Christmas!

On Christmas Eve morning we let the kids open their presents from each other so they could really enjoy them for awhile.  They were so excited, although the wrapping paper I bought was apparently evil and none of them could get it off of their presents.

Then they all got dressed, and so I took pictures of them while they still looked nice.  The girls picked their own outfits this year, and they matched!  It was a Christmas miracle.  Spencer looks like he has a comb-over because he'd been playing with the squirt bottle for the last 1/2 hour.  That boy is obsessed with water!  I love posting multiple efforts at family photos.  They make me giggle.  But I did leave some out to spare you all.  (p.s.  Gotta love the tippy "baby tree" in the background.  That was the kids tree and Spencer redecorated it often.)

On Christmas Eve we had dinner and activities with some of our friends from the ward.  The children acted out the Nativity (Meg was Mary, Grant was Joseph, Ellie was an angel, and Spencer carried a stuffed animal dog around and got into trouble.)  Ellie even sang a song with her friend Brooklyn, which was very pretty.

Then we played an ornament exchange game:

Waiting at the bottom of the stairs on Christmas morning.  They were so excited, and so impatient while Mom and Dad got cameras all together.  Which is funny, because then I apparently forgot about the camera all together and took no more pictures the rest of the day!

Merry Christmas!!!

Ward Party and Santa

This year we saw Santa at our Ward Party.  Grant was so excited.  Spencer... not so much.  He was not interested in seeing Santa Claus at all, but insisted on hanging out with his best friend "Lina" instead.  He did manage to wave from afar.  I probably would have sat him on his lap to see the reaction, but Evangelina is rather protective of Spencer and wouldn't have made him go near the Jolly Red Man for a million dollars.

Gingerbread Houses

This year Grandma sent us the best Gingerbread House kit.  It had a little house for everyone to make - perfect size - and it had frosting that actually stuck the things together!  The older kids had a great time decorating their Gingerbread houses, and Spencer enjoyed eating his candy.  I tried to stick it on as quickly as possible so he couldn't shove it all in his mouth, but he didn't care about that.  He just pulled it off, took a bite, and then put it back in the frosting again.  Later in the month, while I was in the shower, he climbed up to where we kept the houses and attacked Meg's.  She was a good sport about it all.

Christmas in Vegas

This year we headed to Vegas for Christmas to see Justin's family.  It was a busy week and a half and I was sicker than I've been in years so much of it is a blur, but the kids had a great time seeing all their grandmas and grandpas and their cousins and aunts and uncles.  

Swimming with the fam:  (I didn't get in, surprise surprise.)

Christmas Pageant:

Dove and Cow:  (Grant was starting to get sick here.)

Ellie got to be Mary this year:

Meg got to be an angel:

I'm not sure what they're looking at, but these intent angels look so cute to me.

This basket had a real baby in it.  Cutest little baby ever.

Waiting to check out what Santa brought:

Parents waiting to watch their kids:

Bowling:

Piano Concert:  (Ellie wrote her own song for this one.)

Seeing our friend Kainoa:  (and, of course, his parents.)

Watching a movie at Grandma Duck's: