Christmas 2025

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year were both wonderful for the Plowbuckles! We are grateful to have spent time with family members on both sides.

On Christmas Eve, we joined with most of the rest of the Plowmans (and Woods) over at Biz's and Jeff's home in West Bountiful for family dinner. The only ones not present were Dallin, Eliza, and ... ta-da! ... new baby Levi Brent, born on Tuesday, December 23. (Sharing your birthday with Joseph Smith is a pretty great thing!)

Our dinner included ham, mac and cheese, a crackers and cheese plate, salad, fruit, and veggies, and everything was delicious.

Ten-year-old Danny was anxious to show off a newfound skill: solving a Rubik's cube. (I was anxious to see him do it, because it's something I haven't yet learned how to do. And I lived through the 1980s.)

Games played included the Cup Game (not sure what else to call it; it's a bit of "Simon Says" mixed with having good reflexes) and this Tic-Tac-Toe game, also involving cups:

After dinner, the kids dressed up for our annual Christmas pageant, including narration-from-beyond by both Dad and Mom and the singing of various Christmas hymns:

Following that, we proceeded on to the opening of Christmas gifts between siblings and cousins. The way this works is that the Mike and Jana, JB and I, Dave and Jessica, Ben and Adi, Steve and Summer, and Biz and Jeff each give a gift to one of the other couples, while the niblings draw a name and each give each other a present. Jeff and Biz gave us a Megaplex gift card, which we will make sure is put to good use.

The cousin exchange is the highlight of my night. I love to observe these kids giving each other something truly meaningful—often something they have worked and saved for themselves, through allowances or chores—and to see the hugs that follow.

Seventeen-year-old Jackson walked away with this knife:

On Christmas morning, JB and I awoke to find that Santa Claus had visited us and filled our stockings with numerous chocolates and candies. My wife was, once again, incredibly generous with the presents she gave me. I got an electric toothbrush (my dentist recently recommended I get one), a Utah Mammoth t-shirt, a Salt Lake Bees cap, and a few books off my want-to-read list. My good friend Pepe also got me a few more of those books.

After breakfasting, we hopped in JB's car and drove out to Grantsville to spend time with her parents at their home. While we were there, Nicole & Spencer and Danielle & Tyson and kids stopped by, as well. We enjoyed ham, pasta salad, baked potatoes, and rolls, and we also contributed a Peruvian paneton to the meal.

JB's mom gave a thumbs-up on the dessert.

Improvables: Christmas Party 2025

The members of the Improvables troupe, plus accompanying family members, congregated on Saturday, December 20, for our annual Christmas party and white elephant gift exchange. This year, we gathered at Nickelmania in West Jordan, which was already one of JB's and my favorite hangouts, so we were more than happy to join in on the fun.

For dinner, we enjoyed Costco pizza (only the best stuff for our guys), salad, muffins, and few other sides. After we ate, it was another feverish white elephant exchange. JB ended up with this Nightmare before Christmas karaoke microphone:

I ended up with a mobile alarm clock—really an ingenious device and one that I could really use going forward. Other prized items included a Chuck Norris beach towel, a boxed set of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books, and a little statue made up of bent forks and spoons.

Since we were at Nickelmania, well, the rest of the evening was made up of (you guessed it) playing arcade games. We are just like little kids at heart.

Our Day Out with Ike 2025, Part 2

Our nephew Ike turned eight years old in October. We were finally able to catch up with him in order to go on this year's birthday outing this past Friday, November 28.

Ike chose to go to Nickelmania in West Jordan, which is a choice we can always get behind. For added fun, his 10-year-old sister, Katy, accompanied us. Katy spent a lot of her time on the ticket-producing strategy games, while Ike was more interested in the racing games.

Once we tallied up our combined tickets, Ike chose a green ninja sword, while Katy opted for a ... whoopee cushion. (Unexpected, but still a great pick!) We then adjourned for treats at Swig.

Thanksgiving 2025

This being an odd-numbered year, we did not gather with a large group of family on either side on Thanksgiving Thursday. We did, however, make a few alternate arrangements.

Our first Thanksgiving occurred simultaneously with Plowman monthly family dinner on Sunday, November 23. We met up at Steve's and Summer's home in North Salt Lake, where all of the fixings were there: turkey, ham, rolls, bean salad, Yorkshire pudding, fresh fruit, cranberry sauce, JB's award-winning stuffing, and (my favorite) Talin's sweet potato casserole. We also had pumpkin, apple, and chocolate pies. What more could you ask for?

Well, people, I suppose. Fortunately, we did get to see most of the family:

We had football on the TV. Everyone was happy and full of stomach.

Second Thanksgiving, as a hobbit might call it, fell on Thanksgiving Thursday, November 27. With numerous family members spending time with in-laws, we nevertheless welcomed JB's parents at our home for dinnner. JB prepared many of the main and side dishes, while her mom brought the pies. (Yes, I helped, too. I did a lot of the cleaning. I helped with some of the food stuff JB allowed me to. I also frequently stood in front of the door or drawer she needed to open at the moment she needed to open it.)

We once again enjoyed a delicious meal. And ... I didn't get any pics from that day. 😖However, I was successful at getting Mom and Dad to watch football after the meal. Like, pretty much a whole game (Kansas City vs. Dallas). I almost couldn't believe it. My in-laws are not quite the sports fanatics like the family I grew up with. But they also go with the flow and didn't really want to watch any Christmas or other shows.

Ike's Baptism

Our eight-year-old nephew Ike (Isaac) was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, November 1, at his stake center in West Bountiful. His dad, Jeff, performed the ordinance as well as the subsequent confirmation.

Ike was so excited for his baptismal service that he also volunteered to lead the singing of the opening and closing songs:

... and he did a great job doing so.

Other family members participating included Ike's 12-year-old cousin Christian giving a talk on the Holy Ghost, his eight-year-old sister Katy acting as one of the witnesses, and yours truly offering the opening prayer.

Following the service, family on both sides and friends congregated at Biz's and Jeff's home in West Bountiful for good eats and good company.