Christmas - A Few Months Late

Christmas this year was an absolute blast! We spent the time with my family in Oregon. It was so great that we could all be there together for a few days and have some fun. We drove, 17 hours each way, and our drives were surprisingly pleasant. It was so much fun to be stuck in a car with Mike and to talk to him and get his undivided attention. The girls played with each other, watched movies, ate, and slept. We also finished reading the Hobbit which Mike and Emma had been reading together at night. When we got there, we had so much fun relaxing, playing games, and hanging out with the family. Every night was a huge, delicious dinner followed by ping pong, no dice, or some other fun game. We didn’t do any really big outings, just a perfect smattering of activities here and there. It was so nice because it was enough to keep us busy, but enough that we had time to relax too.

Emma had her first sleep over at her cousins' house which was so exciting. I was kind of nervous for her, but Aunt Sunni said she did fine! Who better to have your first sleep over with?!

Emma and her cousins played together so much and they played so well, that I hardly got to see her the whole trip.

Grandma made sugar cookies with the little grandkids and while messy and kind of tiring, they all had a lot of fun.

My mom made my brother Scott this beautiful quilt. I am so impressed, that I had to put up the picture.

My mom and I spent a day at the children’s museum with the little ones while Aunts and Uncles did last minute shopping and wrapping.

During the reenactment of the Nativity, our family was the shepherds. The girls were pretty darn cute! Anya was very attentive of her sheep and always made sure that she had it. Emma was always attentive of Anya and tried to herd her in the right direction for the play.

Here are Emma and Anya waiting to go down stairs Christmas morning.

Emma got just what she wanted (more or less): a pink unicorn from the wild forest. She didn't waste any time riding it all over the house.

Kisses for the camera. What a cute little dimple!

My favorite stocking stuffer: a headband with mistletoe attatched. I got kisses all morning! (My mom even borrowed it for a minute ; )

Anya was so excited to get a busy ball popper. All the kids ended up playing with it, even Tyler!

We went to the temple after Christmas to do some baptisms for some family names that Lance and Sunni had found. It was very special and the only sad part was that Scott had gone home earlier for work and couldn't be there. It was very peaceful and the first time we had all been to the temple together since my wedding. Logan was old enough to go as well and it is neat to see how our family grows and expands.

Here is Logan squishing our heads. : )We were very spoiled and very blessed this Christmas! We all had so much fun!