December wrap-up

 

New Years Eve 2020

New Years Eve was delightful. In the morning, Ben tried out my leg massagers and the kids hung out on our bed for a while.

Todd worked on Sara's captains bed.

We went swimming at the gym.

Then we had an early dinner at Zao while we talked about our highlights from 2020.

New Years Eve pictures at home.

My parents invited us to drive through Christmas in Color with them. It was spectacular!

We did our best to stay up until midnight but most of us hit the bed before 11:00pm (except for Ben who went to a friends house for a little while and me who waited up for him).

Notice the girls are sleeping in the family room.

We are in the process of re-decorating their bedroom. Stay tuned for more on that in 2021!

HaPpY NeW YeAr!!!

Sara's top things of 2020

 Hi this is Sara,

Getting the trailer

Going to St.Goerge 

My dance Recital

Moving up to ballet 6

My B-day

Going to turlock California to see grandma and grandpa 

Seeing all of our grandparents

Going shopping sometimes

Michaels Mission

Christmas was very amazing

I started playing the viola

Seeing Michael on the phone

Going swimming in the summer

Playing games with the family

Going to eat out at Cafe Rio and Chick-fil-a

 👍

Mary's top 20 0f 2020

Sup it's guest blogger Mary here with her Top 20 of 2020

1. Turlock Trip

2. Getting my driving permit

3. AirPods for my b-day

4. Michael's mission

5. Staying home with fam cuz of COVID

6. Getting a new phone (iPhone 8)

7. Moving to Principals in dance

8. Started redoing our room

9. Chick-Fil-A came out with a brownie

10. Christmas

11. St. George

12. Buying a trailer then trading it in for a bigger one

13. Studying The Book of Mormon for Come Follow Me

14. I started Seminary

15. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Orton and Stepan

16. Visiting Grandma Miller and FaceTiming with her

17. Disney+

18. Dad's truck

19. Family time (playing games)

20. Baking in my free time!

20 1/2. My limited edition Hydro Flask

Luke's top 20 of 2020

1. Receiving the priesthood

2. Going into middle school

3. Mountain biking/Biking

4. My 12th birthday

5. Going to the temple

6. Going to grandpa and grandma Stepan's house in Turlock

7. Online school

8. Friends and family

9. Michael's mission 

10. Summer vacation

11. The trailer and all the camping trips we took

12. Bear lake

13. Moab 

14. St. George 

15. The shed 

16. Learning the trumpet

17. Christmas 

18. The food

19. The truck

20. All the fun we had!!

Ben's top 20 of 2020

In no particular order, they were all fantastic

 1. The Thunder Wagon

2. Bingham High School SBO of Assemblies

3. My Drivers License

4. Mountain Bike season

5. Grandma and Grandpa's house in Turlock

6. Moab

7. St. George

8. Michael's Mission

9. Bear Lake

10. My job at Chick-fil-a

11. Riding my bike to the Hammock park with the boys in the Summer

12. My 16th birthday

13. Online School

14. Learning the Guitar

15. Christmas 2020

16. Dad's new truck

17. Camping trips

18. Building the shed

19. First school dances

20. All my family and friends

Lake Stevens

 I took these pictures from Facebook. They are pictures that were posted from Michael's Christmas zone conference. Here he is with his Christmas package with President and Sister Auna.

Michael with his second companion Elder Wray.

Christmas money

Our kids received money from their grandparents for Christmas. Sara couldn't wait to go shopping!

She bought a new dance bag and some fake nails at Target.

She bought a Mickey sweatshirt at the mall on the same day her Crocs arrived (late Christmas present). Christmas just keeps going for this girl!

Corn hole and karma

 I think this Christmas will be remembered as the one where we played a lot of corn hole and karma (a great card game). In true Stepan fashion, our games were competitive!

Sara, Nana and I were the cheerleaders.

Todd's parents spent Christmas with Todd's brother. They stopped by our house on Monday morning on their way home to California. We noticed that Ben is taller than Grandpa now and Luke is taller than Grandma.

I love Christmas cards!

We stopped at Swig on Monday for some refreshment before we took our Christmas decorations down. So sad that Christmas is done for another year :(

Boxing Day 2020

The kids were so excited to attend the gym for the first time.

I was glad to not have to keep it a secret anymore :)

Ben and Luke were thrilled to try out their new basketball shoes and headphones on the court.

Dad and Sara went swimming. Mary and I exercised on the machines. It was a win for everyone.

The rest of boxing day was spent returning some items and going to lunch with Todd.

Christmas 2020

Christmas started around 6:40 am when the kids took their full stockings at the end of their beds to the family room where they opened them together. We could hear the excitement from upstairs. 

Then they gathered at the stairs and waited for the "Come on up!"

It was so fun to listen to the squeals of delight when the kids saw their gifts.

Ben found the pickle in the tree this year!

Luke made sure Nana received her gift.

Nana immediately went to show Dad her new toy.

Unwrapping presents is always exciting!

I was excited to get a few things for our trailer.

Sara gave us a homemade wreath for our bedroom door. It is a treasure.

Our beautiful tree gifts from Dad.

Christmas breakfast

Then my Christmas was complete when we were able to talk to Michael while he opened his package from us. We miss him like crazy but knowing he is healthy and happy makes me feel so good. I know that he is right where he is supposed to be right now.

Later the girls got a bonus present when I remembered to get out the saucer chair for their bedroom.

My parents came over for a little while for treats and a game of corn hole.

That afternoon I made my homemade rolls and we made a turkey dinner.

Michael called again just as we were sitting down to eat Christmas dinner. Todd asked him to pray for us. I cried as I listened to him pray. My heart is full of gratitude and love and this truly was a special day to remember.

Later that evening we played Karma and Cornhole and since Michael had a full p-day we talked to him one last time before bed. It was a magical Christmas.

Our family picture on the Sunday before Christmas and Michael at Lake Stevens.