Chase’s J D Tournament

Back in November, Tiff and I decided to get a hotel for one night during the J D basketball tournament.  But then Chase injured his thumb and couldn't play.  I contemplated not going but then I decided we needed a little break during the holidays.  We had so much fun!  We went down Monday later afternoon.  Shantelle and her family met us at the hotel.  The kids went swimming for two hours.  They had so much fun!  The we went out to dinner at a hamburger place.  I love spending time with Shantelle and her family.  Even though I know we're supposed to be in T.  My heart is still sad that we don't live by each other.  I miss her so much.  But tonight was really good to spend some time with them!  The kids get along so well!  We met up with Tiff back at the hotel room around 10:00.  It was fun to share a room with her and Thomas.  Matt and Layne had to work so it worked out perfectly for us to share a room.  The next day we woke up and spent the day at games.  My heart was sad for Chase that he's not playing but hopefully he'll be back out there sooner rather than later.  

Fun Times with Buddy

Buddy came back to stay with us for a month until Santa came on Christmas Eve.  Buddy had a few adventures while he was staying with us.  We always love the month of December when Buddy comes to stay with us.  Tanner loves finding him every morning.  

Merry Christmas

Tanner made us this darling ornament. Mrs B had the kids decorate a brown sack and that’s how they wrapped it. I love this sweet ornament. Tanner was so excited to give it to Matt and me. 
Christmas morning was magical!  We got home so late last night that everyone slept in their own beds.  Chase and Bridger went in and woke Tanner up at 8:30.  The boys were so fun to watch them open up their presents.  They were so happy with everything.  Chase got a lot of clothes.  Bridger got some clothes and a nice basketball bag.  Tanner got a couple of outfits and then lots of toys.  His big gift was Osmo.  Caleb has one and it's an awesome learning device that works with an iPad.  Tanner was so excited.  He was also over the moon with his new bow and arrow.  Because Matt was first call, we stayed home.  Ardell and Charlene came up around one to visit with us and see what the boys got for Christmas.  They stayed a couple of hours.  Right after they left, Matt got called into work for an hour.  But then he was able to come home.  We watched the movie "Elf."  Matt got called back into work later that night but for the most part, he was able to be home with us and celebrate the day.

Bridger gave Matt a super soft blanket.

Chase gave Matt a "Lucky One" baseball hat.

Tanner gave Matt a new, soft body pillow.

The boys each received a set of playmobil in their stockings from Santa.  Bridger got a golfing set, Chase a bowling set and Tanner a puppy set.

Mom spoils us and makes every family a breakfast casserole and sticky bun ring.  It makes Christmas morning so nice to have a wonderful breakfast.

Santa brought a little treat in the boys stockings.  Chase got maraschino cherries, Bridger got Life Saver mints and Tanner got Life Saver Orange mints.

Christmas Eve

It was our year to celebrate Christmas Eve with the R's since we had Thanksgiving with the A's.  Everyone met at mom's around 3:00.  Mom and Marilyn put together a big feast of Turkey and cheesy potatoes.  Mylissa, Shan and I brought a jello or green salad.  The kids were so excited to get together.  We ate yummy food then exchanged presents.  Matt is first call tomorrow so we're going to stay home with Matt.  We gave mom a pink shirt and black cardigan to go with it.  I was struggling with what to get Dad and then the idea came to me to get him Bogs.  He seemed very surprised by them.  I hope he uses them.  Dad wanted us to be a part of the gift that he gave mom.  He brought out a beautiful painting of the widow's mite.  Dad was so tender as he gave this painting to mom.  It was very sweet.  

 
We ended the night with advent.  It's been such a busy Christmas season that we've only done advent one other time.  I was so happy to do advent with all of us.  It's always so special.

Mom and Dad gave the boys hoodies for Christmas.

Julie and Aliyah were disappointed that we didn't sing the 12 Days of Christmas last year.  So mom made sure to pull out the song and sing it all together.  The kids loved it!

Bridger’s Basketball Party

We offered our house to Bridger's basketball coach, Coach D M to have any party here.  I was hoping it would be after Christmas but he asked if we could do it before.  Of course I said yes.  We invited his team to our house for pizza, basketball and video games.  Since the majority of his team is from L we didn't know how many people would be able to make it.  Parents were awesome and made it so everyone showed up to the party.  The boys are an awesome group of young men!  Coach M is a young 22 year old coach but he is very wise.  He makes the boys work so hard but he also helps them see the bigger picture with life.  He encourages them to make goals and believe in themselves.  After dinner, Coach gave the boys an inspiring pep talk about choices and setting high goals.  Everyone had a great time.  We're so lucky to be on this team.  We love these boys!

We invited Kolton's younger brother Carson to come to the party so Tanner would have a friend too.  

Christmas Eve Party with the A’s

It's been working out better the last few years to celebrate Christmas on the Sunday before Christmas with the A's.  We met at the A's house and had our traditional pizza dinner.  Then we played "Candy" bingo.  The kids had so much fun playing bingo.  There were lots of gifts!!!  So everyone was spoiled.  We're getting so big that there's not enough room on the table for everything.  After the game, we opened up the presents from Charlene and Ardell.  They gave Bridger and Chase shirts, and Tanner got a Captain America shield that makes noises and has sayings.

One of the presents Matt opened was a pocket knife that had Jake's name engraved on it.  We laughed so hard!!!

Angie ended up getting the ugly hat!!


The night before, we had been down in AF. visiting with the P family.  We got home around 11:30 and went to bed a little after midnight.  When I left for church the next morning, I noticed the plastic nativity set on our front yard.  We originally thought that Jake and Jess had put it there during the night but we found out that Mike and Amy did it.  They drove all the way up here to surprise us.  They kept driving around waiting for us to go to sleep.  Amy joked that our front porch was lit up like a Christmas tree.  Plus they were worried about Sophie barking at them.  They pulled it off because we didn't catch them.  They made us laugh so hard!!!

Chase’s Thumb Injury

Chase was playing a game against B E high school.  During the last minute of the varsity game, Chase went to dive for a loose ball and he hyperextended his right thumb.  It immediately swelled up and was really painful for him.  We put ice on it.  Dr. B was at the game and saw everything.  He looked at it after the game and told us to meet him at the hospital.  He got a splint for Chase and told him to wear it for the next few days and check back with him on Monday.  He fit us in between cases and looked at Chase's thumb again on Monday.  He was really concerned with how his thumb was flexing and was worried that he might have ruptured a tendon.  So he ordered an MRI.  Luckily, Kate (Lisa's daughter) was working and really pushed to get the MRI done that day.  The MRI came back and said that his thumb was just a sprain and luckily no tendons were ruptured.


The Saturday after Christmas, Matt was first call and happened to do a case with Dr. P.  He's the hand specialist that Dr. B wanted us to follow up with but we couldn't get in to see him for a couple of weeks.  Dr. B told Dr. P about Chase's thumb.  Dr. P asked Matt about it when they were doing the case together.  He told Matt that he would look at Chase's thumb after the case.  So Chase and I went to the hospital.  He examined the MRI and Chase's thumb and decided that it doesn't need surgery.  He recommend a custom thumb brace for Chase and hopefully he can still play with it.  They worked it out for Chase to meet with the occupational therapist, Pat on Monday morning.  He made it right there in the office.  It was slick as can be.  Chase is anxious to get back to playing ball.  He's been resting it over the Christmas break which was about two weeks since he was injured.


The trainer tapes the brace to Chase's thumb and makes sure it's secure and supported.  Luckily he's been able to play with the brace.  Mentally it's held him back a little but at least he's playing.