New Arcade Games

Scott has been fascinated with imported games from China.  He researched the process of ordering, having one built, and waiting for it to be shipped on a cargo boat over to America.  He has thought about selling them as a side business if he can work out the kinks in the process.  Anyhow, we ended up getting our arcades just in time for Christmas.

He rented a Uhaul to get them a few days earlier.  A forklift loaded the machines in the truck.

The tricky part was getting them out of the truck.  So heavy!!

Good thing Scott bought some piano dollies. They came in very handy!

The second machine.

The pinball machine needed assembly.  We watched online videos of advice how to lift them.

Putting on the legs was a challenge.

Finally in the proper place.

The second machine.

This one was much lighter.  The wires were a little overwhelming, but Scott is smart!

The boys enjoy it much.

The girls do too.  The best part about virtual machines is their variety of games.  There is something for everyone ranging from the 1970s to now.  Happy gaming!

Christmas and New Years

We were lucky to visit with Santa at the Hebdon Christmas party.  Sterling asked Santa to bring him some cars and a tablet.

Makayla asked for a tablet and some troll toys.

Lincoln hoped for some machines and a tablet.

The Bjarnsons celebrated Christmas Eve Eve this year, which was on December 23rd.  It turned out well and there was a good turnout.

I spied the cutest Mary and Joseph.

And the nativity is/was my favorite part. The next evening we made a nice dinner, read about the nativity, and watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas.

Makayla prepared for Christmas by writing a note to Santa.

Then she penned one for Lincoln.

She carefully crafted a puzzle, glued it to cardboard, and cut it out and placed it in a box for Santa.

We are blessed to have such a thoughtful daughter.
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Santa came alright!

And even left gifts for the adults.

Makayla with her stuff.

Sterling with his stash.

Lincoln with his goods.

Marv and Vickie joined us.  They were great company, and we were (mostly) healthy this year.  When they came 2 years ago, Marv ended up with pneumonia in the hospital up here, and we all had the flu.

We enjoyed our morning, went to church, and came home and relaxed.

Dinner was delicious!
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 We played with remote control cars over the break.

 Brrrr, it was cold!

The cars zoomed fast!
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Makayla made up some cat games for our New Years Eve celebration.  She had teams dress, feed, brush and play with the cats as a contest.  She is creative!

Scott, Dan Wood, and Dallin played a lot of arcade games.

Dad enjoyed the virtual games.

Cute best cousins! Everyone watched "Storks" and I snuck in a nap from being worn out from my bronchitis.

Then we toasted the new year.

And someone snoozed in a corner.  Happy 2017!

December 2016

We had a nice breakfast with Grandma Bjarnson at her care center.

Cousins visiting Santa.

Close up!

We decorated gingerbread houses.

Lincoln's

Sterling's (His originally had about a pound of pixie dust snow, but he cleaned it)

Makayla's

Mom's

Dad's

All together!

We attended the Festival of Trees.

Lincoln's favorite tree was a Super Mario one.

Makayla liked a doll themed one.

Sterling admired the Hot Wheels one.

To us, the upside down one stood out.

And the rubber band one took the grand prize.

We made some treats to share with cousins.

Grandpa and Grandma Paxton gifted us nice tickets for the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert.

 Rolando Villazon, an opera singer from South America, was the star.

The concert was great, despite the massive downpour we walked through to get there.  And Grandpa ripped his jacket sleeve on some metal sticking out of a building.  Grandma Diane was kind to watch the boys younger than 8 years.

 We bought new phones December 12th (and switched carriers from Verizon to Sprint).  First selfie!

As a bonus with our phones, we got some virtual gaming equipment.

 The RPA Christmas Party was at Lonestar Steakhouse; yummy!

 We got dumped on like crazy this month. Poor Scott spent several hours plowing and shoveling snow from our driveway.

 We saw a funny play called 'Nutcracker, Men in Tights.'

Sterling enjoyed a foot long corndog.

And he lost his two front teeth!

The boys were lucky to attend a birthday party at Classic Fun Center.

We got a new membership to Clark Planetarium.

What a great place!

Lincoln's favorite spot.

And they added a play-zone for the kids.

We had such a good time that we went back a few days later too.

Admired the Tree of Life.

Had a family outing of sledding.  The kids were in heaven!

Mom watched from the car since she had bronchitis.  No fun being sick!

We hit ten thousand miles on our van (in 9 months of ownership).

We finally updated our aquarium from the wood panel one to a black one.  We added some pretty new fish along with the old timers.

And the cats were perfect snuggle buddies this cold month.