Merry Christmas!

Caitlin got a "Baby Alive" from Santa. It makes all kinds of noise, wiggles and wets its pants!

Austin got a "Ripstick" that he is currently riding through the house.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at the Steindorf's house was fun (as usual)!

I think all our eyes were open for this one (it only took 5 tries!).

December Birthday Boy.. Part Deux!

Happy Birthday Brian!

42 years old today!

A thoughtful husband,

A loving Dad,

And a very hard worker (even on vacation)!

Flashback Friday

We go back in time to 1968 for this holiday flashback. I think this is the oldest surviving Santa picture from the collection (the 1967 one was water damaged - imagine that in our family!).I'm not sure if I approve of the length of my skirt, but hey man, it was the 60's!

Birthday Boy!

Happy Birthday Austin!

12 years old today!

Poor Austin always had a camera on him. He was just too darn cute NOT to take his picture. It's a little more difficult now to get him to give me a good smile for the camera, but he's a pretty good sport!
Since he was turning 12, Austin graduated from Primary. He looked SO handsome (Caitlin brought her "A" game as well since she had to give a talk).

Birthday Girl!

Happy Birthday Ally!

Ally get your gun! I always liked this picture - Ally sure showed those soda cans who was boss that day!

A little Phil for good measure.

Lights at Temple Square

We decided to go see the lights on Temple Square this week (of course we chose the night that was 15º outside).

Brian said he was going to light the trees at our house this way last year. Just kidding. Actually, I think he said he would slit his wrists trying to light the trees this way.

In an attempt to get warm, we went into the Assembly Hall and listened to a concert by the East High A Capella Choir. It was quite delightful (and warm).

This was the Nativity Scene outside the temple grounds (where Main Street used to be). I haven't been to this part of town in years - it was quite beautiful.

A Visit to Santa

Isn't it interesting that the things our parents made us do as children that we hated, we eventually force our own children to do? (I'm sure there's a psycho-therapy session in there somewhere.)

As we waited in a very long line on a Saturday afternoon to see Santa, Austin said this was his last year doing the picture. I have him a hearty ho, ho, "I don't think so" and informed him that even Uncle Brett had to get in the pictures with us - that is how old we were and STILL sitting on Santa's lap.

The Christmas wishes were...

Austin: a Ripstick (Santa said the first boy to ask him for one of these, he thought he said 'lipstick.' He assured Austin that he knew what it was now.)

Caitlin: Baby Alive (or "Baby Eliva" as she has been calling it) - the baby that can wet its diaper.

More Saturday Snow

We got even more snow this Saturday than last week. No snowboarding this time... it was snow cave time. Here's Austin chillin' in his creation.

Weekend Winter Fun

Friday night, we decided to do something we haven't done before - we went to Thanksgiving Point to see their drive-thru light display. They had some pretty cool lights - my favorite was the one below where Rudolph (on the left) goes up the ramp and parachutes down to the rest of the reindeer team (I couldn't zoom out enough to get the whole scene.)We woke up Saturday morning to a bit of a surprise - 8 inches of snow (so much for "the storm will miss us and only hit the mountains"). Austin took his snowboard that he's getting for his birthday on its maiden voyage at the hill by his school. We got there early enough that he had the hill to himself.Later Saturday night, we went over to the ice rink by Grandma Jessie's house. They had turned the Christmas tree lights on the night before, but there was so much snow, you could barely see them. The ice was a little rough, but that certainly didn't stop them! Caitlin & Austin were racing around the rink and, in this photo finish, I see a bit of interference by Caitlin (Grandma Jessie was the finish line - very brave of her). No wonder she kept winning!

Taking a very cold breather.

Thank heavens for the "warming hut!" Brian & Catie decided this was a much better place to take a breather (Mom, the photographer, agreed!)