The Friday afternoon before Christmas we went over to my Grandma and Grandpa Johnson’s house to wish them a Merry Christmas. The kids played with “The Marble Toy” and enjoyed the chocolate that Grandma Great had put out for them. Ryan and Tara brought their family over at the same time and my cousin Sasha came so we had a mini Christmas party.

Arden Johnson with his great Grand Kids - Cali and Packer

I love this picture because Grandma is looking and smiling - she is almost always camera shy.

Tara and Rose - catching up after limited play time in the last month.

Friday Evening we met up with all of the Nettesheim crew at McDonald’s in Cedar Hills. We ate and played and visited before heading over to Pete and Amanda’s house. That night we decorated gingerbread houses and had our cousin and sibling gift exchange. It was a fun night.

Load on the candy!

Benji decided to be on the littler kids house so he could reach easier. Cali and Anna getting their candy on.

Packer with his crew - they did a good job on this side of the house.

The Train - Ben's mother got this train when she was 3 years old. Our kids loved playing trains with Grandpa.

more trains - making tunnels

Ben’s parents invited our family over for a little personal time and gift exchange right before Christmas. We went over and spent the evening at their house. The train was a big hit for the kids. We visited with Ray and Gladys, exchanged gifts and ate some yummy treats.

These were the first gifts of the season and the kids loved it. They each got their new ornament for the year!

Ben finally got his pickle making kit! yes, a pickling kit.

treat time, Benji downed the donut holes!

and Rose loves this chair at Grandpa and Grandmas house.

Cali wanted to show everyone her new coat - 6$ at Walmart - she loves it.

Ben, Rose and a deer head

Waiting to sit on Santa's Lap!

Saturday the 17th we made our annual trip to Cabela’s to see Santa! The kids love this tradition. We spend the morning at Cabelas and end with lunch. All of the Nettesheim cousins come so it is a big party for all.

Nettesheim's with Santa!!

Packer and Grandpa at the Cabelas Shooting Gallery

We went and looked at the fish on our way out and Rose loved that part. All of the kids did but she stood in one spot for 20 minutes just watching the fish come and go – very cute. We met up with the crew at Carl’s Jr and had an enjoyable lunch with the fam. Can’t wait till next year 🙂 or at least until tomorrow night when we get together with everyone again.

We got to spend Family night with Ben’s grandparents last week. They are ‘Living’ with Ben’s parents so we get to see them a little more often than we used to. We went to their home and talked about Christ’s birth and had an enjoyable visit with them. This time of year is great for our kids because it helps them get all of their grandparents and great grandparents figured out. We try to see all of them during the holidays so the kids really figure out who is who.

Angel visiting the shepherds

Grandma always gets to be Mary :), Packer takes his part seriously.

The kids loved playing their parts, Grandpa likes to be the wise guys.

We call it Turkey Day – it is just easier for the kids – Thanksgiving is a mouthful if you really think about it BUT we do try and make it a day of Thanksgiving and not just a turkey day 🙂

Packer Turkey - his thankful feathers said: Family, Brewer, House and Cali

This Thanksgiving was different than what we have traditionally done in the past. We are Usually on the go travelling to CA or WI (2003 Hollister CA, 2004 Hollister CA, 2005 Wisconsin Country Club, 2006  South Bend IN, 2007 Hollister CA, 2008 We Hosted at Our House, 2009 Wisconsin , 2010 Lathrop CA.) This year Ben’s parents moved to Alpine (a 10 minute drive) so we enjoyed a relaxing vacation at home and were still able to spend time with extended family. It was wonderful to get a good nights sleep in my own bed and then play hard the next day. I’m not saying that I would/will choose this option every year but it was a nice change for this year. Ben had Tuesday through Friday off of work so we had 6 full days of family time ( two of the days were NOT spent in the car as in years past).

Ben the Pie Maker - 2 pumpkin, 2 chocolate, Lemon, and Cherry!

I loved having Ben home. Everything is more fun when Dad is home and EVERYONE is better behaved 🙂 Some highlights of our week were finally watching Spy Kids 4, Thanksgiving Point Deli and Ice Cream, Trafalga, Pie Making, Thanksgiving at Ben’s Parents with Most of his siblings families, Football, Christmas Shopping, Milk Shakes with Uncle Joel, Many games of Uno, BYU Basketball, Getting our Christmas Tree and ended it all with our weekly Sunday Dinner with the Robertson crew. The week just seemed to last forever – in a good way.

UNO with Aunt Michelle

We took lots of pictures of our Nettesheim Football Game on Thanksgiving Day and lots of pictures of Eating 🙂 Our kids are still clueless when it comes to sports. Packer lasted less than one play on the football field and Benji made a valiant effort but was pretty clueless. I tried to just turn it into a game of tag because he seems to get that so we had him chase the quarterback and he kind of got good at that. Cali, (unfortunately) found her way over to the cheer leading section and did really good at hip shaking and and yelling… I am a little disturbed… so I will tell you what I told my sister the other day. “I do not plan to force my kids to do sports but I will full heartedly persuade them not to be cheerleaders.”

NETTY TURKEY BOWL

QB Ben

Benji on the kickoff!

Cheer Leaders Rock! If you haven't heard Cali do a cheer you should - it's pretty cute for a 2 year old.

I like how the blog is looking with writing dispersed between the pictures so maybe I’ll just keep on documenting. I am probably due for a new blog look so if I ever find the time I will do that as well.

The cousins are just getting old enough to really play sports. They wanted to challenge the adults this year in the football game. We didn’t let it happen this time but maybe in the near future.

I did sit this one out since the belly is way to big – for still having 2 and a half months to go this is not looking good :(. And the holiday season as my 3rd trimester is NOT going to be a good thing. Sorry to My Body, I will try and take better care of you.

We also watched the Green Bay Packer Game on Thanksgiving morning – I’m sure you all could have guessed that 🙂 but our family went over early to see the game and chill. Ben did all of the cooking for our part of the meal so I just got to relax all day and do the very minimal. LOVED IT.

The top of my Thankful list this year is …. FAMILY. I’m thankful to be a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a sister-in-law, and daughter-in-law. I find joy in each of these roles and am grateful for the fulfillment that each one brings to my life. “I Know God Lives, I know He loves me. I know he hears me and he answers when I pray. I know His Son is my Redeemer and that He died for me that I might live eternally one day.” Those are lyrics from a Janice Kapp Perry song that I learned a long time ago but they are more true for me now than ever before.

Rose loves to eat!

My mother in law made a turkey and a ham for the Thanksgiving Feast! I ate tons of potatoes and gravy and stuffing like I always do but this year I really loved the sides. There was so much flavor and yummyness in the squash and jello and sweet potatoes, the roles and even in the green bean casserole!

The adult table!

We thought Grandma and Grandpa Becker would be here for Thanksgiving but they haven’t come down from Idaho yet. We also thought that Uncle Bill was going to make it but he ended up making a trip to the hospital instead. Rick and Pete were able to go and help him. We missed all of them for dinner but were grateful that things turned out the way they did.

The Packer Age Table

Benji loved the chocolate pie

Jana loved ALL the pie!

The Tree!! already!

We went and picked out our Christmas Tree at Home Depot on Saturday. The kids were so excited that we just decided to go for it even though it is still November. I am needing to go make dinner now so I better save the tree decorating for a Later December post 🙂

Bear Trap Lodge with the Nettesheim’s 2011: We spent 24 hours with family. Some of us played hard and some of us relaxed as much as possible. We love spending time with our parents and siblings and the kids all play together REALLY well. We ate, planned the holidays, had a birthday party, played games, handed out the new Christmas Mix, watched the road to the  Super Bowl, and just visited. It snowed all day on Saturday so I made us come home a little early – I am wimpy in my old age.