England Family Christmas Tree

The kids are always excited to hit the mountains and find the perfect tree. DeA and Rock reminded us early and often that this is Rock's last time as a "kid".

We hit some snow but the weather was pretty perfect.

The kids demanded a tree that was way too big, but since it was "Rock's last Christmas as a member of the family" he thought we needed to get it.

It was so big that the boys cut off the bottom four feet.

She is a beaut.

All the stress of picking out the perfect tree really wore out Ryker.

The boys that wanted the big tree were no where to be found when it came time to try and get the lights on the top.

Jens and DeA had a lot of fun working together.

I tried to help but was promptly fired.

Mom and Dad watched Nick's kids while they went to dinner. Crewe had no choice but to finally warm up to somebody.

Crewe desperately wanted to fall asleep, but we were good babysitters and kept him awake.

The best babysitters of this generation.

At least Bristol likes me.

 

Thanksgiving!!

DeA had the great idea to get the potatoes going Wednesday night. Rock stepped in to help peel the 20# of taters.

It's a great mother-son activity

The Marissa raised 26# turkey and a 30# turkey. We got the smaller one while Dad smoked the latter.

It was another great Turkey Bowl with about 20 players.

Bristol was ready to party!

The legs were a little dry, but overall I think it turned out well (DeA wants a professional turkey next year so that it doesn't taste too "turkey")

The kids were pretty worn out after running all those routes and scoring all those TDs.

It was a small year with only 25 people.

Luca hit the pumpkin pie wall.

The recipe for the ham said it would need to smoke for about two hours, after 11 it was finally ready. It was pretty perfect.

Ryker serenaded us with "Let Her Go" and other miscellaneous hits.

 

A Ryker Hockey Weekend

Ryker is in the middle of the busy time of year. Hockey three nights a week, plus the pre-Thanksgiving Spokane tournament. He had a house game the night before we left and scored a very slick goal.

We left Friday morning for his 3pm game against a pretty good Spokane team. He had two shots go off the post in a row that would've been awesome goals.

It was a little chilly in the rink, they decided to keep the heaters turned off.

He played hard and got into the mix on a lot a scrums.

There is a pawn shop around the corner, and they had Anduril, Flame of the West and the Master Sword from Zelda. I was unselfish and got the Master sword for someone for Christmas (I'm pretty sure Cheese doesn't read the blog, so I guess I'm safe saying it is for him).

Ryker got the hustle player of the game in his last game. That's pretty cool of his coaches.

Three games, getting home late, early youth stake conference meeting, and a dark chapel for the broadcast was more than he could handle.

Jens was asked to watch some friend's lizards. This is Priscilla, the bearded dragon.

This is Cam, the chameleon. There was a little drama getting him back into his cage, but Ryker finally grabbed him and put him back.

He celebrated by using DeA's massage cups on his belly button.

 

Golf Simulator and State X-Country

The Stop and Rob installed a pair of golf simulators and we rented them out for the youth. They all seemed to have fun, especially the boys.

"It's all in the hips, it's all in the hips"

The cross country boys decided to run in matching pink arm sleeves.

The school had an awesome send off for the teams.

Ryker was pretty nervous and anxious and excited, exactly how you would expect him to feel.

Hampa and Nama came to support him.

They started warming up and there was definitely a nervous energy in the air.

He ran well and PR'd

In the end, he ended up 53rd overall which is more than respectable for a sophomore who didn't take running serious until this season.

It was a pretty day overall. We are proud of our lil' Gyker.

 

Halloween

It definitely looks like fall around here.

We had the ward trunk or treat, lil' Sofia was running around barefoot.

DeA was running around in an emergency blanket because she thought it was so cold.

It isn't much, but it's honest work.

DeA found out that Jens had butterfly wings and wished that she had known earlier.

Ryker has been dedicated and working hard to qualify for state. He was pretty nervous and anxious, but he knew if he ran his race he'd qualify easily.

At about the 2.2 mile mark, I told him that he was 23 overall (he needed to be in the top 44). Right after, the assistant coach told him he needed to pass two or three (knowing that he was lying). Ryker was confused and was pretty sure that he was in a good place, but started passing people anyway. He ended up finishing 16 overall with an official 17:09 5k. That is a huge improvement since last year, and even since last month. We are pretty impressed with his effort and improvement.

He wanted to ride the bus home, so DeA and I had a Miner's and Cabela's date.

It's Christmas season at Cabela's.

This will be our family card this year.

Ryker's Halloween costume was as a worn-out state cross country runner. He woke up after the meet and crushed four pancakes. Later, DeA found him dipping Oreos in chocolate milk.

DeA and I went to watch the Ascanio boys play soccer. 

Play is a strong word for what Luca was doing.