Journey to Moscow

Winthrop came to town for a Tuesday night game. It was a little chippy, it was a lot of fun. The boys always love playing against other teams, and I don't blame them.

We had one of the worst rain and wind storms that I can remember. The wind blew a bunch of tumbleweeds onto the front porch even though it was coming from the other side of the house. Physics!

Ryker's latest tournament took us to Moscow, ID. Thankfully, Dad took him Thursday night since DeA had an infusion and I had to work. We arrived late Friday in time to sleep and wake up for his 8:30 puck drop the next day.

He was a little tentative Saturday morning, he thinks it might have been an intense game Friday, going for an eight mile walk, playing a bunch of games with his friends, and staying up too late sending memes to the family.

His cheering section was in top form.

Everybody looked forward to nap time. DeA and I slept for about 1.5-2 hours, Ryker and Jens for almost four, and Hampa for a solid 20 minutes.

Yeah, that's a Thompson just sitting on the rack. I assumed it was fake or a BB gun, but it was a .45. I've never wanted to move to Idaho so bad in my life.

Ryker was much more chipper in the second game, and he took a puck to the guy while standing on the bench waiting to take his shift. He said that kind of woke him up. He played really well and had to good shots on goal.

I tried to get my family to have breakfast at the cool diner, but they outvoted me in favor of Denny's (I know, I have failed as a father). I convinced them to try it for dinner and I think they realized that ol' Dad might know a thing or two about food. Hampa put on quite the show for the kids and DeA.

We attended a nice ward in Moscow before driving home. We stopped in Othello (pronounced Oh-smell-oh) and thought about buying some pollos for dinner.

 

After Thanksgiving Week

In a rare sequence of events, Rock was actually home for a few hours. He spent the time cuddling with Leo Puppy.

The tree was probably five feet too big and it made decorating quite the experience. 

Jens improvised a stringing hook that worked pretty well.

There's just something about this nook in Nama and Hampa's house that attracts the kids.

Crewe Boy really loved pretending to cook with Nama's pans.

Leo Boy was a good older cousin and helped all the little ones to popsicles.

DeA was overwhelmed with the turkey, so we made some delicious steak.

Leo tried to make it clear that he, too, liked delicious steak.

I don't know why, but Jens thought it would be funny to hold Horchata in front of Leo.

Hockey started right back up after the holiday, Ryker did well and battled along the boards.

For the first time in my life, I willingly bought Crumbl cookies. I might buy some more after I pay off this dozen.

DeA had quite a project to finish off her class, I think she saw 1910 censuses in her sleep.

We had a great temple trip despite the black ice and fog. The kids are always so exited going down and so shot on the way back.

This is a typical evening with our teenagers.

 

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.