While Nathan was in Saudi Arabia, and we were in Utah, we tried to make it a habit of calling Daddy each night over Google Hangout to chat for a bit.
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| Kids talking to Daddy at night |
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| The kids would often fall asleep while Nathan sang to them. So cute! |
Avery and Sam's first snow! They had fun "making footprints." I told them to make a snowball, and Avery said, "How?" I guess growing up in Minnesota, it had never occurred to me to ask how to make a snowball. Ya just do, right? It was fun watching them make snowballs and throwing them at the sliding glass door!
When Avery eventually came back in, she was crying because her hands hurt so bad from being cold. She was surprised that hands could hurt from the cold. It was so fun seeing my kids discover all these fun aspects of snow for the first time.
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| Sam was wearing these semi-sandal Crocs. Brrr! |
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| Maren didn't want to walk in the snow. She didn't like the feel of it on her hands either. |
For Christmas 2014, we were (still) in Utah visa waiting. And Santa just happened to come to my mom's ward Christmas party!
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| Avery on Santa's lap. This was the first time that she wasn't scared of Santa! |
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| Sammy with Santa |
Nathan's parents rented a cabin on the beach in Northern California for Christmas. All the Aunts/Uncles/cousins were there (except Barry, who was in Ukiah for two days before he had to leave). The kids (and us) had a blast! They especially loved the hot tub outside.
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| Avery wanted to be a sheep for the nativity |
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| Sammy was a shepherd |
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| Fun with Hannah and Victoria |
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| Sammy's shepherd "hat" was actually a bag. He was very protective of his "staff." |
The house we stayed in was so cozy. We had a fireplace in the same room as the tree. We went to the beach once, and it was freezing. Our room upstairs was also really cold, but we found a space heater in the closet after the first night; whew!
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| Getting ready to open presents on Christmas morning |
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| Santa brought a dragon and a unicorn pegasus! |
