Eden and I had a little date and went to see the Nutcracker in Phoenix. It was a fun little outing, and she mostly sat still. She loved the ballerinas, of course, and she loved the mice, but she was sad when the mouse king was killed.
This year my sister, Kira, came down and spent Christmas with us. The rest of the family came on Christmas day. It was fun having her here while we watched Santa bring in our presents.Christmas Eve was a little crazy. Lexie and her boys came over and Kira was there too. We tried to do the nativity with the kids, but Levi and Phoneix were not into it at all. Eden was the only girl available to play Mary, and Marce wanted to be Joseph. Jonah made a great Wise Man.
Levi was supposed to be the angel, but pooped out before his part and Phoenix, the shepherd, just stood there like a deer in the headlights. 
We finished that up and tried to sing the twelve days of Christmas, but I ended up singing a solo and we didn't even sing the last verse. I guess the kids wanted to go to bed instead of sing!We let the kids open their Christmas pajamas from us and then we reminded them of where they were hiding.
Peter heard Santa at about 5:45 am and we hurried up and got the kids downstairs to their spots. This year Santa had his list with him and even checked it twice with a little flashlight! Good thing he checked it twice, because he almost thought Levi was on the naughty list!
After Santa left, the kids checked out their presents from Santa. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures. I did take video with the camcorder. I can never seem to do both and Peter won't do it. Suffice it to say that the kids loved their stuff. They each got a Toy Story character- Jonah got Woody, Eden got Jessie, and Levi got Buzz Lightyear. Peter and I got a much-needed set of new pots and pans. We have never in all our married years had new pots and pans. Thank you, Santa! We had a good time opening presents. It's so fun to see the kids. Kira got each of the kids a few presents, and it was really fun seeing them open something I hadn't picked out. Kira also made some ornaments for Peter and I. She had made some for the kids before. They are our initials and she glazed and stained them. Kira is really good with wood, so they are really pretty!
Lexie and Sharrid came over afterward for our Christmas brunch. It was really good- eggs, bacon, fake cinnamon rolls, oj, and hash browns. After we ate, we didn't have much to do besides sit around and wait for the rest of the family to drive in from Nevada. Mom and Dad called and told us they were only in Kingman, when really they were just an hour away. We were totally surprised and overjoyed that they were here!
We had our gift exchange first, then handed out the extra presents. Tibi got me a Forever 21 gift card! Yeah for shopping. The kids of course got pajamas from Grandma, which they loved. (Mom, Eden wants to wear her nightgown every night!)
This year I made Lexie an i-spy blanket. And Lexie and I together gave my whole family DVD copies of all of the home video footage we have. My family didn't get a camcorder until I was in high school, and that footage had been stuck on old cassette tapes since then. So Lexie and I took it and got them all put on DVDs. We were really excited to give the family the home movies! We watched a lot of them over the weekend. It was so funny to see us all 13 years ago!
Some of my favorite gifts this year were the waffle iron my mom got me, the pomegranate jam and syrup she made us, and a pillow and Christmas table runner. Also, I loved that she brought me some tamales! I had been craving them all month! Yeah, there they are, in my fridge. A note on that Welch's FIBER. Do not drink a glass of that before a three-hour block of church. Let's just say no one had an accident, but it was pretty close. I dumped the rest down the sink and we'll be getting regular old grape juice from now on.
My sister, Michaela gave me a jewelry tree, and one of the coolest homemade presents ever! This shirt. She made one for Kira, Lexie and me. It has street names of some of the places we have lived over the years. We are very sentimental in our family, and I just loved this gift. So creative and thoughtful.
Lexie gave us a big box of homemade goodies and a bunch of forks! For some reason, we have way less forks than spoons and knives, and it's kind of a running joke over here. Now we have plenty of forks! She also got our kids some electric toothbrushes, which we all love!
Right after my family cleared out, we found out that Peter's brother and family were coming down. We hurried up and changed the sheets and got ready for more guests. The kids had a fun time playing with their Utah cousins. Again, no pictures. Actually, I did get one. Our nephew, Nick, climbed up on our playhouse and the dog next door jumped up and bit him right on the nose! So I did get a picture of that just in case animal control needed it :) This was actually the next day.
Kevin and Kristie had our name in the exchange this year, and got us a couple of games, Buzz Lightyear Operation (the kids love it!) and a new game called Quarkle. We haven't tried it yet, but maybe tomorrow night for family night. Kristie brought me this lovely window!
This year I made Lexie an i-spy blanket. And Lexie and I together gave my whole family DVD copies of all of the home video footage we have. My family didn't get a camcorder until I was in high school, and that footage had been stuck on old cassette tapes since then. So Lexie and I took it and got them all put on DVDs. We were really excited to give the family the home movies! We watched a lot of them over the weekend. It was so funny to see us all 13 years ago!Some of my favorite gifts this year were the waffle iron my mom got me, the pomegranate jam and syrup she made us, and a pillow and Christmas table runner. Also, I loved that she brought me some tamales! I had been craving them all month! Yeah, there they are, in my fridge. A note on that Welch's FIBER. Do not drink a glass of that before a three-hour block of church. Let's just say no one had an accident, but it was pretty close. I dumped the rest down the sink and we'll be getting regular old grape juice from now on.
My sister, Michaela gave me a jewelry tree, and one of the coolest homemade presents ever! This shirt. She made one for Kira, Lexie and me. It has street names of some of the places we have lived over the years. We are very sentimental in our family, and I just loved this gift. So creative and thoughtful.
Lexie gave us a big box of homemade goodies and a bunch of forks! For some reason, we have way less forks than spoons and knives, and it's kind of a running joke over here. Now we have plenty of forks! She also got our kids some electric toothbrushes, which we all love!We had a lot of fun with my family. The kids came to my ward and Mom and Dad went with Lexie. Then we had a nice ham dinner. We all sat around the table and Mom made up a little "game " for us. We would take turns naming a musical artist or band, and then wrote down our favorite song from that band. It was funny because some of the favorites were so predictable and some were surprises. It was just a fun time to chat and laugh. 
It was a really great weekend. The kids were so happy to see their grandparents and aunts and uncles. Here's the whole group.
Back row: Sharrid, Lexie, Michaela, Kira, Landon
It was a really great weekend. The kids were so happy to see their grandparents and aunts and uncles. Here's the whole group.
Back row: Sharrid, Lexie, Michaela, Kira, LandonOn the couch: Levi, Grandpa, Grandma, Eden
Front row: Peter, Connie, Phoenix, Marcelus, Jonah, Tibi
Right after my family cleared out, we found out that Peter's brother and family were coming down. We hurried up and changed the sheets and got ready for more guests. The kids had a fun time playing with their Utah cousins. Again, no pictures. Actually, I did get one. Our nephew, Nick, climbed up on our playhouse and the dog next door jumped up and bit him right on the nose! So I did get a picture of that just in case animal control needed it :) This was actually the next day.
Kevin and Kristie had our name in the exchange this year, and got us a couple of games, Buzz Lightyear Operation (the kids love it!) and a new game called Quarkle. We haven't tried it yet, but maybe tomorrow night for family night. Kristie brought me this lovely window!
I wish I had taken a picture of all the Christmas cards on our wall. It was covered! Thanks to everyone for sending us your Christmas greetings. I just love seeing the pictures of your beautiful families and hearing how you are doing. Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas.
5 comments:
Great post. I am stealing the family picture! (Kira and Michaela need to have dreams like Eden has!! Too funny)
Qwirkle is a great game! The Hallsteads introduced us to it at the ward campout this year...Then my sister brought it when she came for Christmas. I love it!
Okay, come over and play!
Yay, I almost missed this post somehow.
I love your pictures! It's so great to see the whole family together again. You guys are all awesome! Oh and on your shirt...the Bowman road was a personal favorite although brought back a memory of falling off a horse. Good times!
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