Our Christmas

Christmas was DIFFERENT this year....there was no other family around.

Which was good and bad.

There was no rushing back and forth from event to event and meal to meal

(in Tucson we lived just a few miles from both sides of the family so there was a lot of hopping back and forth for the holidays.) It was a bit hectic, but fun.

This year it was just us.

Which meant it was quieter, calmer and we could set the pace. But I realized that meant I was in charge of all the events and meals. I'd never made a Christmas Eve dinner or Christmas Breakfast or Christmas Day meal. I'd never been in charge of the "Christmas Eve program." Wow, I really appreciate what I had back in Tucson now. But it was nice. And we were able to start some of our own traditions while keeping our favorites from our own childhoods too. This is the first time we've lived somewhere with a fireplace (well wood stove) and it was fun to have a roaring fire on Christmas Eve (and actually need it for warmth -- not like in AZ!)

Here we are having our snack dinner of finger foods on the floor.

Sadie Christmas morning with her Puppies in My Pockets.

They are so tiny you probably can't even see them.

Mason with his Nerf Blaster gun.
Who knew Santa was such a tough guy.

Colby with his new scooter. Too bad it wasn't nice outside.

But he rode it around the house a bit and even took it outside for a few minutes. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Renae (always the dramatic one) was thrilled with her first stereo/boombox. I can still remember getting my first radio for Christmas.

The day after Christmas the kids and I headed down to Utah to visit my family.

My mom flew up from Tucson and all my siblings were there too.

This is the kids inside the Conference Center

at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

The lights at Temple Square were awesome.

This was the kids' first time seeing them and my first time in over a decade.

This is the only picture I got of all 10 grandkids in one shot.

I know my sister got some better ones (with the kids all nicely posed) but this was more real. Actually if someone had been whining or crying it would have been even more real. But the kids had a fun time with their cousins and we all enjoyed the time we had together.

So sad that Eric couldn't come, he had to work.