Christmas Day 2017

I gave everyone their own copy of the second house of Hulli's books this year and surprised them with the third one. The kids were so excited about it.

Damon carved the roast beast at dinner. (P.S. Check out his awesome red and green!)

Dinner with grandpa DaWayne and grandma Linda and family.

Communal With Grandpa Greg

Yesterday (Thanksgiving day) was grandpa Greg's birthday, so tonight our family took him out to eat at Communal, a nice restaurant in Provo. We tried lots of dishes that were shared. Like, Halibut, steak, scallops, lobster pasta, kale salad, meats and cheese plate, and brussel sprouts. The food was amazing and so fun to try all of those things with family.

Another Teenager In The House

For Lucy's birthday she wanted to invite some cousins over and just have fun together. Some of the things they did were make paper flower pens, played the squirt bottle game, had a photo shoot, and ate lunch. 

The girl's: Jacqueline, Chloey, Breanna, Kandus, Brynley, and Lucy.

Lucy was so excited to see her cousins. She especially missed Chloey and hadn't seen her since the 4th of July. For her birthday she asked for a 3D pen and absolutely loves it. It totally fits her creative personality. It was such a fun day.

Group Hug

Last night was a night I think our family will never forget.

It started out at the dinner table eating a simple turkey vegetable stew when Dad said, "What should we talk about tonight?"

None of us thought much of the question and we kept on eating and chatting about the days events. We didn't realize the depth of what he had planned to share with us. He started out by saying, "What does it mean to die? Really think about that question. What did you worry about most today? What did you think about most? I realize I spent most of my day at work, worried about what other people thought of me...If I was good enough for the job...If they would like me. Then I remembered how short my life is. I never know when my time is up. None of us do. I want to focus on what matters to me in life. I want tell and show the people I love that I love them, more often." 

Dinner time stretched out as we all shared our thoughts and feelings on the matter. Everyone at the table was in tears, some sobbing, in-between bites of food. Dae shared the analogy of a fake flower (believing in eternal life or living forever even after death) compared to a real flower that blooms temporarily (what we have proof of and what we believe). Even though the life of the real flower is fragile and temporary, how much more important is it to you that you notice and make the most of it's beauty? I believe religion blinds people, causing them to believe that they have more time than they do, all because it makes them feel safe and happy. I once believed that too. I will always have hope for an afterlife, I think having hope is good and essential to anyone's happiness. Think about what a life changing surprise that would suddenly be! But...because we have no proof of an after life, we cannot know for certain; all we can do is honestly think about what makes sense, no matter how hard that may be, and make the most of this beautiful life that we do have.
At the end of the discussion, we had a family group hug that I will never forget.

After dinner we all went to grandpa Jay's so Dad could help him with his computer and then Dad surprised us by taking us to Culver's for custard. What a meaningful night it was.

Rattetouille and Linguini Host Dinner

Grandma and grandpa hosted a Halloween dinner party at their house. It was amazing. The kids were inviting to help grandma with serving. It was a deliciously fun night. Thanks mom and dad.

Me as chicken cordon bleu and Dae as Hasenpfeffer.

The banquet table.

Three adorable helpers.

A Birthday Hat Surprise

Dae was surprised with birthday hats for his 45th birthday. Three of them. Plus one crown. He was a good sport trying them all on for a picture.

An Apple pie made by Lucy and I. She was so excited to help with his pie, she made me wait until after school and her piano lessons were over.

(The master on his throne)

A Very Haunted Halloween

This Halloween Katie and Ryan put together a very extravagant Halloween reenactment party. Most of the adults were involved in acting it out, including Damon. It was SO awesome. Everyone loved it and called it the best Halloween party ever. We will always remember it.

(Lindsey the fortune teller)

(Creepy corpse bride)

(Ben the chasing scarecrow)

(Katie the storytelling witch and the star of the show, and Alex the warlock)

(Eric the mad scientist)

(Damon the grim reaper)

(The witch casting the spell to bring her pet rat back to life.)

(Charlie as Ariel and the spooky gravesite)

(Treats afterwards)