Dec- Week 4- Florida- Beach, Temple, Shooting, New Year's Eve

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! 

Dec-Week 4- Florida, Family pictures, Christmas, LegoLand!

My sister, Emily, picked us up from the airport around 12.  We had leftovers for lunch, took showers and got ready for family pictures!  Thankfully the location was basically my parents' back yard.  It was hot and humid but we were in the shade.  Everyone cooperated for the most part.  Love these people so much!  

Wardrobe change! Love Bethany's yawn in this! 

 Love my mom and dad!!  

After pictures, it was time to open family Christmas presents.  My cute mom performed a little Mrs. Santa Claus reading of "I'm a Grumpy Santa Claus!"  She had all the kids attention glued to her! 

Somewhere in the process of opening gifts, Bethany couldn't stay awake anymore!  She totally passed out on Dan's lap!  So we joked about how she "couldn't hang."  Then we proceeded to be bad parents and draw on her face as if this were a party and she was the first drunk to pass out! 

Hilarious and immature = FUN!  ;) 

All the kids in their new Christmas jammies from Grandma Kelly! SOOO warm and perfect for Utah.  Also funny to note, Bethany LOVED the bottom stair.  It was the perfect place and height for her to sit.  She would often grunt and pat next to her until someone (and it had to be the right someone) came and sat down next to her.  She even wanted Mollie dog to do it...kinda!

We had pizza for dinner then just enjoyed being with each other! 

The next morning was LEGOLAND day!!  Bright and sunny and ready to go!  We even had to use sunscreen.  

 For the most part we all stuck together most of the day.  Which, looking back, maybe we should have split up big kids and little kids, but still, lots of fun!  We even met Emmet and Wild Style! 

 If you bring some non-specific lego characters, you can trade with the employees who wear other lego guys on their name tags.  Ben made a couple trades before he put his guy down at our lunch table and he got lost.  I really love how his face gets progressively more and more tired in these pictures! 

 McKenna LOVES "girl Legos" and was so excited to see these Lego Friends characters! 

 Everyone on the boat ride.

First roller coaster after lunch!  Love that McKenna thinks she's gonna toss her cookies and Ben looks terrified! 

 One of my favorite things about the park was just the amazing Lego creations!  That Einstein is HUGE!  And gotta love Darth Vader! 

 I think one of our kids' favorite parts was this Imagination area.  They could build things on the Lego walls and check out a Lego city that even had a lighthouse. :) 

 They could also build cars and race them.  My mom got some cute pictures of Anna playing at this play area while the rest of us went on a big kid ride! Bethany was napping during this time. 

 What was very interesting to me was that a few of the rides were controlled to an extent by YOU!  In order to go higher on this ride, you had to pedal faster!  There was also a railroad ride where you had to manually pump this thing up and down in order to move your car.  And another ride where you had to pull yourself up on a rope (with assistance) to go higher.  

 This Safari ride was nice because we could wait in line in the shade during the hottest part of the day (after lunch), but the line also took the longest!  People with special access tickets kept getting priority and making us normal ticket people wait longer! But still so cool to see all the animals made all from LEGOS!  

 The boat ride was cool because there was the possibility of getting sprayed.  The blurry picture of Anna makes me so proud.  She does not like any sort of ride that may be considered a "thrill" ride.  She's gotta keep it pretty tame.  However, what makes me proud is that she went on this ride all by herself and didn't even cry or freak out! The bottom pictures are of the first roller coaster we went on for the day!  It was way fun to start with the big rides! 

 Selfies with my kiddos! I opted to sit one of the rides out with the little ones and while we were waiting we saw a water ski show going on!  And the bottom right pictures is a little indoor play area next to one of the big roller coasters.  

 Here's more of my favorite part of LegoLand...the cities!  They build miniature models of some of the biggest cities in the world- London, New York, Las Vegas, Washington DC...

 Indianapolis...And then there was the Star Wars area!  Unreal how cool it all was! 

 Some cute faces on the big rides! Ben looks terrified but he had fun! 

I have to note we tried the "Apple Fries" there and there were very good!  Basically apples cut to look like french fries, baked so they're soft like in an apple pie, coated in cinnamon and sugar, and dipped in whip cream! Sounds amazing, right?  

I should also note, poor Dan was quite uncomfortable on many rides.  The park is definitely geared towards KIDS, not people who are 6'5".  

We stayed until the park closed and got to see the fireworks show.  We grabbed Chick fil a on the way home and everyone slept very well that night! 

Dec- Week 4- Grand Am Windows, Condie's, Mantua, Christmas Eve and Day, Travel Day

Thursday we did laundry and started packing for our Florida trip.  In the afternoon we went to see the Grand America Hotel Christmas windows.  Our friends the Alexanders, Moultons and Roths came with us!  It's my favorite INDOOR Christmas activity.  This year the theme was Christmas in countries around the world.  The giant gingerbread house is always so cool!  Afterwards, we had dinner at a burger place across the street, then our family went and visited the Condies! 

Friday morning the kids went to a used book exchange and cookie party at the Roth's.  We have such fun neighbors! Then we headed up to Mantua for our Christmas Adam celebration!  The kids played, we got things ready for dinner, then we did a couple ornament crafts.  Because of the collages I made, not all the pictures are in order.  The bottom picture is from breakfast the next morning.  

After dinner, we had our anual talent show program.  The kids sing, play an instrument, do gymnastics tricks, recite memorized passages, or just stand up there and be cute! We usually go youngest to oldest.  Anna, Ellie, and Clara sang I Love to See the Temple. 

McKenna and Ben each played some Christmas carols. 

Ben's Intro

Up on the Housetop

Frost the Snowman

McKenna

Hark the Herald

Square Dance Duet with Grandma

After we finally got all the kids in bed, we played some games and went to bed ourselves.  

We had a delicious breakfast as usual, then Aunt Lara played games with the kids to distract them while we waited to open presents.  (Out of order, everyone in their matching jackets.)

All the grandkids got handmade, personalized Santa hats!  

Anna didn't want to be in the pictures at all.

We opened presents, played, talked, and cried (about some of the gifts, in a good way. :)) We had leftovers for lunch, then cleaned and packed up and headed home for our own family Christmas traditions. We had a pizza dinner then baths.  Next, we set out a letter and treats for Santa and his reindeer, then got in costumes for our nativity reenactment.  

Webster Family Nativity 2017

Bethany was a baby hog and didn't want to let us use "baby Jesus." 

Christmas Morning!  

The big gift this year was a horse stable with all the accessories!  

This is the kids all opening their Power Ranger Dino Chargers!  

Opening their books and the stable.  We also got SO MUCH snow on Christmas Sunday that Bishop Dan decided to cancel church.  Not very safe to drive there! 

Everyone loving their Santa hats except Bethany!  More sillies in the Hoddie Footie.  We let Bethany sleep in a little, but she was so excited to get some new binkies, snacks, and a new book for Christmas! 

We enjoyed so much being together as a family for all of Christmas Day.  We did Legos, played with puzzles, the horse stable, and Dino Chargers! 

That evening we had a nice Christmas dinner with ham, potatoes, veggies, fruit, and bread.  We cleaned up a little and made sure we were all packed to head to the airport the next morning for our FLORIDA TRIP!! 

Dan's dad was nice enough to take us at 6:30am!  Unfortunately, our flight was delayed leaving an hour and a half due to "cleaning." It gave us plenty of time to eat breakfast and play in the airport.  

All boarded and ready to go!  

More unfortunately, because we were so delayed leaving SLC, we missed our connecting flight from Atlanta to Tampa so the airline put us up in a hotel for the night in Atlanta.  Dan took an Uber to pick up some Burger King for dinner and some much needed diapers.  We decided to leave our luggage at the airport to simplify things and we only packed enough diapers for the flights.  The next morning we got to the airport an hour and half early, ate a ridiculously over-priced breakfast and made it to Tampa by noon!!