December 2023 Family Pictures

Grateful to our friend, Jeff Chase, for taking this family pictures before our family changes substantially in 2024.

December 2023

This is Verity's last basketball game. I took a picture of the scoreboard because it is the ONLY time all season that their team led a score.

There's Verity. Dad said a prayer that morning, "Please let Verity score a basket." And, she did! She scored the last basket for her team in this game. Her teammate got a rebound, passed it out to Verity, and she immediately shot the ball from about 12 feet out and banked in the shot. We were SO excited!!

After their last game (with coach Heidi Cook). 

Kaleb trying to encourage Verity to wake up. She loves him so much!

Verity with a Santa beard!

After haircuts. Cold shaking off all that hair out back in December!

Downtown Salt Lake. We went to Utah for Abby and Kobey's wedding the next day, but stopped in Salt Lake for a bit...

To go to the Assembly Hall on Temple Square and watch and listen to Grandma and Grandpa Dutson play beautiful Christmas music!

This is probably the last time Gma and Gpa Dutson got to play on temple square. So glad we could come listen and support them.

After, we went and explored the City Creek shopping mall. Very cool place!

Kaleb used his money to buy seeds for poor areas that needed food.

Verity found this fun sign on the wall that blocked off the temple construction area. The sign actually said, "Think Big", but someone wisely taped a paper on it that said, "Think Celestial" in honor of President Nelson's October conference talk.

It was incredible to see the construction work on the Salt Lake temple!!

All loaded up from Grandma and Grandpa Hatch's house and headed to the Oquirrh Mountain temple for Abby and Kobey's wedding.

Family pictures after the wedding.

Family picture with Given's friend, Grace

With Grandma and Grandpa Dutson

With Maddie, Ty, and Alyssa

With the Cudes

With Ty and Alyssa

Jayson soaking in the December 15th sun with Abby's fluffy warm scarf (during picture taking)

That night at Abby and Kobey's reception in Sandy. Fun little reception center. Here's Verity with Finn and Knox (they became super good buddies).

Verity's new buddy, little Max (Sheldon and Abbey's)

Family pic at the reception center taken by...

Antoinette :)

Ty and kids getting their groove on!

Melanie having incredible time with little Luca (Ty and Alyssa's)

Averly spear-headed the decorating of the groom and bride's car. We ran to Walmart super quick, got the goods, and then came back and decorated their car in like 20 minutes...just before Abby and Kobey were ready to leave!

After reception big family picture (Maddie, Chris, Jayson, Sheldon in background)

After the reception, Alex missed our freeway exit and we ended up in West Valley so we decided to go and visit the Allison's. We had a great visit with them. So good to see Spencer doing much better after his liver transplant! This picture is as we were leaving their house, and Hayden was trying to plant one on dad under the mistletoe.

On Saturday, we went and had a little birthday party for Luca. So fun being with family. The best!

Verity and Luca

Beautiful picture Maddie took. Verity holding Luca and Kaleb holding Max.

After, we went to Provo to do some service for the Iverson's with Marcie's recent breast-cancer news. We stopped at In and Out in Orem on our way there. Delicious!

After spending the afternoon serving the Iverson's, we finished the day by going to the BYU basketball game at the Marriott Center. They won! Fun times with family and cougar tails!

A few days later, we headed to the Idaho Falls Cabella's to see Santa. This is a beautiful picture frame outside of the store.

Here's our pictures with Santa. Silly kids!! When asked by Santa what she wanted for Christmas, Verity replied, "I just want my aunt (Marcie) to get better. She's really sick."  

Two days later, we went to a fun thing called "The Christmas River" in Menan, Idaho. We walked all around a river area to see Christmas decorations, lights, and hear music. 

And to take a picture with Santa...

And the Grinch, too!!

On the Christmas River bridge.

Verity's 5th grade Christmas party

Verity's 5th Grade class (Mrs. Rothwell)

Averly came to visit with Melanie

CHRISTMAS ADAM! (December 23rd). We spent the morning visiting our dear friends from our previous ward and sharing some Christmas cheer with them. We visited Dianna Moore and Teena Loveland (no picture-oops) first, then Jan Pabst. After letting them share a Christmas memory, we sang a couple of Christmas songs with Kaleb accompanying us on the guitar.

Then we visited Michelle and Layne Merritt

and we finished our visits with Chris Cunningham. Super super fun Christmas time with sweet sweet people.

After lunch, we went downtown to take a ride on a horse-drawn trolley

A little exploring with Verity as we waited in line for the trolley

Pictures on the trolley

Super fun family times!

Then we went to dinner and ate a ton at Culver's!!

Then on to the Christmas lights at the Japanese gardens off the river

Beautiful lights

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We had a super fun Christmas Adam! After these activities, we went and picked up Given from the airport (he had been with Grace and her family in Arizona).

Christmas Eve was a fun day, too. This was our little piano/guitar recital for Gma and Gpa Hatch (still in Tennessee on their mission)

That night we visited the "River of Life" Church to enjoy their Christmas Even candlelight service

And of course, that evening the kids had to decorate some gingerbread cookies for Santa to enjoy

Kaleb's creation

Hayden's creations

Verity's creations (so kind to provide Santa a note plus some veggies and fruit with her cookies)

Hayden's, too!

CHRISTMAS MORNING! This was at about 8:30 am. Kids all still asleep together in the basement. Mom and dad had to go wake them up (up too late the previous night :)

Hanging out in the basement waiting for to come up and see the magic!

Busting through the wrapping paper to get to the goods!

Reading Santa's note and seeing his nibbles out of the cookies and treats

A funny gift - thought Given was getting a full T-shirt. Ended up just being a sleeveless T. And, you may see Jan Pabst in the background. We were excited to have her join us for Christmas morning/afternoon.

New shoes

New "Hey Dude" shoes

Hot chocolate maker

Mugs with pictures from Averly

See Averly's Colorado state flag in the backgroun?

"We gonna go on a date"

Alex very "surprised" to get a car-plug adapter

Kaleb getting a flour mix from Hayden...?

Kaleb getting lots and lots of cans of spam

More spam!

Alex's gift to Given was a countdown clock for when he got to be with Grace again

Toy from Kaleb to Hayden

Alex giving Melanie her fixed wedding ring (it had lost the stone)

She said "Yes!" (again)

Melanie's sweet friend, Jaydie, made these full-body towel "snuggies" for Hayden and Verity. So cute and they loved them!

Shoulder purse for Verity

It was an awesome Christmas day. Sweet thoughtful gifts from everyone, great food, and fun games!

December 29th was Melanie and Alex's 23rd anniversary. We sent the kids off to a hotel so we could enjoy our house together. We started by doing some temple work.

Then a fun, chilly walk around the Greenbelt

Then lunch at Olive Garden. We had fun playing Ticket to Ride and watching Hallmark that night. Fun new way of doing our anniversary. The kids had a blast at their hotel and activities in Rexburg. 

We also enjoyed some fun time playing basketball at the church a lot during Christmas break

We did it! We wore them out!

Dianna Moore gave us some fun snowman-building materials. Fun, but hard to keep them together :)

New Year's Eve celebrations of course included games, popping balloons, dance-off, screaming outside, drinking bubbly, what a party!

Of course, Mrs. Clause visits to fill our stockings during the night, so we had fun stuff to wake up to again for New Year's Day (around 10 am because everyone was up so late the night before).

New Year's day included building some awesome "gingerbread" houses using up all the candy and Christmas junk food to get rid of it.

Alex's house collapsed right after this picture

What a WONDERFUL Christmas break! So fun to have all the family back together again for the first time in a couple of years!