Santa Shops at Old Navy

Here is our Christmas festivities from the holiday season.

Duncan got to meet Santa for the first time at our ward party. Jensen told Santa he wanted a shark? Hot wheels race track? It changed every time we saw Santa or when we asked him. Lucy wanted a princess castle. For Duncan they both would answer new binkies.

Daddy just made it back from a work trip in Arizona to take us to the free night at the speedway. Duncan even got out of his car seat to see the lights and loved looking at them. It was well worth the trip across town to see the lights.
 

We made homemade gingerbread houses with Lucy and Jensen. I didn't mess around this time trying to assemble the house with frosting. I went straight for the hot glue gun. Then when decorating we hid the glue with frosting. They did most of the decorating by themselves which is hard for me to give up control.

We ventured out with Duncan to see Santa again at Ethel M's. It had been cold in Vegas that week but we hurried after daddy got home from work one night and beat the rush and cold. We all enjoyed our complimentary chocolates and fun size M&M's while walking around.

We had a pre-Christmas here in Vegas before heading to Utah for the real Christmas. We gave the kids the presents that wouldn't fit in the car.  The kids even got to try out their new bikes at the middle school across the street. The weather was perfect for bike riding.

We headed to Utah on Monday and even though we got there late, we were greeted by TJ and his family. The next day which was Christmas Eve Matt took Quincy snowmobiling while we got ready for our outing to Provo Beach Resort.  Quincy had never been snowmobiling and was really sore over the holidays. About lunch time we met up at Provo Beach with Grandma and Grandpa Knudsen and Matt's family. The kids got to play while us adults chatted. Then we got ice cream in the 50's diner.

 

That night we had dinner at my parent's house and had a Christmas program. This year Jensen played Joseph, Lucy was Mary, and baby Duncan played baby Jesus. I think Mary was a little more gentle with Jesus than Lucy is with Duncan. The kids got to open their cousin gifts that night and got new pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa.

The next morning the kids came and got us to open gifts. Duncan had to be fed before the opening could get started but Lucy and Jensen waited as patiently as any four and five year old would.

Jensen cracked us up while he was opening his new clothes when he said "Santa shops at Old Navy". Nothing gets by him. He also got a bloody nose while opening gifts and bled on his new Clippers jersey. Quincy loves that Jensen is into basketball right now. So that is what Jensen got. Basketball bobbleheads, jersey (Chris Paul), and a basketball to name a few. Lucy got princess barbies for her new castle, lots of clothes (including a Blake Griffin jersey), and a huge bottle of Jelly Bellies were her favorites. Duncan did get new binkies and some new clothes.

Grandma Ivie rode down on the train the day after Christmas to meet Duncan. She cracked me up when her and her friend got off the train stop in Provo. They were decked out in their jewels and looked like they were ready for the opera. I am so sad I didn't think to snap a picture of that sight. It was great to see Grandma but we sure missed seeing Grandpa by her side. My cousin Breklyn painted this picture of him to remind us of him this Christmas season. He loved dressing up and playing Santa.

Duncan also got to meet his cousin, Reid, that is nine months older than him. Reid is definitely going to tower over him. 

We of course did some after Christmas shopping. I was determined to find a new Christmas tree for next year. Ours had seen better days and the lights kept burning out. I would sing "The lights are slowly dying" each time a row of lights would burn out. Luckily I did find one at Dillards on sale on New Year Eve. A day before the big sale. I couldn't chance not getting a white tree. I can't wait until next season to put it up.

We once again enjoyed our Christmas season!

Fish Lake Adventures

Ever since we got back from Fish Lake our lives have been a blur. More on that later but I wanted to post our Knudsen Annual Fish Lake Adventures before I totally forget this trip. It just wasn't the same without Grandpa Ivie there (Grandma too but she decided to stay home last minute). I am so glad that we got to share what memories we did with Grandpa Ivie at Fish Lake. He loved this place.

 

 

Of course we sang "Hello to Fish Lake" as we entered the park. The family was all there a day before us as usual. We like to make an appearance when we come, luckily they had saved all the fun activities for us until we got there. Except I saw a pan of peanut butter rice crispies that were all gone when we arrived but that was quickly forgotten. Dinner showed up not too long after getting there served by Jody's family which was super yummy. After, we hung out and ended up watching a movie on the big screen outside. We watched "Up" while we ate cereal treats under the stars. Not sure why the camera didn't make it out to capture some of this.

 

The next day we all decided to go hiking or as Jensen calls it "hoking". Grandma Cindy stayed home with baby Reid but the rest of us were ready for an adventure. Even though Cindy hadn't gone she had given all the kids hiking packs filed with treats. Jensen jumped in the lead and led us most of the way up the hill. He did stop multiple times to find the best walking stick after he saw that Grandpa Knudsen had one. We finally talked him out of it and we continued with our hike.

When we got up to the trees in our hike, the mosquitoes put our hike to a stop. We tried to think that they would stop biting as we got further way from the lake but it just seemed to get worse. I think we would of paid big bucks for a bottle of bug spray. We all decided finishing the hike was not worth looking polka dotted with red bites so we headed back. Lucy did really well on the hike as she walked most of the way. Jensen, our leader on the way up struggled on his way back. His energy was gone but we all made it down itching and hitting bugs off us the whole way. Jensen despite being tired, even picked a flower boquet for his Mama.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the hike we knew the kids would be hot so we planned to take the kids swimming at the lake. Matt pumped up all the tubes. By the time he was done a black cloud was headed over the lake. We decided to go swimming anyway. That lasted all of 10 minutes before it was raining hard and the kids were freezing. That is typical Fish Lake as we know it.

 

 

 

 

 

We went back to the cabin to warm up and then had a nice dinner by Matt's family. It was also Jody's birthday so we celebrated by eating blondie brownies and picnic cake.

 

 

 

 

Jensen was entertaining the family in multiple ways this trip. He sat at the table and would answer questions from the family. His responses always gave everyone a good chuckle. The other way he was entertaining was with his bathroom issues. Once on the first day while Quincy and I went to unload our stuff at the cabin, Jensen at camp pulled down to go number one (He's in the wilderness so why do you need a bathroom?) and more came out. Matt and Missy got the job of cleaning him up. What a great Aunt and Uncle! So we gave him a big lecture on where he needed to go next time if that happened. So the next day Jensen said he had to go the bathroom. We said hurry in the car and we will take you. Well he couldn't wait for us to load the car I guess so he rode his scooter all the way down to the potties. This is how we found his scooter by the bathroom. He had another accident on the last day there. This time Mom and Dad had to clean them up and it wasn't too funny anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

After the birthday party we got in our warm clothes and decided to have a dance party while we roasted marshmallows. Jensen loves marshmallows, so by the time we opened them they were a bag of mush. Luckily someone else came to the rescue and we still got to have a toasted marshmallow. Grandma and Missy had brought glow in the dark sticks for the kids to wear while they danced. Lucy got into it at first but then got tired. She must of tagged Jensen because he got into it at the end and even wanted his mommy to join him.

 

 

 

 

 

The not so dancing partiers.  

 

 

 

 

The next morning after breakfast we made lip gloss while the men and kids played some whiffle ball. Quincy headed up that of course. The women also put together binders of family histories of the past year of our families. It was fun to see how everyone completed theirs and read them. We also learned some new things about what everyone did that year. Hopefully we can keep up that tradition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course it wouldn't be Fish Lake without the Fish Pond. Grandma spoiled the kids with new clothes, toys and packs of gum.

 

 

Later in the afternoon we all headed up the canyon to do some shooting. We did stop by the lodge to have some yummy fries and onion rings before our adventure. Mother bear was a little nervous letting Jensen and Lucy shoot but they did a great job. Lucy even wanted a second round. We had picked a spot that had a fence to keep the little ones back so it worked perfect. I think everyone got a chance to shoot before the ranger came and put a stop to our fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grandma Cindy even gave it a shot! 

Grandpa shooting his gun that we got him for Christmas for the first time. It would let out smoke every shot.  

 

Quincy even got to shoot dad's new gun.  

 

 

That night it rained and didn't stop. Walkers were in charge of dinner so we all crammed in the cabin that Jody and my family were sharing to eat Taco Soup. We redeemed ourselves by making homemade ice cream. (A couple of years ago we made it and got the recipe all wrong.) It definitely turned out better but wasn't the best dessert on a cold night.

 

 

We enjoyed staying in a cabin by the lodge this year. That is the Walker way of camping. Before we were leaving to say goodbye to everyone we had to take pictures of course!

  

 

All 13 Knudsen Grandkids! 

 

 

Jensen also had to do "the trick" with baby Reid. He didn't want to be left out of the fun his dad was having. He thought of this all by himself.

 

 

It was a great reunion and were sad to leave the family. We talked about San Diego next year but maybe Fish Lake Adventures will draw us back in.