December

Just a few things that I happened to remember to take photos of...

We kicked off December with Summer's Winter formal dinner.  

This was a girl-ask boy dance and boy was it interesting to see a group of 16 year old girls

"work things out."  Chalk it up to another good learning experience.  

It all came together in the end and they had a great time.

Summer asked that we help with the dinner.
We created a little Italian bistro
and served "made-to-order" pizzas and Italian sodas.

"Luigi" and "Mario"were the most helpful waiters. 

Santa made a surprise visit during dinner.
Thank you Grandpa Jack for always being so much fun

Cole's date had a dance competition until late, 

so he got to hang out with Santa and the rest of Summer's group .

Santa brought each of the boys a gift--to wear.  

 Kassidy Pine and Cole

 Summer with Max Clark

Ike's first violin concert

I could barely spot him - I am sure he was fantastic.

We also managed to squeeze in a Christmas piano recital--bare feet and all.

There is not a better grandpa.  

Jack dropped everything at work to come hear him play.

 Tom's Office Party

This year for Tom's office party he decided to hold a dodge ball tournament between the two offices-Gilbert (red) vs. Mesa (green)

This is a great party for those that may want to throw something
 at a co-worker or even the boss.

My brother Adam just opened up a new dental office about a mile away from home.

He needed a family picture for his new office, so we took about 10 minutes to snap a few.

  Fastest family photo to date.  

Such cute kiddos

My side of the family always celebrates together on "Christmas Adam"- December 23rd.  

This year we thought it would be fun to head up to our favorite spot at the base of Usery Mountain.

There is a great ramada area, with a playground, plenty of tables and a big fire pit.

Corey, Bridgette and Jensen came from Hawaii to join us.

We are so excited that they are expecting Baby #2 in June.  

The oldest holding the youngest.  This is my sister Aryn's little Jack.  

They made the trek from Idaho after moving into a new house --the week before Christmas.

They all need a little R& R and sunshine.

What do you know, Santa even found us in the desert.

Christmas Morning

It is sad to think this may be the last Christmas morning picture of my little family.

Cole will most likely be on his mission next year.  

For the last 3 Christmases, Ike has asked for an electric typewriter.  

Well, this year Summer made his dream come true.
He has already typed his first story on it.

Hands down, my favorite part of Christmas morning is watching the siblings exchange gifts.  

Cole found a great deal on a reading chair for Meg's room.

(Overstock.com)

After we open gifts we always head over to the Farnsworth Breakfast.  

Tom's sister, Amy has hosted the past few years 

and she puts a lot of effort to make it nice for all 130+ of us.  

Tom was on scrambled egg duty

Later on Christmas day, I went out with my brother Chad and Carissa

to take their first family photos with little Elle.