Merry Christmas!

Jared and I told our kids they could not wake up before 7:00 Christmas morning. About 6:55, I could hear them all in our doorway, whispering. They sat there and waited til our clock showed 7:00 and then shouted out, "It's Christmas!!!"

Santa puts up a barricade so the kids can't sneak downstairs to peak. The kids excitedly made their way through chairs and boxes covered by blankets and wrapping paper and raced down the stairs.

I'm sure my kids would love it if we let them all just unwrap everything all at once, but I love watching them open each gift, one by one.

I love watching the look on all of their faces as they take turn opening gifts.

This doll made Emma's day!

Here we are headed off to Grandma's house for dinner.

I wish I would have taken a picture of everyone in their Sunday best, but they changed so quickly once we got home, anxious to get back to their Christmas toys and gadgets. I have mixed feelings about Christmas falling on Sunday. It was really neat to go to church, sing Christmas music, and feel of the Spirit there on Christmas day; after all, we are celebrating the Savior's birth. It was the dressing up and leaving by 10:00 Christmas morning that was hard.

It all worked out though and we had a lovely day.

We had a fancy Christmas dinner with the McInelly Family at Jared's parents house. Turkey, stuffing, rolls, and all the fixin's. It was delicious and all prepared by my mother-in-law which was a wonderful treat!

At bedtime, I found my entire family snuggled up with dad admiring his new ipad.

Everyone agreed that this was one of our favorite Christmases. Although, I think we say that every year!

And the day after Christmas was lovely too... We spent the whole day relaxing, and playing together, working on projects and playing with new stuff. The kids ran back and forth with their neighbor friends enjoying their new toys. It was just what we all needed.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is filled with anticipation and excitement. We were grateful to have some fun things planned to keep the kids entertained and it's always fun to spend time with cousins!

We met at the Seattle Center and checked out the miniature train and village.

The kids could take turns driving the locomotive.

Then we watched a comedy stunt show by Matt Baker featured on America's Got Talent! It was pretty good and best of all.. free!

We sat in the front row!

Maybe that's why he picked Uncle Mat to come up and be a part of the show.

Here he is teaching Mat how to spit a ping pong ball high up into the air, and then try to catch it again in his mouth. Really, he just wanted all of us to see how hard it was so we would be super impressed when he could juggle ping pong balls with his mouth.

Next, we headed over to the ice rink.

I really didn't think this guy would last long, but it only cost $2.00 for him to skate and the little ice skates were sooo cute.

He surprised us and loved it! These little support bars were perfect for little ones.

Emma was especially comfortable with hers. Watch out!

Linsey skated around looking cute and cool.

Hunter was a maniac and flew around the rink so fast, I never even got a picture.

Austin skated the entire time. Towards the end, I knew he was tired... it was way past his nap time. He still wouldn't agree to leaving. He just laid his head down for a little rest and then was right back to skating.


We came home and enjoyed a yummy ham dinner and then had our Christmas Eve program.

Here all the kids are in their new PJ's, all ready for bed!

Ohhh... the excitement!

Donuts with Santa

One of our favorite neighborhood traditions is having donuts with Santa. It's a fun way to see Santa, visit with neighbors, and of course there's the donut.

The girls.

The boys.

Hunter thought this two way fire place was pretty cool. I didn't think much of it til he told me that he was in all the pictures.

I don't know this little girl, but sure enough, there he is!

I was horrified and quickly found a friend who had just been through the line. She had taken pictures of her kids with Santa and luckily from a straight-on angle, you couldn't see Hunter.

Silly boy.

Christmas with the Butlers

This year, we went to Kennewick before Christmas because who really wants to wait til the 25th to start all the fun?!

My kids love getting together with their cousins. Watching them reminds me of all the fun times I had as a kid growing up with cousins who were also my best friends!

Anthony pretty much entertains all the grand kids. Sometimes all on his own, all at once.
My favorite part of our get-together was the family talent show. I didn't get pictures of everything, but everyone participated.

Linsey played the piano...

and the violin.

Zachary played his drum.

Hunter played the piano.

Grandpa did some magic tricks.

Anthony and I did a musical number.

Chris did a science trick.... Anthony reluctantly agreed to be his victim while his stomach got sucked up into a cup.

Tally showed off some of her photography. She's really amazing.

Braydon showed off some of his art work.

His artistic talent also carries over to his lego building.

I don't know anyone who has a collection of legos quite like this.

Emma danced.

And then Austin danced.

Savannah played her ukelele.

Gavin shared his basketball trophy.

Then he demonstrated how he can dribble and bounce pass. So cute!

It was really fun to let each of the kids take a few minutes to share something about them and I truly enjoyed each of their talents. I even appreciated Jared's talent where he demonstrated how loud he can yell. He really can yell louder than anyone I've ever heard. All of the kids tried their hardest to match his yell, but they couldn't even come close.

And then they all went nuts...


Thanks Jared.

Really, it had nothing to do with Jared. All we have to do is put music on and they dance and boogie their little hearts out. It's a great way to get all that energy out before bedtime.

After a little service project the next morning, we went to the church gym for lunch and some play time. We played a fun version of tag and then the kids found a jack pot of balls in a closet that entertained them for hours.

Savannah brought Emma a dress home from her Hawaii trip. She wore it all weekend in the freezing temperatures. She really loves it!

I could hardly convince her she should not wear it home because we were planning to stop and play in the snow as we drove over the pass. Reluctantly, she agreed and I think she was grateful.

It doesn't feel quite like Christmas for me until I see the snow. We thought we'd stop for a half hour but it ended up being much longer.


We had a great time with the Butlers and enjoyed celebrating Christmas with them. The fun has only begun....