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The End of a Decade

   Allie, Hudson and I get to hang out while we wait for Lydia in the school pickup line. It's nice to have some one-on-one time with Allie since she doesn't get a whole lot these days.  

  Daddy was feeling brave and let the girls shave his beard. They did pretty good!


  We've loved our free loaf of bread a month at Great Harvest and somehow the girls always end up with cookies.

  My cousin, Liz suggested the granddaughters take our Grandma out to lunch on her birthday. It was so much fun! I love my Grandma so much and can't imagine life without her. We each wrote her a letter and put it in a pretty box.
 

From left to right: Laura, Hailey, Jamie, Erika, Grandma, Liz, Stephanie, Jenni and Erin. We missed Em, Angela, Ashley and Mariah.

  Dad showed Chris and Loren how to make brats one night. I never thought I'd actually learn how the sausage gets made. They really enjoyed it. 


  Merry Christmas to Kaleb and Charlie. They are always in our hearts.

  We celebrated Grandma Swan's birthday with a lovely crepe breakfast. There's no crepe's better than Dad and Landon's.

 A little later that day Loren and I went to the Gentri Christmas concert. It was AMAZING! They're one of my favorite groups and really helped us get into the Christmas spirit. Thanks to Liz and Dru for the tickets.



  Mom, Maddy and I signed up for a Citrus Pear class. We made twenty freezer meals in two hours! It was really fun and I'm super excited to have some quick dinner options available.





Maddy and I made it on Citrus Pear's Instagram stories!

Our neighbor brought us the coolest gift, an entertaining cup holder! Complete with a Sharpie marker so they can write their name on the cup. Genius! We loved the idea so much Loren made one for Kristen for her present this year.

  The Swan/Griffiths Christmas party is always a favorite tradition. Lydia and Allie were angels in the Nativity this year.

Sarah caught this adorable picture.


Kim and Kerry's "Sleighride" is always fun to hear.

  The girls learned Suzie Snowflake this year. They did so great!



Hudson at nine months.

  The kids were really excited to meet Santa. Allie told him she wanted a horse with big wings. What more could a three year old want?

Lydia (6), asked for a LOT of Legos.

  We forgot about Hudson and had already changed him into his jammies by the time we remembered to get a picture of him with Santa. He mostly just tried to pull Santa's beard off.

The kids all LOVE their Aunt Sarah.

  Finally it was Christmas Eve! The girls were sick the week before and thankfully were feeling better for the Christmas fun. The annual Rigby progressive dinner was switched to the church in order to fit everyone better. It turned out to be a blast. We started with appetizers then took a trailer ride around the neighborhood in the rain. Loren was dubious but I thought it was great.



  Afterwards was hot chocolate and salad. Then we line danced and played Missionary Tag.

  Then it was time for ham, cheesy potatoes and rolls. Yum! While we finished up, we watched an old video of a Christmas party we put on for a ward years ago. It was hilarious and so fun to relive wonderful memories.

  I thought we were done after that, but there was more fun to be had. We lined up the balls and had ourselves a Christmas Eve dodgeball game. It was pretty epic and Hudson loved chewing on all the stray balls.

  After that we had dessert then played Lightening. Then it was time for Grandma and Grandpa to open their gifts. We ended the night watching a few Christmas videos. What a fun time! It was even better knowing the girls were completely wore out. Can't wait for next year.

  Christmas morning! Oh how magical!


  Hudson wasn't quite awake yet but the girls couldn't wait any longer so we took the picture without him.


I was pretty bad at taking pictures. Allie got a sparkly unicorn, bead making jewelry, a princess cupcake game, and an Elephant and Piggie book.

Lydia got a fort building kit, lots of Legos, Eye Spy Disney game, and an Elephant and Piggie book. What a great Christmas!

  Hudson got a slinky and airplane toy. That's what happens when you're nine months old, buddy.



  Lydia's Lego Mansion.

  We spent the afternoon in Avon. The Christmas dinner is always SOO good! Twice baked potatoes, deviled eggs, rolls, prime rib and sparkling fruity drinks. Amazing and even better was that everyone was together.

  We spent the next few hours opening gifts from each other. Sarah made me this BEAUTIFUL embroidered temple picture with our name and year we were married. I was so blown away, it was truly priceless. She's so talented!

  It looks perfect in our kitchen.
 
  I'm not sure what to call what Landon made for Loren but it's truly incredible. It was a tiny computer thing that you can play games on. Landon is truly going places in life.

  I didn't get a single picture of the Rigby party the day after Christmas. I'm so sad! I guess we were having too much fun. Everyone was able to make it and we had a wonderful dinner together. Then we had a talent show and opened presents. Cam and Mary gave us a super fun game called Chameleon. We've played it many times already and can tell it's going to be a favorite. Mary is always so thoughtful and gives the kids amazing gifts. Allie got a nature press and I know we'll have so much fun with it in the Spring. Lydia got Guess Who and we've already played it countless times. Hudson's favorite friend is the Mickey Mouse and loves to chew on it's ears. We were definitely spoiled.  
  Cam and Mary were able to spend a few more days here so we took advantage and went to the Bounce N Slide with the kids. They had a blast. 

  We celebrated Loren's thirtieth birthday! I bought him thirty gifts and let me tell you, it was tricky! But I think he loved everything and I hope it was memorable for him. We also went to Star Wars and were happy that it was better than we thought it was going to be. All in all, it was a great birthday and I think he's just grateful to finally be thirty.
  Next was my mom's birthday! We'll never forget it because it's also on our Anniversary. Dad "made" a beautiful cake and we had a great dinner and had fun playing games. We sure love her!


  Where you find Hudson, you usually find a carrot. We had such a wonderful Holiday season and it's always hard to get back to real life but time keeps moving on. We're excited for what 2020 will hold!




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