Christmas 2019

 We had a great Christmas this year. We try hard to help keep the focus of Christmas on our Savior and giving, so the kids get to give gifts to each of the family members. It is so neat to watch them get excited about finding a perfect gift to give each other. This year Joseph even created a scavenger hunt for Ruth to find her gift, wrapping the first clue in a tiny mint tin. (This created much pre-Christmas conversation and angst.) I am grateful that they are so giving and loving to each other!

The Giving Machines

This year Denver was one of the cities selected to have the Giving Machine. It is a neat vending machine where instead of buying food, you buy things needed by people around the world. We encouraged the kids to earn money to be able to buy something for others in need. Ruth chose soap, Joseph bought a blanket, Miriam purchased a starter library, Rebecca bought meals for a women's shelter, I got some toilet worms, and Jack bought a sheep. It was a fun experience and helped us all to have a little perspective on life this Christmas Eve.

Christmas at Grandpa Mike's

Every year we get together with Dad and all the siblings that are in the area for a Christmas celebration. This is the only time all year we see some of these family members. We had a nice time visiting with everyone: Aaron and his family, including Samantha, Ryan and their three little ones, Ali and Alejandro, Jacob and Trish, Jonathan, Naomi and kids, and Brittany, as well as Great Grandma Wickham. It was fun to see everyone.

Carri, Samantha and Samantha's new baby

Aaron with jingle bells in his beard

Miriam, Ruth and Rebecca with Great Grandma Wickham

Ruth holding Samantha's new little one

Derik

Rebecca with Santa

Miriam with Santa

Joseph with Santa

Ruth with Santa

Brittany Huff

Casa Bonita

Ruth had been wanting to go to Casa Bonita for a while. She was little enough the last time we went that she doesn't remember it. So we decided to go for her birthday dinner. The restaurant itself seems like it is going downhill, but the cliff diving was neat to watch and we had a fun time as a family.

Following Daddy

 Joseph has been so excited to be Daddy's helper this summer.  Joseph loves following Jack around and lending his little-boy assistance to all sorts of projects.  It is so neat to watch him growing up and learning lots of new things!

Take a Baby to Vegas!

 Now Las Vegas is not typically thought of as a family friendly destination, and I would mostly agree.  I would constantly be covering the eyes of my older children!  But taking a baby to Las Vegas was kind of fun.  Ruth was quite the conversation piece.  I think every third person we saw had to ooh and aah over the baby.  She was a great protection, too.  No one tried to hand me pornographic fliers or give me coupons to nightclubs.  For the most part, Jack was even spared from having people try handing him the strip club cards.  (There were a few people that would try to give them to him behind my back...) 

 If you go to Vegas with a baby and are as lucky as me, you might just get parenting advice from the guys with the strip club cards.  Just in case you didn't know, a baby can get sunburned in the Las Vegas sun.  (Good thing I applied sunscreen before we went outside!)  You also might be lucky enough to have the baby break the ice in the elevator and have a drunk guy ask you to burp him.  Maybe you would be more witty than me and be able to think of a quick comeback to that.

 But if you do consider taking a baby to Vegas, just keep in mind there are some negatives to the situation.  Be careful where you sit.  It may appear that the couch in the lobby of the hotel is just a couch.  But perhaps it is not.  Sometimes a couch is not a couch.  It is a lounge, and there will be no babies allowed in lounges.  I'd bet they wouldn't be too thrilled with you trying to use a slot machine, either.  Oh, well.  You can't have everything!

Las Vegas

 In the beginning of June, Jack attended a conference in Las Vegas.  With some friends and Jack's parents watching the three older children, Jack, Ruth and I went off to the Las Vegas Strip.

 When we got off the airplane, the atmosphere of Las Vegas was evident.  There were slot machines in the airport.  There were larger-than-life semi-pornographic advertisements on the walls.  Once we got to the hotel, there was blaring music on the streets and a lounge in the lobby of the hotel.  This was the view from our hotel room.  I angled the camera so you didn't see the advertisement for the peep show.  It was quite the culture shock to me! 

 After I got over the initial shock of Las Vegas, I was able to enjoy some of the uniqueness of the experience.  I was amazed at the architecture.  I have seen the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower and the pyramids all in Las Vegas!  I also enjoyed having a quiet week where I could just focus on the baby.  I hadn't realized how much sleep she needed because she has to go everywhere we need to go.  On this trip, I made sure she got the sleep she needed.  I was able to watch tv, read and rest as well.

 We went to the Harley Davidson restaurant for dinner one night.  The food wasn't that great, but it was neat to see motorcycles flying around the room!

 Jack loved this sign.  "Grand Canyon Experience" is what you will have when you use the ATM... an empty bank account!

 There were people dressed in character costumes on the streets as well.  I just thought they must be so hot in those costumes! 

This was the garden inside the Bellagio hotel.  It was amazing to see what they could do with these hotels! 

The Royal Gorge

 After school got out, we took the kids on a little trip down to the Royal Gorge in Canon City.  I remember going there as a kid, but Jack and the kids had never been.  It was much fancier than what I remember!

 We started our trip with a ride on a train through the Gorge.  There was an open air car that we could stand and walk around on.  The scenery was beautiful, and we even saw some rafters going down the river.

 Rebecca got a little motion sickness while on the open air car, so she spent most of the rest of the ride in our seats.

 We also went to a little Dinosaur museum in Canon City.  The kids had fun seeing a real paleontologist working on the dinosaur bones and the interactive kids area.  It was interesting for me to go to this museum because I remember taking a group of kids from a day care I worked at one summer in college.  The museum was much the way I remember it.

 The kids think the best part of any trip is the hotel pool.  They had a lot of fun playing in the water at the end of the day.

 We went to the Royal Gorge park the next day and had a full day of fun there.  First we had to stop and pick up a sweat shirt for Joseph at the gift shop since his jacket got left at the hotel, and the wind there made it cold! Then we rode the incline railway down to the bottom of the gorge.

 Miriam rode a pony, but Rebecca was too big and Joseph didn't want to. 

 We went on a carriage ride as a family.

And Rebecca, Miriam and I went on a mule ride.  That was lots of fun.  It was the first time I had been on a horse (really a mule, but a large animal) since I was a kid.  The girls both had a good time as well.  We tried to take a video of our ride, but it didn't end up getting shot, so you have to take my word for it!