Thygerson Shenanigans: Once upon a December

So many exciting things this month! Our Top Ten Awesome things about December 2014:

10. Mom and Dad's bed made by the 3 year old. Impressive, McKinley!

9. Making Christmas cookies at our friends house, yum!

8. Santa and Mrs. Claus and free candy canes! (At the ward Christmas party)

7. Rachel's first lost tooth! Very exciting! And the tooth fairy even found us in Oklahoma! Once Rachel knew it was wiggly, she worked hard to write a special note to the tooth fairy, asking if she could have a treat other than gum, since she has her space maintainer. :) The tooth fairy was very nice and brought M&M's instead. Fun!

6. WINTER. BRRRRRR.

5. Caleb's candy wrapper stash, which we discovered in his heating vent one night when he was spooked at bedtime by a "clicking noise" in his room. Doh!

4. Kubb! We were introduced to the game at Ragged Mountain this summer by one of Kip's cousins, but little did we know that Mom and Dad M were also introduced to the game at a Swedish genealogy weekend in Lindsborg, KS. Dad M made Kubb sets for each family for Christmas, and we all tried our hand at the viking game. We're planning to dominate the national championships in a few years. Haha! Dad is explaining:

Brian is ready!

Mom owns the throw...

So does Kip! Team Mitchell ultimately beats Team Thygerson. More than once...:)

3.1 - Ice Cave! Kip got excited about digging it out, with help from the kids. They used a brand new snow shovel that we just bought at Target...and broke it. Hence the sad faces. But it was large enough to fit the kids, including McKinley who refused to climb inside of it.

3.2. - Same day and place - Sledding! McKinley preferred just sliding down the hill on her bum.

2. New Year's Eve! We went to Silverthorne and stayed with Kip in the condo that Shaw is renting for him while he builds the Hampton Inn. We feasted on our annual steak and shrimp dinner (with cream soda even!) and then enjoyed a soak in the hot tub in the complex. Every year I think "The kids are old enough, this year we'll stay up and play board games, they can ring in the new year with us." Then they all start yelling and crying, and we're all in a one-bedroom condo, and I change my mind. Here, once again, is how the kids rang in the new year:

1. Christmas! We had an early visit from Santa at our house before leaving for Oklahoma to visit the Mitchell side of the family. It was great fun to see everyone! Dad and his pipe band playing with a full brass and organ accompaniment. Amazing!

Grandpa pulled the wagon on a walk to see Christmas lights!

McKinley helps make Uncle John's birthday banner.

Katie +Kristen = happy

Grandma and Grandpa put together a lot of information to introduce the kids to our Swedish ancestors. It was great!

The kids working on their Swedish pages

The "original" gang. :)

Grandma and Grandpa with all of the grand-kids: (Behind the couch l-r) is Elizabeth, Rebekah, Caleb, and Ella; (on the couch l-r) is James, Sarah, Anders, Kaiden, Braxton, Rachel, and McKinley.