sledding

these boys love it when it is saturday and dad pulls out the 4-wheeler.  coop loves to go for rides, and i was a little surprised he was content in the sled and not driving with his dad.  it was seriously cold outside, i could barely stand to be outside to take pictures.

it's certainly nice to see these boys sitting so close to each other and still getting along:)

after they finished on the 4-wheeler, carson headed to the back yard to help his dad make a very small sledding hill.  it was the perfect size for coop.

more christmas eve

somehow i must have deleted most of my christmas eve pictures.  i know i took more that 4 at each grandparents house:(  after we finish at the lowry's we head to grandpa and grandma williamson's.  we opened up christmas eve pajamas, had grandpa and carson put on a christmas eve devotional for us, and sent our sweet little children to bed.

poor morgan had been struggling for the last few days with a infected and plugged ear:(  

coop helping grandpa get the nativity show ready for us.

 a bad picture of my girls and their jammies.

leilani and leonie.  leonie is a foreign exchange student from germany who is living with brian and leilani this year.  we truly enjoyed getting to know this sweet girl:)  hopefully we will see her again sometime.

maybe one of my new years resolutions should be to not erase pictures from important family holidays and events.  cannot believe i don't have a picture of my boys in new pajamas:(

a little road trip

a few days after christmas, we decided we should get all of us out of the house.  it was freezing outside, but we decided to drive over to elk refuge in jackson, show leonie the tetons, and then take all of the wild children swimming at the rec center.  we stood outside for some pictures on this beautiful day, but we were freezing to death.  it was some number below zero degrees outside, and we were incredibly grateful to climb back in our warm cars.

 morgan, rachel, and leonie

 these two little stinkers would not pose for a picture for anything.  it was really bright outside and they didn't even want to look our direction.

my crazy dad without a coat.  he just kept saying...its perfect out here.

  

 most of the lorenc's

 it was a perfect day to see these mountains.

leonie, brian, and leilani

 grandpa and emmy checking out the mountains

 these are a few of his favorite things:)

after our photo shoot, we ate lunch in the cars and headed back to the swimming pool.  i didn't take my camera out at the pool, but i wish i would have gotten a picture of all the grandkids coming off of that water slide. they were having a blast.  coop was scared for a bit, but after we got him up there once, he didn't want to stop the rest of the time we were swimming:)

cousin white elephant exchange

the day after christmas, we decided to do a few of our traditions a second time.  seri was coming up with her family, so we thought we would party a little bit more.  we started with a cousin white elephant gift exchange.  i'm not quite sure they knew what to think about it. i think paige was the most excited about receiving 4 packs of ramen noodles.

coop was so good to sit and be quiet and wait his turn, even with presents all over the place.  i was pretty impressed.

one more white elephant exchange with the big people.  we were already having repeat gifts from two days before.

the right left game with the kids. i love how sweet the big kids were with the little ones, who had no idea how to play.

giving grandma her present from all the kids:)

stockings

i always wish i would take more pictures of this event, but at least i grabbed this one:)  after all the christmas festivities, and the children are snuggled in their beds, the old people have a small gift exchange.  we each find one small present for each adult...sometimes it is a funny gift, sometimes it is a nice gift, and sometimes it is both.  years ago, uncle shae added some poetry to explain his presents, which has turned into a very funny tradition.  i think leilani had the best gift this year, she had a friend make these sweet hats for all the boys.  we laughed and laughed, and they wore them most of the night.   poor coop woke up and came out to see what all the noise was about, and they about scared him to death.

i still giggle every time i see this picture:)

cousin gift exchange

on christmas day, the hill's drove up to join us.  that evening we had the cousin gift exchange,  we have all the grandkids exchange names and buy presents.  i love that we open these gifts separate from all the other presents,  i think it gives the kids a better chance to watch each other give and receive.

as i watch these kids get so excited to pick out presents and watch them get unwrapped, it reminds me of the true meaning of christmas. i sure love all these sweet little people:)

scooter and snow fun

on christmas day the kids wanted to try out the new scooters.  luckily we found a little pavement in between the patches of snow.  carson is fearless, he is going to have to wear a helmet.

after scooter rides, grandpa and uncle shae pulled the four wheeler out to give the kids rides on the sleds.

i am so glad that these kids love to play in the snow.  it makes these long months of snow so much better:)