Calendars

 

Welfare Square

We had the chance to tour the Welfare Center downtown today as a family.  Dad has a patient that is one of the head guys here, so he hooked us up with a private tour.  It was so fun to see all the things that go on here and the process of getting clothes, supplies, food, etc out to all those that need it.  Such a cool place!

 

Christmas skiing

Josh has the week after Christmas off so we usually have a blast having him home!  This year, because the snow has been so good, we took an unusual trip to Brighton for a ski day.  We had such a fun, cold day together!  It was so fun to be there with (almost) all the kids and get them back in to the ski zone! Lessons start up next week and they are all ready.

 

Liev did not wasted any time getting started on his Christmas Lego set.  He got a really hard one this year - a techno semi truck with about a million pieces.  He is so good and patient though and gets things all done in order.  It's going to be amazing!

 

Buns

Oh how I love these little buns...

 

Christmas 2019

Christmas this year was fun, memorable and magical all rolled into two big days!  We all love the lead up to Christmas, but once it gets here we love actually doing everything together! Christmas Eve was a big party with all the Losee families gathered.  We had delicious food (french dip sandwiches and lots of yummy fingers foods) and a huge nativity production (featuring all the Losee grandkids).  What a crew we have when we're all together!  After dinner and the "pro-grum" the families all scattered back to their own homes for last minute Christmas Eve traditions.  Of course, we had to keep up our favorite tradition of caroling.  We love it!  Then it was PJs and off to bed!  The kids set up a bed together in the girls room this year and continued their tradition of sleeping together on Christmas Eve.  Love this!

Christmas morning is always a big rush of adrenaline!  Lined up at the top of the stairs, they each can't wait to get down and find their stocking.  We try and do things in an orderly manner so that we can see what everyone opens.  It's hard for the little ones to be patient, but we do love seeing what each of the gifts are and how excited the kids are.  It makes for a fun morning together!  Top gifts this year...

Rease: Lobster ski gloves

Rhen: Settlers of Catan expansion

Liev and Keen: Lego sets

Beck: Remote control car and a new bike

Desh: A big Mac Truck

Mom and Dad: A homemade quilt from the girls.  They crocheted each square and pathworked them together at the end.  Finished off with each of our names on the quilt.  It is amazing and priceless!

We also had one surprise secret santa drop off right towards the end of the morning as everyone was finishing up gifts.  A quick knock on the door and there was a stampede to see who could open it first. On the doorstep was a brand new mountain bike for Josh!  I'm happy to say that it was a gift that I was able to keep secret for the past few weeks.  And I believe he was truly surprised (and excited) about it!  

We know that he's going to spend lots of hours with this new bike and I'm so glad he's excited about it!

 Christmas is such a fun time to be together, give gifts, and share our love with one another.  I hope we were able to capture that this year and that it can remain throughout the rest of the season.  Merry Christmas one and all!

Christmas Cards

 

Hammer/Beutler kids

The Hammer/Beutler kids have grown up together as if they are all family.  We love getting together cause it's a big party/wrestling match most of the time.  9 boys together=craziness!

 

First ski

Josh and the kids snuck up to Brighton this morning for an early season ski.  We usually don't make it up until after the new year, but this year the snow has been amazing so far!  They couldn't pass it up this morning. We are sooo looking forward to ski season.

 

Saturday Run

Marathon training is officially on...

 

Sunrise

I seem to post pictures like this often...but I can't get enough of the beautiful sunrises we see coming through our kitchen window!

 

School Play

Liev and Keen tried out to be in the school play this year called How to Train Your Reindeer.  It was a darling Christmas play that the kids did an amazing job with!  Liev was one of the reindeer with lots of speaking parts that he worked hard to memorize.  And Keen was one of the towns-reindeer and had a joke telling section at the beginning that he totally nailed!  They both did such a cute job with their parts and we all loved watching them in their roles!  

 

Liev is Knighted

Liev has been working non stop to learn his multiplication and division facts and was knighted today for passing them off!  There is a cute knighting ceremony with the principal for all those who have earned it and I have to say Liev was one of the few in all of 3rd grade that has passed off both multiplication and division.  So proud of this boy and his hard work!

 

5th Grade Store

5th grade store is always a favorite time around our house!  The kids love coming up with a project to work on and doing something creative is always a good thing.  Rhen has been working hard on crocheting flower magnets and has been at it for the past month.  She glued a jewel and a magnet onto them and they turned out super cute!  Her group did a really good job of doing fun things and marketing them to the crowd.  I love this "real life" stuff they get to learn about!

Christmas with Papa and Grammie

We had our Christmas night with Papa and Grammie tonight.  It's always such a fun night to have dinner and open our gifts and be able to spend some time with just them.  It's one of our favorite nights of the season!  We had a delicious dinner of rib-eye steak and au gratin potatoes then the kids dug into the fun gifts that Grammie bought them!  Such a fun Christmas night together!

 

Liev is a Bobcat

Liev had been loving Cub Scouts and just got his Bobcat today at Pack Meeting.  He was so excited to earn this and has been working hard to get the requirements done.  Such a cute face all painted!

 

Band concert

Rease decided to take beginning band this year in middle school and wanted to play the French Horn.  I'm not sure what made her choose that specific instrument, but she has taken it and run with it.  She is doing so good and loves it!  They had their Christmas concert today and the band actually sounds really good together.  I'm so proud of her and her hard work at something new and difficult.  I hope we have lots of years of hearing this tooting horn around our house!

 

Keen Term 1

2nd Grade for Mr. Keen!  And he is doing amazing!  I love the way he works hard with his handwriting, spelling and drawing.  He is doing so good in class and Mrs. Butterfield has all good things to say about this boy.  

 

Liev Term 1

This handsome boy is doing so awesome in 3rd grade!  He works hard, plays hard and is a great friend.  I love seeing all this great writing coming from him.  He has some of the best handwriting around and I'm so proud of all he's doing!

 

Beck Term 1

Beck is a big kindergartner this year and is loving Butterfield Canyon Elementary!  He has the best teacher, Mrs. Hernandez, and has done so well with his writing and reading so far!  I can't believe he's so big and grown up.

 

Rhen Term 1

Rhen has loved being in 5th grade and also LOVES art!  She is really good at it and takes her time to put lots of detail into her drawings.  She has a great class with good friends and is working hard this year!

 

Rease Term 1 grades

First year in middle school and Rease is rockin it!  She has great grades and has worked really hard in her 8th Honors math class (as a 7th grader).  I'm so proud of her making Honor Roll and doing a great job in school!

 

Braces

This girl got her braces off today!  She is one of the lucky ones and didn't have them on for even a year! Her teeth look so beautiful and straight now - just in time to be a teenager in a few months.  Love you cute girl!

 

Christmas Card

Temple Square

We took a trip up to Temple Square this weekend and enjoyed the Christmas lights and got to see Papa in a choir concert in the tabernacle.  He has been practicing with the single adult stake to sing at a performance and they did an amazing job!  It was a production of the nativity they put on with beautiful music.  And it was really fun to be downtown and be a part of the magic that is there at Christmas time.  

Christmas Tree

This year it actually seemed like Christmas time as we were looking for the perfect tree.  Fresh snow and cold temps fit the time of year and we felt very festive as we found a tree and loaded it onto the top of the van.  Decorating the tree and our house for Christmas is always one of our favorite things to do together!

Candy Day

Candy day 2019 has begun.  It starts early and goes long but we have a ball while we're working together on this delicious treat.  And the boys were actually a really big help this year.  Liev was a master at cutting caramel and Keen rolled peanut butter balls like a champ.  Lots of yum coming from our kitchen today!

First snow

It's the first real snow of the year and the kids can't wait to go play outside.  Desh has not quite figured out that to actually have fun playing in the snow he needs a coat, boots and gloves.  Where were you on that one Beck?  

Crazy Desh

This boy keeps us hoppin and happy around our house!  He is crazy and sweet and funny and goofy all at the same time and we love him for all of it!