Welcome Back Elder Townsend!!!!

My nephew Buster just got back from his mission.  We were so excited.  We hurried to make it to the airport after Boston and Brock's basketball game.  They were a little bummed they had to wear their jerseys, but I assured them that Buster would want to see their jerseys. 

The kids have been counting down the days for the last week.  On the way to the airport the boys said "I don't know if I remember what Buster looks like."  Then they went on and said "We are going to be so sad when Connor leaves...Do you think Buster will babysit us?" 

The kids made posters during the day and we took them with us.

 I think these two were a little excited!

 waiting....

 ....and waiting....

 ....and....WAITING....

 Wahoo!!! Here he is!!!

 I love this picture, you have Connor on the right with the camera recording (possibly getting a little teary eyed), Matt holding Janay so she can't run to him and the kids are glued to Buster.

 Thank goodness Matt let go of Janay so she could run to him.

 A Mom's greatest moment....

 Gentry was pretty excited to see Buster too.

 Connor had to "introduce" Buster to the latest handshake.

 I think they're happy to be together!!!

 My Dad, just staying out of the way and holding on to everyone's stuff.

 Matt and Buzz....the rest of his family was sick at home.

 Grandpa and Grandma

Welcome home Elder Townsend!!!  We love you!

Friends Christmas Party

This year the Christmas party was a Becca's house.  It was really fun.  This was the first time I'd ever been to her house.  It was an Ugly sweater party...and we didn't have any Christmas sweaters so we borrowed some from my Mom.  Gentry even sported a dickey so he could have the turtleneck effect.  Thanks Mom...and just for the record they look good on you.

 Heather and Allison helped with party plans.

 Becca and Katie

 There's just something about the placement of the tassels on Mike's vest.

They did a photo booth theme for pictures.

 Mistletoe

 Mike and Heather made this mug for their "White Elephant" gift.  I was laughing so hard.  Of course I had to steal it so I could bring it home.  Nothing like our 9th grade picture on a mug!

 Oh and did I mention we were the 3rd runner up for Ugly sweater?  Again, Mom don't feel bad it was because Gentry looked so ugly in a woman's vest.  Rest assured you can still wear this to school and your kids will love it.  In fact as we were leaving Boston mentioned he would like a vest like that.

ELF on the SHELF

The kids have been dying to get an Elf...so tonight we went to Target to see if they had any left.  Lucky for us they had ONE left.

Let the fun times begin.....

Alyssa's First Cheer Competition

Alyssa had her first Cheer competition.  They did really well.  I was a little nervous, but they did their best and we were really proud!  They took 3rd place (I think?)  I tried to load her video but it wouldn't work.  So pictures are all we get to post.

Snowbird

We went to Snowbird this last week for a little mini vacation with the kids since they're off track.  The kids had a blast, and it was a super fun little get-away.

The condo had it's own hot tub on the deck.  The kids got a lot of use out of it.

 The hot tubs and pool outside were really warm too.  It was fun sitting in the hot tub and watching skiers go down the hill.

 A little lunch hotdogs and oranges...

 Doing nails...checking our phones and iPads....basically just taking it easy.

 Friday night we decided to go to dinner and we drove to Texas Roadhouse.  It was nice that we were still close to home.

 We let the kids each spend $3 in the arcade area....they loved it.

 Gentry tried teaching Brock to play pool. This lasted for about 2 minutes.

 Tim helping his two younger kids.