Jenks - One Rockin' Family!

This is Mom & Dad's last Christmas at home for three years, so we packed everything up and headed to Troy for the Holidays. They had an enormous amount of snow, which meant lots of fun for us. Santa came a day early, on Christmas Eve, as Christmas was on Sunday and we planned on attending church in Potlatch, where Annie sang a solo, Brooke accompanied, and Gemma threw an epic tantrum. It started in the middle of the opening prayer, and I picked Gemma up and whisked her out of the room. Well I tried anyway. Gemma grabbed each set of window curtains and clung on like a cat (very fitting), so I had to pry her hands off multiple times. We got out of the room and headed to the van for some cool-down time. I held Gemma on my lap for 20 minutes, trying to calm her down. I tried to get her to count to 10, sing primary songs, and blow out the finger candles. Nothing worked, and my ears were ringing from all the screaming, so I set Gemma in the middle row of the van, grabbed my phone...

So here in Salem it doesn't snow much. But this year has been different. We've had multiple snowstorms, which basically shut down the city (even if there's half an inch). And since I work for a safety company, it means I've had several snow days. A couple of the days we've even walked to the store to get our food. Sure, we could make it in the car, but I feel pretty wary of the other drivers, since many of them have practically zero snow driving experience! Cute! Can you see the blurry snow ball? Pretty sure Brooke just pelted one of the kids. Nice release, Maddie! Ode to my sweet love! Gemma made extremely happy snow angels. Eat that snow, kid. Brooke let me decorate the gingerbread cookies for her piano recital. I went a little nuts with my designs. Gemma the kitty cat at the ward Christmas party. Speaking of the party, I was put in charge of it. Lots of work, but we kept things simple, and it all turned out great. ...

Oh the joy of babies. Watching them learn and grow so rapidly during their first year is a total blast. One evening we waited for the big kids to go to bed, then got out the camera and captured some of Cameron's first steps. I love love love it!