Christmas Eve - Part 2

After all the festivities at my grandparent's, we came back home to my parent's house and the kids got on their matching Christmas pjs. They set out the cookies they made for Santa, and some carrots for the reindeer. Then we did our traditional sibling gift exchange and new this year, the cousin gift exchange. The kids loved giving each other gifts. They were so cute, giving hugs to the one that had given them a present. Definitely a tradition we're going to have to keep up! Highlights of the sibling gift exchange included this cute bracelet that 12 year old Michael made for Kristen, which was wrapped in like 50 layers/boxes. so funny!

And this football that Brigham got Jeff - personally signed by Steve Young and Jerry Rice just a few weeks before. Quite the story behind this one!

And then we finally got the kiddos to bed so the elves could get to work . . . .

Christmas Eve - Part 1

Christmas in California always consists of going to my Grandparent's house on Christmas Eve. It's tradition, and that's what makes it so special. But this year was extra special, because not one person from my extended family (grandparents on down) was missing. All 46 of us were there, and it was great.

We had our traditional ham and potato dinner, complete with all the yummy sides. Topped off with my grandma's traditonal raspberry punch. The kitchen was a little crowded this year:) The kid table:
And the not-so-kid table, who apparantly all decided to coordinate in grey and black:)

The pregos: me and my cousin's wife, Andi. She's due 4 weeks before me, with a boy also! We're having a boy wave in the family right now. So fun!

Our only picture together, since one of us is always behind the camera.

After dinner, we hang out for awhile, chatting, being silly, and having fun.

And then we all gather in the living room.

And, as is tradition, my mom plays the piano . . . .

while everyone sings.

My grandpa, grandma, Rob, Scott, and Andrea singing Silent Night in German.

My dad, Kristen, and Ashley

Allen and JulieAnd not surprisingly, after an hour of having 46 people all in the same room, some of the kids can't take it anymore.
And even some of the adults can't take it anymore.
So, we announce it's "Present Time!" and everyone rushes to the family room. The kids all grab their build-a-bears from Grandma Hulme (we actually went the night before to have the kids "build" them) and pose for a picture.

There is giving and receiving, and hugs all around.

But just being together was the best part of all:)

The List

Annie had quite the list this year for Christmas. Every time Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas she would rattle off this loooong list of items she wanted, in a very quiet voice so that only Santa could hear. I would try to listen, but only caught bits and pieces of it each time. Her list included: a new game, a new book, a tea set, a Fur Real cat, a new baby doll, a rocking chair (not quite sure what she meant by this one, although she said it every time), and a few other things I could never really catch. I love Leah's face in this picture as Annie recited her list - her look says it all!Then Santa would ask Leah what she wanted for Christmas. She would act shy and not answer. He'd ask again, and she would pleadingly look at Annie for help. Obviously, her big sister was a pro at this. Annie would whisper to Leah, "Say you want a new baby doll." Leah would get a big smile on her face and say, "A new baby." And that was that.

These pictures were taken at Annie's Preschool Winterfest.

Christmas Cookies

Annie takes decorating Christmas cookies very seriously. Daddy does not!

I think that pink angel in the middle looks more like an alien or a ghost! But most of them turned out pretty cute:)

Annie's Holiday Recital

A Week of Parties

Tis the season - for parties! This past week we had 5 parties in 8 days. It was very busy, but fun!

The Burnett's Christmas Party
Saturday, December 5th the Burnett's threw an open house style Christmas party - great food, great conversations, great times! All the women somehow ended up in the living room chatting, while the men were watching football in the other room. I love these women! This is a big reason why we're going to miss Ohio so much when we move:(

Annie's Preschool Winterfest

On Monday night we went to Annie's preschool party. I do have some pictures of this night, but I want to save them for my next post. So stay tuned! The girls had a fun time playing little carnival games, eating yummy treats, sitting on Santa's lap, and seeing their friends! I scored some sweet deals in the Silent Auction, including some brand new Carter's sleepers for our little boy for $2 each. I also headed up the Preschool Food Drive, so I was busy that day getting the boxes all wrapped and we kicked off the drive that night.

Fondue Party

My first fondue party was 2 years ago when I was the official Relief Society Girls' Night Out Coordinator (seriously, could there be a better calling?) It was so fun, I knew it had to be an annual thing. This was my 3rd year doing it (now as Enrichment Leader), and I think it was the best so far! We had 9 different fondues: 2 cheeses, chili con queso, roast beef, chocolate, white chocolate, carmel, marshmallow, and a chocolate fountain. And lots of yummy foods to dip! We had it on Wednesday night, and there was a pretty good turn out, about 35 sisters came. Thanks to everyone for bringing things, and thanks to Leah Young for letting us take over her house! I'm sad I won't be here next year to do it, but someone else is just going to have to keep the tradition going for me!

A picture of the savory fondues:

The chocolate station:

Our Ward Christmas Party
The activities committee did an outstanding job on our Christmas party this year! It was on Friday night. The theme was "A Night in Bethlehem" and everyone was encouraged to dress up in appropriate attire. When we arrived each family paid their taxes (a can of food to donate) and received a bag of coins to buy food in the market place, where our Young Women were the vendors. The food was really good - pita bread and hummus, cheeses, olives, dried fruits, nuts, baklava, etc. Each family brought a blanket to sit on to eat and watch the program.

The program was perfect - nice and short. Here are all the kids standing to sing a song. It's probably hard to see most of the kids, but believe me, there are a lot in our ward!

Rocky and Joni as Joseph and Mary

Dan played the guitar while everyone sang Silent Night.

Ortho Resident Party

Saturday night we attended a party thrown by Brooke, one of Dan's co-residents. Everything was so nice, the food was delicious, and a good time was had by all! Here is a picture of the 6 residents in Dan's class: Nathan, Matthew, Sahira, Tisha, Nate, and Dan. I love white elephant gift exchanges. They're always so fun.Here are our girls opening the "big one." It was an electric keyboard. Our girls were so excited, saying, " a piano!!!" and when I told everyone that that was something Dan and I were thinking about getting the girls for Christmas, but didn't, everyone said, "Well, I guess we can't steal that one . . . ."

Nathan opened the present Dan brought: a framed copy of the picture where Dan switched everyone's faces and put them on a different resident's body. The residents had all seen it a few months ago when Dan did it, so it was pretty funny.

The girls and I checking out the "FARTS" book someone got.

But the best gift of the night was hands down the gift Jared Ward opened up. Matthew and Laura had wrapped up the picture that Matthew's grandmother had hand drawn of their engagement picture. It was soooo funny, especially when Laura pointed out the extra arm that somehow got drawn in!

These were the two gifts we scored: the electric keyboard and the Simpson's Monopoly game!