One of my goals for the new year is to play more games as a family. I love playing games with my grown up family and friends. Playing games with little ones requires a lot of patience. But if I ever want them to be lovers of games as adults, I must instill a love of games now.
It wasn't too hard to have a blast playing Scrabble. Mostly because of Luke's potty humor.
He put the word 'BUM' together and could not keep it together. We were laughing at 'BUM', but laughing more at Luke laughing at 'BUM'. That kid is a riot.
Of course, Luke started a trend. Kobe waited long and hard to draw his inappropriate word. Finally, the stars aligned, and he was blessed with 'GAS'. Kobe refused to let go of those three letters, and I believe it cost him the game.
Jude's favorite game to play is 'Hullabaloo'. It is so perfect for his age, and I'm glad he has something that we all can play and enjoy.
But he kind of always cheats. He runs to the winning mat after it has already been announced every time. And we all look the other way. Because it's cute little Jude who never wins anything. Except now it's going to his head. Parenting Dilemma #5,832.
I'm including this picture to show that I am there when we play games, too.
Yeah for games!
It was pretty cold and snowy while we were in Utah, so we took one bright morning to go sledding.
We found a steep and icy hill. It was a little dangerous getting up it, and a little scary going down. Mostly just fun for the boys, though! 
Do you ever have pictures that immediately bring up bad feelings? That's what these two pictures do for me. "Being outdoors" is not my favorite thing in the world. And I like "being cold" even less than that. So when I go with my family sledding, I am saying, "I love you guys! Let's 
Even though the morning of sledding ended with tears from everyone but Dad, it was happiness and fun when we were on the hill!
We spent a day with Jakob's family exchanging gifts and playing with cousins. 
Grandpa Dave and Grandma Judy want to make sure their grandchildren have every enjoyment in life, especially the ones that us parents choose not to provide for them. Past Christmas gifts include boxing gloves, electronic drums, and this year it was harmonicas for everyone. There was a lot of pretty music being made all day. 
Tate hesitantly hugging Uncle Erik. Next year Tate will be old enough to realize that Uncle Erik always gives the awesome presents. The hugs will flow more freely then.
Some snugs from cousin Mary.
We stayed at my parents house. Here is my Dad reading the boys to sleep.
The Charles family was in Utah at the same time as us for a few days. It was so fun to visit with Marcie, Jamis, and cute little Charlie Mae. We tried to get a picture of the cousins together minutes before they left for the airport. Charlotte wasn't thrilled about it. But isn't she the cutest when she's upset?!?
A quick picture of Marcie and me as they were walking out the door.
We also drove up to Salt Lake to visit with Grandpa and Grandma Matthews. It was so great to see them and spend time catching up. My grandpa is working on family history a lot these days, so we talked about that and he showed us some of the stuff he is working on. And the boys spent a lot of time at Grandma Claire's infamous gumball machine. I love my grandparents and love to be in their warm and loving home!
We went to Utah the day after Christmas, and made it just in time for the Ahlman Reunion, which is Jakob's mom and her siblings. It was so much fun! It was at a clubhouse in Heber that had all sorts of things for us to do. There was a racquetball court, a toddler play area, pool, ping pong, a fire, kitchen, food, and music! It was so much fun and I'm so glad we could go.
The highlight for me was definitely the music. Jakob's mom, Judy, and her siblings are all very musical, so there is usually guitar playing and singing at every family event. I love it! I always get depressed, though, that I don't play the guitar. I need to work on that. 
My boys were so good to sit and sing with us. They enjoyed singing the Christmas carols and my heart burst seeing them sing.
There was a little children's talent show. We hadn't prepared anything, but Jude surprised us all when he hopped in front of everyone wanting to sing. Well, maybe it wasn't too much of a surprise since he seems to love the limelight. We were entertained.
He sang 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' with Daddy's help. Very cute.
Judy made her famous homemade donuts for everyone to enjoy. They are divine. They are light and sweet and they melt in your mouth. 
The head of this family is Grandma Ahlman, who lives with Jakob's parents. Grandma Ahlman lost her sight and had a stroke that made her unable to speak a couple of years ago. But we feel of her love whenever we are near her and know she can hear us. She loves to have her back scratched, so the boys all take turns scratching Grandma Ahlman's back. 
A super fun family and super fun night!
Christmas morning! The boys awoke before the sun at a beautiful 2:45 a.m.! Approximately 15 minutes after mom and dad had just settled down for our long winters nap. Jakob and I had a very dramatic Christmas Eve late night when some random guy parked across the street from our house and sat in his car for three hours with the engine off. We ended up calling the cops. It was just too weird for Christmas Eve.
Examining their stuffed stockings.
Tate checkin' out the Teletubby stickers that were in his stocking. Don't you just love when babies crouch down like this?
The torture picture. Smile but don't touch!
Unwrapping begins.
Tate took on the daunting task of unwrapping his presents with one hand. But, when you are the fourth child, you learn early on that to drop a toy means to lose a toy, so he held onto his new Star Wars Galactic Hero with a ninja grip.
"Interesting."
Jackpot! Santa found Tate the missing link in his Teletubbies collection. The talking Dipsy doll. He was ecstatic!
The curtain call. The three older boys each got a 'Build-it-Yourself' Light Saber. Tate got a little four-in-one gym which he loves. Kobe, Luke, and Jude each got a bunch of Webkinz and some Wii games. Kobe got some Harry Potter stuff. Luke got some Mario stuff. And Jude and Tate got some Star Wars stuff. A great Christmas! The best Christmas ever according to Kobe.
I got some fun movies and a bed skirt for our bed. And 100 other things I bought throughout 2009 in the name of Christmas.
Jakob got some fun stuff, but his best gift was when I surprised him with the Beatles Rock Band Wii game! Not the whole band system yet, just the game to go along with our guitars. He was so surprised and I was so happy!
And my best gift was when I unwrapped the mirror that I found at an antique store that I took Jakob to to buy for me and that I stored under my bed for some weeks and then I wrapped the night before and I signed 'To Mindy From Jakob and Mom' and I put under the tree. I was so elated and surprised! (Jakob's not allowed to surprise me. Maybe someday when I relinquish some control.)
Tate still ecstatic about his new friend.
Jakob communing with the Beatles.
Out cold by noon. A wonderful, relaxing day!