Cabin Games

We've enjoyed a relaxing holiday weekend at the cabin . . .

. . . reading with Red Grandma . . .

. . . playing with fake snowballs (alas, no real ones this year) . . .

. . . doing a puzzle with "Cousin" Ethan (the son of Uncle Rob's girlfriend, Amanda) . . .

. . . and playing the second annual Sorenson Minute to Win It Tournament.

Yay! Team Hendrickson won this year!

The big kids also thought it was tons of fun to walk (and occasionally run) to church today, because our car battery was dead this morning.  Life's a game when you're a kid (and it's a blog opportunity when you're an adult).

A Christmas Book and Bowling

On Christmas morning yesterday . . .

. . . the most popular gift in our family was the Elephant and Piggie book entitled "We Are in a Book."  The three big kids all thought it was hilarious.

Joy was also pleased to receive a shirt with an enderman on it.

Later in the day we packed up and headed to Papa's cabin.  The adults played Hearts late into the evening (check out Andrew's sweater) . . .

. . . then today we had more fun with our presents (Joy's still wearing her enderman shirt).

Daddy gave Anna a brief demonstration of how to use her new kick scooter . . .

. . . and Uncle Rob proved that, even with a broken ankle, he's a force to be reckoned with in a bowling alley.

Christmas Eve with Pink Grandma

We celebrated Christmas Eve at Pink Grandma's home this evening.

We started off with the traditional gift game, where we take turns opening and/or stealing some fun little gifts Grandma had wrapped.

Joy scored a fun book to read.

Later we acted out the Nativity story . . .

. . . and played with Poppy . . .

. . . then Daddy and Aunt Lara went head to head playing a musical iPad game called Cytus.  We also ate a yummy dinner and sang some beautiful carols.  I love spending Christmas with family.

Holiday Randomness

A couple bits of random, holiday, Hendrickson fun:

Anna likes to decorate our Christmas tree with our Little People Nativity figures.  Mary recently went missing for days because Anna nestled her deep in the tree somewhere.

Also, even though the Dreidel Game isn't technically a Christmas activity, I thought it would be fun to give it a try this year.  The kids really enjoyed spinning the dreidel (and scoring some tasty candy).  Our dreidel seemed to land on gimmel a lot (the gimmel symbol means the spinner can take everything in the pot), and this afternoon Anna had a great time just spinning the top on her own and happily yelling, "Gimmel!" every time that Hebrew letter turned up.

A Gumdrop Christmas Tree Party

We headed to Pink Grandma's house this evening to make some fun gumdrop trees.

Joy's tree was very orderly.

Anna's was haphazard, but still very tasty. :)

Daniel pinned on the handful of things he felt like eating at the time, then ate them all and headed to the play room to do something else.

In addition to being creative and eating tasty treats, we had the pleasure of meeting Aunt Lara's boyfriend, Justin.

And, at some point in the evening, Anna utterly demolished the marble track (quite by accident, I assure you).  The kids sure enjoy that track, so we're grateful that Pink Grandma is so willing to rebuild it every time someone loves it a little too much.

Joy's Baptism

Joy was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this morning.

I'm proud of Joy for making this commitment to follow Jesus's example and teachings.  I'm proud of her daddy for worthily exercising the priesthood when he baptized and confirmed our daughter.  And I'm grateful that family and friends came to share this momentous event with us.

Joy's Minecraft Party, Hosted by Mama the Villager

Joy is a big fan of Minecraft these days, so naturally . . .

. . . she requested a Minecraft birthday party this year.

We played a little Minecraft at the beginning while we waited for everyone to arrive . . . 

. . . then had a block stacking challenge . . .

. . . played "Pin the Block on the Enderman" . . . 

 . . . aaaand I was a villager who led them on a treasure hunt to find paper emeralds which they could trade me for a clue to find the gold block pinata that they could bust open with their pickaxe.  And there were also creeper party favor bags, and Daddy made grey colored "granite block" Krispy Treats (which I neglected to photograph, alas).

And Anna has decorated our door with more Easter eggs, even though it's Christmastime.

The End.

Kidspace

Joy won a group pass to Kidspace Children's Museum from our local library, and we went there today to celebrate her birthday.

The three big kids really loved climbing on the structures.

Joy got to pet a millipede . . .

. . . Daniel and Daddy enjoyed the air cannons . . .

. . . Anna loved the magnetic meteorite (mainly because you could spin it on its short stand) . . .

. . . and Todd liked tasting the toys in the toddler area.

The Christmas Devotional and Grandpa's Teeth

We headed to Papa and Red Grandma's house tonight to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.

Papa and Grandma paid close attention to the devotional.

Heather and Sean, not so much.

Joy and Daniel, not at all . . .

. . . but they were very attentive when Papa read them the gripping tale of Grandpa's Teeth.

Christmas Gifts and Decorations

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. :)

Aunt Lara joined us a few nights ago to help us decorate our tree, and Anna wore her favorite Halloween shirt for the occasion.

This holiday season, I was inspired by a friend at church to think of "gifts" of service we could give Jesus every day until we celebrate His birthday on Christmas.  Yesterday we took flowers to a friend for her birthday, and tonight we made cards for people we care about.  I hope that our daily gifts to the Savior will help our family focus on Him this season, and on loving and giving as He did.

Lots of Leaves and a Reluctant Turkey

You might be a grandpa if you rake leaves into a big pile . . . 

. . . specifically so kids can scatter them all over your yard.  Anna had fun playing with Ethan, the son of Uncle Rob's girlfriend, Amanda.

I think the big boys had even more fun with the leaf pile than the little kids did.

Hmm, looks like the turkey isn't done yet.  Better put it back in the oven.

How about another round of bocce ball while we wait?

Dinner ended up being delicious, and it was wonderful to share it with people we love.

The Fall Sing and Thankful Pirates

The two big kids performed in their school's annual Fall Sing last week.

Each grade had learned a couple songs to perform, and the whole school sang a few songs together.  Joy and Daniel have been singing their songs around the house for weeks, and it was fun to hear them perform the pieces they've worked hard to learn.

The kindergartners were in front and to the left.  If you have a magnifying glass handy, you may be able to spot Daniel about five kids from the left, wearing an orange shirt (like ten other kids in the picture).  I spent the whole concert trying to spot Joy and never found her until after the concert ended, so alas, I don't have a picture of her section of the crowd.

Today I taught preschool again, with a Thanksgiving theme.  I told the story of the first Thanksgiving, showed the kids a Norman Rockwell painting of a Thanksgiving dinner, and . . . read a story about some pirates who were grateful that their sworn enemies saved them from a sea monster.  'Cuz, shiver me timbers, it's all about gratitude, right?

We also made handprint turkeys and the kids listed things they were grateful for (popular subjects included family members, toys, and favorite shirts).

The kids even held an impromptu Thanksgiving parade. :)