Christmas Eve

It has always been a tradition in my family on Christmas Eve to read the story of the first Christmas from the Bible and get new pajamas..
A few years ago we started meeting for breakfast on Christmas Eve to do this so that it does not interfere with the "in-laws". This year we met at Josh and Natalie's. Here is my dad reading from the Bible, he also gave this whole talk about Joseph and Mary and he even incorporated the "Grinch" and how he realizes that Christmas doesn't come from a box or a store perhaps it means something a little bit more... It was the exact lesson I was looking for Thanks Dad!! It helped boost my Christmas spirit.....
Everyone listening to the story..
or trying for some people...
After we read the story and talk about the real meaning of Christmas we all get pajamas... Here is my dad giving Emme a little toss in the air.... before she gets hers...
The kids always immediately change into their new pj's even if they have only been dressed for the day for about 30minutes! What fun little cousins!
Here we are leaving the shin dig all squished into the little car just like the good ole days when we were growing up.
Later that day I ran to target to grab one last thing and the cutest little boy was in front of me in line... No this is not your Christmas Shoes story, but it did help me get even more into the Christmas spirit... (I don't know why) anyway....he was about 10 years old, all by himself buying the most random gifts ever... a hanger with all the different levels, for pants, a package of sippy cups, and like a crossword puzzle or something and some Christmas cards, I loved watching him, the gifts chosen just for each member of the family... I smiled all the way home thinking of the mom opening that hanger(I still laugh).... I remember as kids we would all go to the store together on Christmas eve and shop for each other and our parents. I remember one year picking out this sewing organizer kit thing... we thought my mom was just going to love it and we were so excited to give it to her... anyway this little boy was nostalgic for me and just helped me get right into a regular old Christmassy mood!

Later that night we went to Tom's great aunt Roseann's I like going there, we can never stay very long because of Tom's cat allergies, but I really like Roseann and am thankful to her for putting it on each year. She has cancer this year yet she still made sure to get the family together. She is Tom's grandma's sister which Tom's grandma died in her early 30's leaving 4 small children.... I used to sit and listen to her tell me things about Tom's grandparents and I loved listening to it. I also love her because she was the first one and probably the only one still in Tom's family to admit that Maddie looks like me or any of my children for that matter.

We ended the night reading from the Bible again and watching the Nativity story movie with the kids.... It was a great day! I think Christmas Eve is my favorite day, I love the anticipation!

Homemade Christmas Continued...

Here are the after pictures... I made my girls Christmas dresses this year, by default, (I made a mistake on Maddie's, it was too big and she didn't like the style I also ended up with one... my dress is the above in blue, Maddie ended up with green (below) with Olivia's the silver... I thought they turned out alright....

I also used the same fabric to make my niece's skirts for Christmas...
I bought rolls of organza to make petticoat skirts for my other nieces, but they did not fair so well.... we will have to try again later....
The best home made gifts by far were Tom's his craftiness amazes me!! See the above block of wood.... he turned that into this beautiful Santa! He made one for his parents and one for mine as well. I think they turned out amazing!!
Sometimes home made gifts make Christmas that much more exciting... I love the work you put into it and the excitement in giving the gift when it is complete.... especially Tom's Santa's

A little Home made Christmas Cheer....

This year we are dabbling a bit in some home made gifts..... Stay tuned for the end result!

Christenson Christmas Party

Tom's mom Kaye puts on a little Christmas party each year For her family and Tom's cousins and their kids etc...where Santa stops by.... It is always a lot of fun to catch up with everyone and to see how excited the kids get for Santa to come (especially Zane he was so fun to watch because he was just so dang excited!)...
Madz with Santa, she wanted a phone....not the regular Maddie with random requests this year.
Liv a love asked for Molly.. the American girl doll.
Canyon wanted the Stuff a Pig game???
Hayden wanted a new X-box... of course!

Rebecca, Blair, me Tom and Santa...

They had a good ole time playing Just dance on Wii... Regan was the master I believe....too bad there were no pictures of Tom playing.... coordination is not his strong point!

Where are you Christmas?

This year I feel like Cindy Lou Who... all "kerbabbled"... thinking its all a bit "superfluous... and wondering "where are you Christmas? Why can't I find you! I don't know why I started the season out better then ever.... notice the two blogs below... New fun traditions! For some reason however I am having a hard time feeling the Christmas Spirit this year... I think it might be because I have been so insanely busy and haven't had time to stop and soak it in, or just read stories with my kids, or bake etc..... I was so excited for Christmas stories etc at Church yesterday too, and nothing what is up with that. I was hoping for a boost to my Christmas spirit... I guess I need to find it on my own.... how did Cindy Lou Who resolve this anyone know??

Oh Christmas Tree

Oh Christmas Tree, how fun it was to find you!
Even when some of us got stuck in the snow...
and especially forging new paths thigh high.....


but mostly spending the afternoon with these fine folks!

This year we went up to the mountains with my family to cut down our own tree.

We had so much fun... the snow was so deep and it just kept snowing.. it was very picturesque!


Hayden just playing in the snow!











This was such a fun thing to do as a family.. We loved being out in the snow Our poor little tree though, I think is worse then the Charlie Brown tree, but we're keeping him even though his main trunk is about as big as my finger and he refuses to hold up any ornaments for us.... I will post a picture of him before the season is over. I hope this becomes a new family tradition, we just need to find some bigger/stronger trees.

The Best Thanksgiving Ever!

This Year for Thanksgiving My family Rented this cute little cabin up by Brighton.
I wish I had taken a better picture of the cabin, it was a cute A frame with 3 levels....
The kids were in absolute Heaven... 3 straight days with each other. They had their own little loft... Tom set up the movie screen and they had Christmas movie marathons...
The big boys played a little ping pong & watched tons of football! We played games.. We all cooked together, that was so much fun. The cabin was big enough to fit us all and it had two kitchens so we could put our Thanksgiving feast together. Me and the boys played a little Texas Hold em at night... Maddie too, Card games, Times up me and Tom made to the finals but Jaimie and Corbin won it by a landslide!
We started a new tradition of writing on the table things we were thankful for that year. (thank you Mike's family for the idea). Above Shawna with "her puppy" and Liv a love, Mitch, Troy and Mike watching Blanca right her gratitude list... and Amber boozing it up! J/k it looks like she is having a little Pepsi.
Jaimie and Corbin the cute little Newlyweds!
Winter and Madz best freinds/cousins could it get any better!
Thanksgiving dinner! The kids didn't last long eating, so they are missing from the picture.. and even though I hate pictures of myself, I'm sad I'm not in this one... or any of the pictures at all for that matter... I put this shindig together!
The Hot Tub... Toms favorite place to be...
Craft time... Cute Shawna brought fun crafts for the kids to do. They made little turkeys and painted ornaments...


Liv getting ready to sled.
One of the best things was the drive way right outside the front door was a great sledding hill for the kids. They spent hours out there!
These 4 boys loved spending all this time together. They miss Augustus and were counting down the days until he came. We also celebrated his birthday up there.
Canyon love loves the snow!

This was the very best start to the holiday season. I couldn't have asked for more (except to have my brother Josh and his family there). I am so thankful this year for those people I am lucky enough to call family. I am thankful for the great time we had just being all together.
We are hoping for this to be a new family tradition every other year.
Those there this year... My mom and dad, Troy,Blanca, Augustus, Andrew, Shawna, Corbin and Jaimie... Tom, Me, Maddie, Hayden, Olivia, Canyon.... Mike, Amber, Winter, Zarley, Owen, Xavier... Audrey, Dan, Annie, Gabby girl,... Autumn and Mitch!