The day after Legoland, my brother unfortunately had to return to UT to get back to work, so we missed him! We took it easy in the morning, then after lunch we headed to the beach. Unfortunately, traffic was pretty bad so it took us an hour and half to get there, though once we got there all was well! The kids didn't even care how cold the water was...they got right in! We were also "lucky" enough to be right next to some very LOUD Latin music the entire time. Even though it was annoying at times, I still couldn't help but dance! Besides swimming, the kids each also took a turn (except Anna and Bethany) being buried in the sand. And Dan helped Ben make this throne!
Traffic was also bad on the way home. We had taco salad for dinner that night.
Friday we left brave Aunt Pickle with all the kids to babysit while the rest of us drove to the Orlando Temple! We arrived a little too late to do a session (and didn't want to wait for the next one to start) so we did sealings! What a great experience!
We had lunch afterwards at Noodles and Co. We made it home later than we expected but were glad to find everyone safe and mostly happy. A HUGE thanks to Mickelle!
We had Hawaiian Haystacks that night for dinner. After the kids went to bed, we played Watch Your Mouth! Oh my goodness we laughed SO hard and had a blast!
Super unfortunately those dang mouth things gave me two huge canker sores. So dumb how sensitive my mouth is sometimes.
Saturday was New Year's Eve and also my niece Kari's 12th birthday!! The men folk left around 8am to go shooting. The women folk stayed home, got the kids all fed and dressed and then we joined them. I even shot once! Just enough to feel the kick back in my shoulder and say that's enough.
The Smiths brought a smaller kid sized gun for the kids to try. Ben loved it! McKenna liked it alright.
The ear protection was very important and sometimes fought over. But check out those cheeks getting squished!!
From shooting we went out to lunch at a Cuban sandwich place my dad often goes to for lunch since it's right by his office. After lunch we drove out to see the church owned gravel pit... Long story short, it's part of a real estate development plan. (Out of order, the bottom pictures were taken at the stroke of midnight! Happy New Year!)
Kari made her own birthday dinner, white salfredo (sausage alfredo). Then we ate and headed to a drive-in movie! I love that it was warm enough on Dec. 31st to go to a drive in! However, the humidity was quite high so we all came home damp. After we got home, we had cake and ice and cream and Kari opened presents!
Then we headed outside for fireworks! Grandpa even bought some roman candles!
Again, ear protection was very important!
Other pictures from the Florida trip I can't remember exactly when they happened.
Ben riding shotgun with Dan looking all grown up. Crafting with Grandma! And lots of snuggles with Aunt Pickle!
Cousin bonding time with my old Light Bright!
These two really did grow a lot closer during this trip! So great! <3 nbsp="" p="">
Dylan and Ben got the same Lego set that could transform into three different things.
We tried a couple of times to let all the kids (minus Bethany, even though she's in this picture) have a sleepover together in the upstairs game room. However, our kids always ended up back in our family bedroom either because they were goofing off too much or because they were having a hard time sleeping.
Our kids also wanted to try the mouth game too. But only for a second. These are even smaller kid sized mouth pieces and they still look huge on Ben.
After fireworks on New Year's Eve, I enjoyed sweeping the street! :) Then we put the kids to bed, watched the Time's Square Ball drop, then went to bed ourselves. So long 2016! It's been a great year with big changes for our family and we recognize we are so blessed! We look forward to what this next year holds!
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