christmas vacay part 5

WYOMING!

wyoming was just grand getting to spending another week and a half with the cutler family.

some days everyone was there,

some days only the kids were there,

and some days we were the only ones there.

it was a relaxing end to our vacation.

we drove quickly yet safely up to wyoming to be with the cutlers for new year's eve.
that night we played balderdash which turned out to be a hilariously perfect game for that evening.
somehow we all made it to midnight!


we unanimously thought maxson looked hilarious with two halves of an easter egg on his ears.
tayli played with us in the snow.

more snowing

SETTLERS
man we had such a blast playing this game.
each game was so different.
i was a great persuader.
casey was a great complainer player.
tayli was a great trader.
karlee was a great sport, she literally had the worst spots every time.
and derek was barbaric, seriously that guy is ruthless.
we probably played at least 7 different games together and wish we could have played more.

we played a few other games that week including things and phase 10 twist

grammie and maxson.
a candle on brad's steak for his birthday.

cafe rio at brad's work for his birthday

maxson's phone radar has continued to reach breaking highs.
he's still obsessed with phones and putting them to his ears.
he loves it when they play music, he carries it around and just bounces to the music.
honestly he just loves to have control over them, ha.
after a little while he may take a little nibble on it too.
we pretty much never let him actually have the phone but his determination to find them is persistent.

great old tayli,
making us laugh real hard one morning.

grandpa and fran came up to wyoming for the shortest visit ever but we were ever so grateful to see them.
they returned from their mission to equador last fall and told us all about their adventures.
definitely got the missionary bug in us!




maxson begging for muffin from grammie
karlee being the awesome super aunt and vacuuming while maxson insisted that she hold him
(she got her braces off right when we left town sadly! can't wait to see that smile in person!)

"where's your hair?"

his throne.
not sure why i think this picture is as funny as it it because it's really probably not...

a little snow.
more of professor maxson.

he cuddled casey for a good 35 min after a nap one day, that lucky dog

smoothie hogging

more smoothie loving.
and smoothie not so loving when you tell him it's all gone.


wyoming was such a wonderful vacation for us.
we loved getting to be with the cutler family, they take such good care of us.

snow fun coming up next!

last weekend.

our last 5 days:

monday was the most beautiful day in utah.

march 5 (miss camille's birthday) had temperatures above 60!

SIXTY people!

that's only 10 degrees less than what arizona's got going on.

wowza.

on sunday you could tell there was a wee change in the weather when you drive past the colony and their were an absurd amount of scantily clad women (and men) sun bathing.

oh provo singles...

sunday was indeed festivous for us.

1. stake conference in the de jong conference hall at BYU.

a beautiful meeting.

as we stood up to sing the intermediate hymn (for a break to awaken the sleepyheads),

i was in tears.

for you see, we had quite a few couples in front of us, mostly people with no kids.

everyone had a spouse.

everyone was hand-in-hand or arms around one another.

and as we sang the spirit of god, i couldn't help but think

"this is what it's going to be like in heaven, i hope. happily hand-in-hand with the one you love."

it truly was beautiful.

2. went to grandpa and fran christensen's home for their setting apart as missionaries for the church!

they officially began their mission monday!

they will be in the provo MTC for 2 weeks, and then off to Equador to serve the Lord as temple workers.

they are such a wonderful team and will do so well down there.

if only we could visit...

3. jumped over to a cousin's house for a quick visit.

and it just so happened that that bunch of siblings/cousins (mayers) were all there together!

we got 3 for the price of 1!

4. lastly, went to a friend's house for games and chatting with the kimballs, hibberts, and gustafsons.

it's just so great to have so many other friends who are married with no kids like us.

we can just talk and talk.

i'm really going to miss these people

5. back to the grandparents,
grandma fran is known for GAMES.

she is a gameaholic.
she's also a rule natzi but we don't hold that against her :)

seriously.

she puts my enthusiasm for games to shame.

we love her so much.

last weekend we played rummikub
(if anyone EVER comes across a decent priced 6 player set of rummikub BUY IT FOR ME, they do exist but are rare and more expensive)

grandpa is also super sweet when he plays with emma.
emma adores him.

emma is so cute.

her "hi" is just the funniest thing

did i mention last weekend at the setting apart that it was just 8 of the grandkids in their 20's there to be with them.

the young to send off the old.

it was so special

(in reality, becca, fran's daughter was there too, but she's so young and lively i'm categorizing her with us)

6. also last weekend we went to IKEA.

we bought cinnamon rolls before we began walking around so casey would have a better time while walking through that maze.

totally worked.

we found a few items that are closer to the top of our list than the bottom for the future.

randomly when we got home we had a little fun with the camera,

realizing we were both actually dressed upish at the same time on a saturday,

woah, i know

moving.

our friends are moving.

our game mates our moving.

our go-to people to hang out with are moving.

our meli is moving.

our tristan is moving.

our brother and sister in law are moving to arizona in less than a month :(

so sad.

on super bowl sunday, us siblings gathered for food (SO MUCH FOOD), commercials, games, and football.

i put football last bc we (except casey) really didn't watch much of it til the last 3 minutes.

i haven't eaten that much food in ages!
tristan and abby were the funniest/cutest things ever.
the 6 of us adults have gotten to a stage where we can just have the best time together,
and it will all be ending quite soon with scott and megan leaving and we will follow in just 2 1/2 months!

but late, late in the night,

once children had gone to bed,

we brought out settlers with the expansion pack.

scott and megan are the absolute funnest and best people to play games with.

we love them.
we all want to win, we all laugh, we all help, we all steal, and we all selfishly keep cards to ourselves.

scott had us laughing the whole time.

alliances formed and crumbled in seconds.

cards were constantly being exchanged/stolen.

casey tried breaking rules.

scott was practically selling his soul for paper.

casey couldn't build anywhere.
megan kept having to give up half her cards.

after 3 hours of both megan and i trading off being 1 point away from winning, megan won.

longest, but best game of settlers ever.

we're going to miss our gamers.

1st annual crazy cutler games, minute to win it style.

new year's eve
first part :)
i decided we should institute the crazy cutler games for when we all get together at the holidays!

the cutler family has got some serious craziness going on and i wanted to harness it.

everyone was so willing to play and the competition was on!

we played a series of games vs each other and it was a hoot the whole time!

i conducted the event and played the video for each challenge before they began.

we played a bit dicey.

object: balance 5 dice on a popsicle stick that is held in your mouth

tayli and nan/mom rocked it.

nose dive.

object: transfer cotton balls from one bowl to the other using only your nose which you can dip into vaseline.
casey vs karlee.

magic carpet ride.

object: inch worm a bath mat across the carpet around obstacles not hands allowed.
mom c vs cody

hangnails.

object: balance 6 nails on a string.
casey and dad c vs camille and cody

junk in the trunk.

object: get 6 ping pong balls out of a tissue box that is attached to a belt.
by far my 2nd favorite one of all, shaking that box on their booty around!
mom c vs tayli

hut hut hike.

object: hike 10 toilet paper rolls into a hoop/frame with your partner
casey and dad c vs tayli and cody

ironboard man.

object: by tilting an ironing board, get a golfball into the designated area.
casey and mom c vs camille and karlee

noodling around

object: while holding a spaghetti noodle in your mouth, string 6 penne pasta noodles onto the spaghetti noodle.
tayli vs dad c

face the cookie.

object: move a cookie from your forehead to your face using only you face muscles.

SO FUNNY, we were all laughing so hard!
dad c, casey, camille, and karlee.

little jaden got in on the action at the last minute,
we put the cookie on his forehead,
he'd try looking back at it til it fell off his head,
pick it off the ground,
and eat it.

it was such a blast playing together!
i'm hoping the crazy cutler games will continue for years to come!!!

after conference

after conference was over, 

all us siblings got together for sunday evening.

it was quite fun, indeed, with 4 of siblings together.

it just is so fun to be with family.

we played in the park.

played on the swings.

played on the slides.

played kickball.

played games.

and played with the 2 cute little kids we've got running around here in utah.

 

this last picture has some of the games we played together (phase 10, cover your aces, taboo, etc)
plus 2 radom ones from my phone: i bowled a 150 this week with a turkey in there, go kimber!
and secondly, our football team. we've won 3 of 3, it's quite enjoyable.

a murder and a mystery. accompanied by dinner

after endless time thinking about doing a murder mystery dinner,

we finally did it with my cousins this weekend!

and all 9 of the utah cousins and their spouses came for the event (i believe this is the 1st event where everyone came!)

it was "adults" only (except nursing babies were welcome:) that's kinda weird that i'm part of the "adult" group now. for as long as i can remember i've always been the little kid/teenager!

the theme: murder on the high seas.

date: october 29, 1929

suspects:
(left to right)
Crispin Croissant: Lorin and Debbie
Ivanna Perloff: Vance and Teresea

Irma Slute: Ryan
Lady Trixie Highhorse: Suzie
May B. Wright: Rob and Jenny

I Roger Seemein (Host): Casey and Kimber
Rex Autobahn: Scott and Megan

Dianne (Di) Wrector: Brigham and Michelle
Con Damasses: Rob and Kammy

Charlotte "Lotta" Greanbaaks: Weston and Amanda (who are poopers and refused to have their picture taken).

appetizers, dinner, dessert, and mocktails were provided by all.
we dined, clues were introduced, and we then pointed fingers at who killed the captain.




 
we had a lot of fun being together and acting out the story.
everyone did so good at their parts and really played it up well.
there were some great outfits out there too, thanks for dressing up!
can't wait til we can all get together again next time!

and sidenote:
i was really proud of our outfits,
it took me forever to get mine put together but the different pearls, head band, and slinky dress were so fun to wear. and i do love putting sponge curlers in my hair!
casey was the 1st mate on the ship so we put a krispy kreme hat on him with a sailorish shirt and white pants and called it game :)