Happy New Year!
Happy New Year everyone!
We hope that this year will be as good for you as we hope it will be for us!
Decorations Down & Move Preparations
Today was a very pivotal day in the life of the Halliday family. We made the final decision that we are going to move. I still have to talk to my Director and hopefully he’ll be good with it. If so, we’ll put the house on the market in 2 weeks and look to move at the end of March or the first part of April! Yikes! It’s taken us about 5 years of thinking and praying about this to finally feel that now is the right time.
We told the kids today and they had mixed emotions. They are excited (and Brittany has been the most excited in times past when we talked about it), but now Brittany has a “boyfriend” and she is bumming. I’m sure she’ll be just fine. The boys were REALLY exicted, Kirstyn was so-so, and Sarah was excited for us but a little mad because depending on when we move and when she gets her mission call, she may not have a farewell here! 😐
Exciting times!
Outing to the Zoo!
Tonight we went with Carla’s and Scott’s family to the Lincoln park zoo to see animals and lights. The kids really had a fun time! It wasn’t near as cold as it was a couple of years ago when we went.
The lights were really beautiful. We also saw ice carvers making their masterpieces which are always amazing to me!
When we got to the point that our faces had been frozen, thawed and then frozen again at least 10 times, we called it a night and came back home. Carla and Scott leave tomorrow so the kids were kind-of bummed about that. It’s been a great Christmas break so far!
Shopping and Playing
Today was spent shopping and playing. The girls went shopping and left the little ones with Scott and me. We took them to the park by Still Middle School and they played outside until they couldn’t feel their faces. We then took them back home and had some hot chocolate and once they were thawed out, they continued to play with their Christmas toys.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Today we had a wonderful and relaxing Christmas! The kids were all so excited to have Christmas morning with their cousins!
… and they couldn’t wait to get downstairs to see what Santa had brought them. It was hard enough to get the little ones to sit still for this picture! 🙂 The only one not in the picture is Ben. He was SO tired and didn’t realize that it was Christmas Morning. He wouldn’t get out of bed. I wish that this would happen on all the other mornings when he is supposed to sleep in! 🙂
Everyone loved their presents and played to their heart’s content all day long. We watched some movies, took naps, and just took it easy!
We probably ate too much junk food today as well, but that’s OK. We enjoyed it and that’s what matters! 🙂
Christmas Eve!
We had a GREAT Christmas Eve today! Early in the day Scott and Carla and their family arrived to celebrate Christmas with us. True to tradition, a bunch of us went over to the Oscarson’s home for dinner, went caroling, and then went to our house for the nativity play and dessert. We had a wonderful time. The food was great and the caroling is always fun! We had to doctor up the nativity play yet again this year to accommodate for more parts!
Everyone had a great time! It is so much fun to see everyone dressed up in their make-shift costumes. It’s kind-of corny, but the spirit is there and every year has been memorable. After dessert and everyone left, the kids went out to sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn and then go to bed!
Sarah Home!
Sarah came home for the Christmas break today! Yea! We picked her up from Midway airport and were so excited to see her! The boys were especially excited. They have missed her so much and have talked about her all the time. It will be nice to be all together as a family for the next couple of weeks! 🙂
Ben’s Bad Teeth
Ben has bad teeth! Over the last 6 days, he has had 7 cavities filled! 🙁 We need to get him of the sweets! We brush and floss his teeth really well, but it’s not helping. 🙁
Sarah goes Bowling!
Tonight BYU played San Diego State in the Poinsettia Bowl! It was televised on ESPN, and Sarah was there! The game was AWESOME and BYU beat San Diego State 23 to 6! Go Cougars! There was a sign there that we thought was absolutely hilarious… it said “The Mayan world may end tomorrow, but the Aztec world ends tonight!” 🙂 We recorded the game in hopes that we would see Sarah and right toward the end, we did!!! We were so excited! We were taking pictures of the TV screen for posterity sake!
She had such a blast down there! At first she was kind of bummed that she couldn’t come home, but after being down there one day, she forgot about that! She said that they had so much fun that it was almost sad to leave the band and come back home! 🙂 Go Cougars Football, and go BYU Marching Band! 🙂
Ward Christmas Party (Breakfast) & Basketball
It’s gingerbread house time! The boys and I decided to be festive a little early this year and we built a gingerbread house together!
Today we had our Ward Christmas Party. Instead of the normal family dinner, we decided this year to do a breakfast with program and then Santa visit. We thought this would be a much easier thing to do and be better for the families. Part of it was also a service project, making baskets for less active and non-member families. We had a great time!
Zach missed a bunch of the party due to a basketball game, but he made it back just in time to finish breakfast and to do some of the service. Kirstyn was in the same boat. We had fun and delivered the baskets we decided to take.
Kirstyn and Zach Basketball
Kirstyn and Zach both had games today and again, they both won! Great job kids!
B-Ball, Crazy Sweaters, and Parade
Today was one busy day! Zach and Kirstyn started out the day with their basketball games. Both of them won! Zach got his Basketball pictures as well.
Zach and Kirstyn then helped out Anderson’s bookstore in an annual parade (not 100% sure but it was something about a Christmas kick-off). 🙂 They had a blast, and they each got a gift certificate for helping out!
Angela and I then went for the evening to the Byer’s home (some friends of ours) for an ugly sweater party. It was really fun and we got to know them better as well as a bunch of other people from our Stake. The food was great and so was the company. We played all sorts of get to know you and team games. There were some real ugly sweaters down there. Angela thought she had it in the bag, but she got beat out. 🙂
