Giving Thanks 2012

The Hodgson's celebrated our first Thanksgiving without our beloved patriarch, Kent, this year. I think he would have been proud of us. We made too much food and ate ourselves silly. We laughed a lot and cried a little. And we carried on his tradition of pictures of the table and people eating!

Maggie showed up just long enough to surprise Chance with his favorite dessert. I haven't seen him smile like that in weeks. Thank goodness for sisters.

Cabin Vacation 2010

We've been planning this mini-vacation for a while now and it is finally here. The kids and I are so happy to finally be here, even if it is without dad. Dang it. Wouldn't you know that his boss would extend an invitation that he didn't feel like he could refuse. It really is ok though, we understand. And we are grateful for Chance's job and that's a big deal, especially lately.

Today we mostly hung around the cabin watching tv, eating, and playing board games. We did go down to the lodge after dinner for some yummy frozen treats and to play on the swings for a bit.

Tomorrow the plan is to get up and eat breakfast, clean up the cabin and be at the pool when the gate is unlocked. The kids read on the sign that summer hours are from 10am to 11pm and I think they plan to be there the whole time. Boy will they be bummed when I'm ready for hot dogs and a nap.

What's with these Hodgson kids and their need to climb on everything? It looks like they took me seriously when I told them they couldn't climb up the outside of the cabin. I told them Papa would not think it was a good idea and they found something else to do. Phew!

Until tomorrow, good night...sleep tight...don't let the bed bugs bite...and if they do...hit 'em with your shoe.

Memorial Day 2010

The kids and I are in Kaysville for the long Memorial Day weekend...yay! We LOVE visiting Uncle Mike and Aunt Colleen's house, they are so wonderful and we always have such a great time! School got out early on Friday (and Sarah skipped altogether) so we got out of town by 3:00. It still took us forever to get here this time though. Between Dayton having to stop for bathroom breaks and me stopping for everything else, it was a long trip!
Dayton woke me up at 5:30 this morning. I told him he better go back to sleep in my meanest voice but it didn't work so I sent him out to the living room with his DS and threatened to beat him if he woke anyone else up. A few hours later everyone was up eating Uncle Mike's chocolate chip waffles and then we were off to the cemetery to put flowers on Grandma and Grandpa Hodgson's graves.


Nice stone, huh? I can't help but wonder what the story is behind this. And just a note to my husband...if this is what my headstone says (if I go before you) you will be in big trouble.
We visited Temple Square today too. They had a new display that just opened today. It was a scale model of the Salt Lake Temple that had one side cut away so you could see what some of the rooms inside look like. It was pretty neat.
Tomorrow, church and relaxing. Monday, the Mendon and Wellsville cemetery to leave flowers for Grandpa Merle, Grandma LouJean, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Bird and Aunt Verna. I can't wait to visit those beautiful cemeteries!

Christmas 2009

Here we are at Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa's house on Christmas Eve. We've eaten and taken a family photo and now we are getting ready for the gift exchange game.

The kids all got pajamas from their Great-Grandparents. One of the best gifts at Christmas in my opinion!

The food was so, so good too!

Sarah almost never talks to Santa but she did it for the treats he was handing out this year. The other two sat on his lap too but I didn't get pictures because I had to go sit with them!

Christmas morning started at 5:55 this year. When, oh when, will they start sleeping in?

Oh lovely!

My father-in-law always takes a picture of the table at holidays. This year we did not have the traditional prime rib dinner because our wonderful chef had to work till 4:00. It was ok though, we had his amazing split pea soup and french dip sandwiches. It was so good!

I never like photos of myself but this one with my sweetheart Dayton...I love it!

Here's my sweet sister-in-law Melissa with my cute nephew Connor. That kid is so awesome!

This kid is gonna be trouble. He gets nearly anything he wants with that face!

And this little one is an absolute angel. Who could resist those curls?

Here are Hodgson and Grandma helping Connor open his present from his cousins.

Maggie is sommersault queen.

This little sweet pea was pretty excited about Santa leaving a Nintendo DS under the tree for her.

This one was pretty tickled too.

This is Sarah's super excited face!

Maggie's play kitchen got stocked up by Santa!

They finally slowed down enough to realize they were hungry for monkey bread and cinnamon rolls.