.

Camden had a fun sleepover with some cousins. These boys have so much fun together. They love the time they get to spend with each other. I really had to laugh that they were all intent on playing their DS games as they were settling in for bed. Pretty funny.
Camden played his first season of real Jr. Jazz this year. The season started out great with some great wins. Some changes to the dynamics of the team made the last few games a bit of a different story. But all in all, he loved playing with his buddies and is learning to enjoy the game of basketball.

Bike Ride

Before we know it Winter will be hear so we thought we better head out for a family bike outing. We chose to ride the Snowbasin Gondola up to the top and work our way down on the bike trails. The girls were not to thrilled with this idea but did their best to stick it out (I guess that was the only down the mountain). I think the ride was a little more technically challenging than they were hoping for. Camden is a trooper and loves to be out doing pretty much anything. We did find some amazing views of the Ogden Valley. I really don't love the first photo of me, but the views are worth posting it. Hopefully we haven't scared the girls off from some more bike rides coming up this spring.

Halloween

Oh yes! It's always fun when we get to carve the pumpkins. The kids always love it at first but soon get tired of cleaning the yuck out of the pumpkins, so I guess that is where Mom and Dad's come in. So here are some photos of the work in progress as well as the final masterpieces. I would not claim to be the most creative and artistic people.








So now that the pumpkins are carved we better figure out some costumes for these kids and it never fails that Blake and I end up needing a costume too. So this year Brynnley and her cousin Megan dressed up as 50s diner girls. They were pretty cute and had a good time taking the little ones out trick or treating. Brookelyn was Elvis Presley with her friend who was Michael Jackson. I guess the theme was dead rock and roll stars. Camden was the nerd of all nerds and a pretty dang cute one. The kids all braved the rain on Halloween which made for a cold wet night. They didn't last as long as they have in the past, but still got a pretty good haul on the treats. And yes we all survived another Halloween!