Jesse's special watch from Grandpa Howick

Our Father in Heaven is so aware of us. He wants to, and is waiting to help us, no matter how big or small our needs may be. Jesse’s Grandpa Howick gave him one of his old watches not too long ago, but it was too big and needed to be adjusted. I was going on a little over an hour trying to fix the size of this watch for him. I was almost to the point of giving up, when I whispered “Father, this watch means a lot to Jesse and is very important. Please help me to fix it for him”.  My frustration dissipated, and I had it put back together in a matter of 5 minutes. I smiled, and whispered “thank you”, happily knowing that He is more aware of us than I often recognize or admit. I am continually learning and re-learning to just give it to God. When I do, my life is always so much better! Everybody's lives will be better with Him, just saying.......

Jesse loves this watch!

Pole Haven with the Gowans

Pole Haven is one of our favorite sledding hills.  We were lucky enough to have one of our favorite families join us for some serious good times!

Josie, Jesse, Kaylee, Aiden, and Macie

Kaylee and Macie

Derek had a good crash!

Unable to participate, Ryan was still a good sport and cheerleader :)

Matt Gowans

Aiden the stunt man!

Josie ate it!  She had a bruise under her eye to prove it! :)

Aiden built a bigger jump on our sledding hill and everybody had a great time catching air.....

"Jesse, are you okay?"

Amy Gowans

Jesse

Funny story:  Amy put a softer sled inside of this hard black sled.  When she was coming down the hill and hit the jump, she flew out of the black sled, but remained on the soft sled and continued down the hill.  It was awesome and I think it surprised her a little bit!  So much fun!

Jesse and Aiden are good at crashing!

Kaylee walking her sled....LOL

Jesse and Aiden

Derek having a little snow snack :)

Matt Gowans rocking the slopes :)  Right before we left, Aiden laid under the jump he made and had his dad (Matt) jump over him.  It was pretty awesome!

Aiden and Amy

Another one bites the dust!  (Aiden)

Love this gorgeous lady (Amy)

Great bunch of kids!  Love them all!

A little hot choc to warm up with

Oh Yes!  Kaylee and Macie catching some air!

2019 Christmas

We were so happy to have the kids with us in Manti for Christmas this year!  The 3 kids all slept together in Macie's room as it is tradition on Christmas Eve.  Josie woke up bright and early, as she should because HELLO, it is Christmas!  BUT, Jesse and Macie wanted to sleep in, and Ryan had been up most of the night not feeling well.  I didn't have the heart to wake him :(  Josie and I made hot chocolate and patiently waited for everybody else to wake up.  To keep herself entertained, she stacked everybody's presents in their own little stacks....LOL  It was a great day and a simple, quiet Christmas.

We sure love our tree!  Each year we buy a Christmas ornament for each one of the kids, to add to their collection.  Its a lot of fun for all of us.

Jesse's stack!

Macie's stack!

Waiting was just killing her!

Ryan and I didn't want to spend much money on each other this year, but still wanted to have fun.  We came up with categories to buy gifts under for each other, and set a money limit.

The categories this year were so much fun!  We laughed so hard, and have decided to do this every year......

Popping Present

Christmas Cargo

Winter Wonderland

Dirty Dozen

Gospel Gadget

Less is More

Sneaky Surprise

We sure got creative, and it was hilarious! 

Josie's big tall stack!

Ryan bought this "Bonus Present" for me.....hahahaha!  Oh we have fun!

Secret Santa

We had the sweetest Secret Santa this year who left the kindest, most thoughtful gifts and messages each night leading up to Christmas!  I didn't take very good pictures, but each night they would give us one piece of this nativity.  Our family absolutely loved this, and looked forward to the new piece each night.  This nativity was seriously so cute, and so fun!  We are  beyond blessed in our lives, and so grateful to the kind people who put time, effort, and money into selflessly serving our family this year.

Violin Concert for Josie

Angelina and Jo

Josie's friend and crush Aiden Gowans to the far left

Josie coming in.  She sat in a spot that I could not take pictures of her while they were playing.

Great job once again Manti High School Orchestra!

One thing I have always loved about Josie is her style and willingness to just be herself, even when it is different than her peers around her!  Church shoes?  No way!!!  She is sporting her Converse tennies with her orchestra dress....LOL!  Love this girl!