Christmas 2015

What a gorgeous Christmas morning!!

Santa spoiled the kids rotten.  Sam got his precious Batcave!

Max got his Wii U!

And Hank got the Ipad he asked for.

This big present was Randy and my gift to the kids.

And since Griffy's been a good pup, he got spoiled as well.

Santa left behind this cool bag for the kids with custom sports gear inside.

I love how Hank left this note behind for Santa.  

The boys were bed faced and excited!

Hank, Max and Sam bought presents for each other.  Video games all around!

Beats headphones for Hank and Max and Spiderman headphones for Sam.

Much needed goggles for Randy.

Griffy is a fan of his farting ninja toy.

And the grand finale...

An arcade with all the coolest old school games.  I have a feeling Randy and I may play this more than the kids!  Galaga is calling my name.

Hank was anxious to set up his new Ipad.  If I can keep all these passwords and usernames straight it will be a miracle.  Notice my sweet new running shoes in the background?

Randy had to do some serious plowing before we could get out of our driveway to go to my moms.

There's no way we could leave Griffy behind on Christmas.

We made it!  It just wouldn't be Christmas morning without breakfast at Grandma Jackie's.

Randy had to hold Griff since he was tormenting poor Dove.

So many presents!

Sam entertained us by his one armed push ups.

Grandpa Darth

Matching leather jackets from Grandma!  Such studs.

These kids couldn't ask for better grandparents.

My boys!

We had a few minutes to go home and relax before we went to Griff's for dinner.

Sam was excited to show Karen his new Millennium Falcon ship.

Griff impressed us all with his bread making skills.

Once again our family was spoiled with awesome gifts.  Lennon and Sam were entertained by this giant horse for hours.  We are so lucky to live so close to our families.  What a wonderful Christmas day!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve tends to be a long day.  The kids were so anxious and excited for Christmas.  Randy had the genius idea to go to the park and play football in the snow.  It was the perfect activity to get the kids energy out.  We pushed through the frigid temps and had a blast. 

The kids loved playing against Randy and I.

Somehow our game turned into tackle mom every time she touches the ball.  Hank and Max probably tackled me 20 times.

They were in heaven.  I was sick of getting schooled by my little boys.

Don't worry, I stiff armed Hank pretty good and put him in his place!

Griffy was romping around in the snow the entire time.  

Jeri had us over for the annual Christmas Eve dinner that night.

Hank couldn't believe he was seated at the kids table.  He thinks he's such a man these day.

After watching some Jib Jab videos and singing Dominique the Donkey, it was time to open presents!

I'm very grateful for such an amazing family.  I love our holiday traditions.

It's safe to say it's going to be a white Christmas.  The snow was really coming down as we were headed to bed.  Tomorrow is the big day!!

Tucker Christmas Party 2015

We made it from Vegas to the party just in the nick of time.  Look at these grown up boys!  Santa really outdid himself this year. He knew something about each kid.

He also let the kids man the bells as we sang Jingle Bells.

Randy had the magic touch with baby Russ.

As always the Cox family showed us all up with their incredible talent.  Let's not forget Tucker and Sam's little song and dance routine.  Too bad I don't have a picture of that.

We don't get together with everyone often but it's always a good time when we do.  It was great to catch up with the family.  My mom always does such an incredible job hosting the perfect holiday party.

Vegas Bowl

When it became apparent there was a possiblity the Utes would be playing the Cougars in the Vegas Bowl, Randy and James hurried and snagged tickets before they were gone.  After school got out for the break, we picked Mary up and headed to Cedar to see the Bromley's before the big game.

Mary endured a car ride with our crazy boys and bonded with Sam.  Once we got to James and Darcelle's home, he cuddled right up to her.  It was such a fun night catching up with our dear friends.  They are adjusting to life in Cedar City very well.

The next morning, James, Darcelle and Jimmy drove with us to Vegas for the game.

We were all decked out in cougar gear...

except for Hank.  He decided to remain neutral and wore gray.  I like his attitude toward the rivalry, Switzerland if you will.  

Our seats were two rows from the top, but that wasn't going to stop us from having a good time.

What was stopping us from having a good time was the Utes scoring 5 touchdowns in the first quarter.  Sam was beside himself.  He is a die hard Cougar fan as you can see.

Come on Cougs!  Look at that face.

Well, they must've gotten the memo because in the second half they staged one of the best comebacks I've ever seen.

Even Hank was cheering!

To see Max focus on anything so intently is a pretty special thing.

Sam dried up his tears and cheered his little heart out.  In the end the Cougars couldn't pull off a win but came pretty close,  losing 35-28.

We have missed the Bromley's so much.  It was awesome to spend the weekend together.  They headed back to Cedar that night and our little family stayed the at Circus Circus.

We spent a small fortune on carnival games with the kids.  These games are as rigged as the slot machines.  We were trying our hardest to get them a stuffed animal.

They're not the biggest stuffed animals but they'll have to do.

Sam and Max enjoyed a hotel bubble bath before we headed home.

The Tucker Christmas party was in a few short hours so we didn't have time to linger in Vegas.  What a short but sweet trip.  We even got to take Mary back to Saratoga Springs so Sam was happy about that.