Christmas, Happy Birthday Owen, and Happy Birthday Zachary!

Christmas Morning!  No vomiting, decent sleep, and cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The best part, though, was walking downstair to see the kids and dogs corralled with sleepy grins.

Santa's best responses: "Elves are made with love, of course," and "Miss Claus prefers it."

These pictures of cousins together make my heart melt.

Zac's big ask this year:

Zachary helping Roxy open her stocking:

I love that he still loves legos.

Owen pounding stocking candy at 7am.  Get it, kiddo.

Every time someone mentions seeing a fancy car, Owen asks, "It it a Bugatti?"  I'm not sure why Santa or the elves thought a rechargeable car was a good idea because Owen is not a kid who plugs in anything requiring a charge.  But at least it's a Bugatti.

Roxy's matching jams never fit her quite right--a little too short for her long body.

I'm glad we got her matching jams just for this photo:

Weeks ago, Kate put a North Face vest in our cart.  It was $176.  I could not believe the price tag.  This jacket is cuter and definitely not $176.

We cleaned up, took our Christmas walk/lifted weights, and then went up to Heber for Christmas dinner.

Day after Christmas ski with Kristen and kids, Zachary, and Sophie and her dad, Matt.  It snowed most of the day and Matt convinced us to try Catherine's bowl, which required a little hike with skis, plenty of powder, and a lot of work from him to navigate us and help us escape from tricky tree sections.  I think we could do much better now but that day, it was so fun and also too difficult for me and Owen!

Owen's comment: "It's cool we did a black but I don't want to do that again."  (Note: I took Kate, Owen and Walker to Snowbasin on Saturday and specifically mentioned that I needed to warm up my ankles on a blue run.  The second we got started, the kids decided to bolt down a black and I of course had to do my best to keep up.  I love the learning curve on skiing!  Still have a long way to go but reflecting on this Catherine's bowl day makes me wonder if it would be easier now.)

Matt digging Sophie out of a snow bank.

Kate was in heaven, grabbing snowflakes with her tongue.

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Stebbedlark Reunion at Provo Beach Resort!  So fun to watch the kids surf/boogie for the hour, then play round after round of laser tag, bowling, mini golf, and arcade games.  

I was overwhelmed by the happiness I felt reuniting with our dear friends.  

Lunch break between our hours of play at the BYU creamery.

Love this Kate-face.  That's the face we each had after most of our bowling attempts.

Brady impressed us all with his QB skills.

These fancy prize glasses make it so you can see behind you.  

Aloha, Oe, friends.

The next day, we met up to ice skate with Steve and Natalie's family.  Owen, who is our avid skater typically, was irritated that his skill did not match his expectations.  Kelsey and Kate hit it off like no time had passed between their last hangout, I loved watching them play tag with Zac and the other cousins in the crowded arena.

We split up to watch Owen's indoor soccer game while these three got ready to dance the night away for a NYE stake dance.  After, we met up at Costa Vida and then played at our house, watching a football game and playing with Roxy.

Eliza was obsessed with Roxy and a couple weeks after their return home, the Monsons got a puppy!

Happy, happy birthday, Owen!  We started our Sunday with waffles, a singing birthday dog, and our posters and streamers to celebrate this kiddo turning 9.  

He was a great sport to share his celebration with a Nufer family gathering.  

Zac rallying the troops and rough housing with his cousins.  He is so sweet to play with enthusiasm and the kids come back again and again for more.

Owen's chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, and chocolate cupcakes, topped with chocolate ice cream.  He prefers the solid chocolate flavor without any extras.

Nufer sisters:

It was their idea to duck down to pretend I'm the tallest rather than the shortest of the family.  I posted this on the family chat and it took seconds for someone to point out.

Kels, Kate, and Juliana decided to do the same:

Owen is a very fun child to parent.  He can be sensitive and emotional, especially about Brady going out of town, but he is also very malleable and willing to go along with whatever the plan might be--even if it is a date night and he's the 5th wheel.  He knows expectations and follows them: he makes his bed, brushes and flosses, clears the table, and puts away his laundry, as well as all his Saturday chores.  He knows that he cannot do media time without getting his piano and reading done on weekends, and he is really good to knock it all out.  He says, "I'm a reader" to his friends, loves math, and claims that he wants to be a professional basketball player.  The days he wants mom time are my favorite, and we bike, play pickle ball, and play basketball together.  Some days he is only interested in friends and I am glad I have a job so I feel some level of productivity without rejection.  He's athletic but gentle.  He's funny but kind.  He knows what to say to adults to win them over, and he follows in his cousins' shadows obsessively and wants to be just like them.  He can melt down spectacularly, but comes back into the room for a tearful hug and apology after he calms down.  

I think I am so sad my younger parenting years are over but I see so many parents here with young children and I am satisfied that my life is activities with the kids on a level that is legitimately fun for me.  I do realize I only have a tiny window when Kate and I can run together and I'm not too slow, when I'm still competitive with Owen in basketball and soccer and pickle ball, and when they need me to get anywhere so we have chats in the car.  It is my favorite stage with kids so far.  I do miss kissing Owen's bald head, but I'm so proud of my 9-year-old!

If it feels like landmark after landmark in this post, that's because it felt that way day-to-day, too.  The next day, we hopped on a plane to Mexico for a week, and the day after our return, it was Zachary's birthday.

Zachary's request for his birthday was to all go out to Tsunami for sushi, and boy did we eat sushi.  Rolls and rolls and rolls.  

While we celebrated Zac, Blake opened up all about his future hopes with London.

We came back to the condo to eat his birthday cake request--a grocery store chocolate cake.  His first ask was lava cakes but I didn't have the ramekins yet, so I promised to make them soon and bought a cake.

Birthday gift highlights included gift cards to his favorite eating establishments, cash for gas and parking passes at the resorts, and new boxing gloves.

Love the Pit Viper topper

...and repurposed card that Zac made for Owen.  Ha!

Zachary is all these things.  He loves the water and when he's in water, you can absolutely see that he grew up there.  He reads voraciously the moment he finds a book he enjoys, unable to close it late into the night.  He picks up quickly on math and can do mental math faster than anyone in the family.  He is playful and family games or made up activities we do around the house become a party when he's involved.  

We love you, Zachary!  Happy, happy birthday.