Christmas!

We started the day off with our annual tradition of breakfast with my family. Our attendance was much different than in years past - Nick & Stacy were in Seattle, Lisa & Spencer were already back home in NH, and for the first time ever Jenn & Ryan came down to SL that morning. Oh, and Jeff had to work Christmas Eve so he was missing as well. But even with the change up it was still fun to get together and continue on with the tradition. (But I must mention that I am never going out to eat with all three kids again unless Jeff is coming with me). 

After breakfast we all went to visit my Grandma. Thinking that this would be a little bit tougher Christmas season for her since my Grandpa had so recently passed away, Jenn wanted to do the 12 days of Christmas for her. The last day was on Christmas Eve so we all stopped by with the last gift and a quick visit.

Then that night we had yummy soup at my mom's house. Jeff's parents also came and brought Dave's homemade scones that were melt-in-your-mouth delicious. After dinner we played the chimes, played games, and hung out for a bit before heading home.

One of our neighbors has traditionally given all of us on our street lanterns to light on Christmas Eve. We made it home just in time to light ours and enjoy the beauty of so many lights floating in the sky.

Then it was back inside to open one present - new pajamas - before getting ready for bed...

...putting cookies, hot chocolate, and a note out for Santa...

... and getting the kids to bed. 

The next morning the kids were so excited to see their spoils and couldn't wait to come upstairs.

The next few hours were filled with presents, surprises, shouts of glee, lots of team work to help unwrap, wrapping paper ALL over the living room, and a nice long scratch along my wall that's the perfect height of handlebars on Jacob's new bike.

After a few hours my mom and Chris came over for brunch and to skype for the last time with Matthew. It was so fun to see him! He sounded so good and it was fun to hear how he's picked up a bit of an accent with certain words. It was also fun to see my other family members that were scattered all over the country that day.

The day was pretty mild so the kids took some time to try out their new wheels outside for a bit (since I banished all bikes after noticing my marked up wall). We also played a new game on the wii, napped, and relaxed before heading next door to celebrate with the Holbrooks.

Eating our traditional crepes for dinner.

And opening presents.

It was a wonderful Christmas. We created our first memories in our new house, we enjoyed time spent with family, and we reveled in the wonderful and magical spirit of that time of year. We truly are blessed.

Holiday Festivities

December is unbelievably crazy. Fun. But crazy. We started the month off with our annual hot chocolate party for our neighbors on December 1st. The kids were so excited for their friends to come over ... and for the pending sugar rush. 

Then Jeff and I joined his family (those that live in Utah, anyway) to decorate our tree for Festival of Trees the next morning. Big thanks to Niki and my mom for babysitting, Em Fuller for coming last minute to lend her artistic eye, and the minions who let me boss them around (you know who you are). Our tree sold and I once again felt very privileged to be a part of something so amazing. 

"Snow is Glistening"

Another big thank you to Dave & Arline for watching my kids ALL day on the 6th so I could set up and decorate for our Ward Grinch Party on the 7th. It's pretty amazing what you can do with pvc pipe, felt, a glue gun, a few boxes, and a roll of butcher paper. Oh, and a chair rack. Mount Krumpit would have ceased to exist without it. It was fun to be a part of such a great team.

The kids attended their own party in the primary room where they got to play bingo, make santa hats, get their hair done who-ville style, eat pizza, and watch "The Grinch."

After the adults ate, the kids joined us for a entertaining reenactment of the Grinch story. Again, such amazing and talented people in our ward.

Then on the 12th we celebrated Jacob's 4th birthday!! He was excited to get two nerf guns (although I think Jeff was more excited than he was) and Optimus Prime and Bumblebee transformers from his sisters.

 Then those family members that could, joined us at the Pizza Factory for dinner, cake, and presents.

Unfortunately it ended up being league night at Fat Cats so we ended up doing a few rounds of mini golf instead. The kids were disappointed but ended up having fun whacking balls all over the place, running amok, and seeing each other's teeth glow.

December 14th I had my annual RS brunch. I was in charge of making all the waffle batter - a yummy recipe that uses Belgian pearl sugar. Apparently I have really good yeast or something because it kept growing and growing and spilling all over the place. But the mess was worth it. Those waffles were A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

The 14th was also my Grandma's birthday so I joined my mom, sisters, grandma and aunt at Market Street for lunch. It was fun to get together and just talk. And the hysterical laughing that ensued at the end was much needed.

Due to the short nature of my sister Lisa's trip in town we crammed a lot of things into just a few days. One of them being a grandkid picture. After lunch at Market Street we all met at my house to attempt an updated picture to give to my parents for Christmas. And attempt is about all we can manage with 13 grand kids - 11 of which are 7 and under.

After our picture we made our way to my mom's house for our annual Christmas party. We had dinner, played minute to win it games...

 ... and opened gifts from my mom.

Christmas and presents can be so exciting! Don't you think? 

My brother-in-law was able to get an interview at the U for his fellowship so he was able to join us for our adult party on the 17th. We enjoyed another yummy dinner (has anyone noticed how much you cook and eat the month of December???), white elephant gift exchange, and lots of laughing and talking.

A hilarious round of laughing ensued when Nick decided to model his white elephant gift.

We had the Newman Christmas party on the 22nd - 

more food, more presents, and of course our traditional pinata. 

Then Jenn and her kids (and my mom) came over on the 23rd to decorate sugar cookies and have dinner. I can't believe Christmas is so close!