Christmas 2013

My goodness. I didn't even realize how far behind I was on blogging! I have so many pictures to put up here. We'll start with Christmas.

 

But first, a Thanksgiving story. For Thanksgiving, Isaac said he was going to make sugar cream pies for dessert. He didn't. Everyone was extremely upset. Apparently, sugar cream pie is not something you promise and then don't come through on in our family. You will never be forgiven. But really. I wouldn't be surprised if we bring that up every Thanksgiving going forward.

 

In an effort to ensure that didn't happen again for Christmas, I volunteered to make the sugar cream pies, because I'm reliable. Everyone knows that. My mom had taken it upon herself to make all of Christmas Eve dinner so I went down the day before to help her. My first crusts turned out so-so but then I put them in the oven and forgot about them and they turned out so, so burned. So I had to make new ones, which looked much better anyway so it's all good. Then I didn't have enough filling so I had to make another batch of that. So essentially, I made these pies twice. I'm not very good with sprinkling spices, though, as you can see in the top pie. I went a bit overboard with the cinnamon but it was still delicious.

 

Isaac and Dominika, Jacob and Nalon, our family friend Laura, and I all stayed at my parents' house so we were stashed all over the house for sleeping. Isaac, Micah, and I shared a bathroom for brushing our teeth which I'm sure has never happened before. I don't think Isaac and Micah have shared a house since she was a wee child.

 

Micah and I were in charge of setting the table for dinner. Read: I set the table for dinner. I think Holden helped me. Or maybe Nalon. I can't remember. It looks beautiful, though, right? My mom has gorgeous Christmas dishes that we always use for our family Christmas Eve dinner, which is when our whole family gets together. This year we were joined by the Sister Missionaries and our friend Laura. Dominika's brother Kyler also joined us, but he's practically family.

Tessa always dresses her kids up nicely for this dinner. Campbell is always quick to make herself look as not-nice as possible, though.

Grandkids! Next year there will be a little baby to add to this group. :)

The Sisters with Micah and Dad

Kids table! I have great memories of being at the kids table for Thanksgiving dinner at my grandparents' house. I loved it! I'm not sure if all of these guys love it, though.

Tessa and her kids. Campbell is usually such a poser. I'm not sure what was going on with her.

After dinner we had a short Christmas program. Nalon and Holden sang a song...that I now can't remember. This is what I get for waiting so long to blog about it.

Cooper and Campbell sang a song they'd learned at preschool. Micah, Dominika, and I all sang and my dad shared an inspiring message about Christ. I love this little tradition that we have. It's a nice way to remind us of the reason we celebrate Christmas before all the presents start.

On Christmas Eve we open presents with whomever won't be there on Christmas day, which was just Tessa's family this year.

 Dad's cordial cherries. He gets them every year. I think I like them mostly just because they remind me of him.

Thomas was in San Francisco for BYU's bowl game, so we connected the computer to the TV and had him there via Google+.

There's the cheeseball. Here she's showing off the new blanket that my mom made her. It's her favorite color: rainbow.

A family of three, soon to be four.

Sisters. (I really can't say that without thinking of the SNL skit with the four sisters and one of them has a giant head and tiny arms. What was that called?)

These two amaze me every day. Their example of love and Christ-like service has been the greatest force for good in my life.

And now she's showing off her new Christmas jammies.

Christmas morning. Where would little boys be without their dads to put together their Lego sets for them?

I instituted a new photo tradition on Christmas morning. Wear your presents. Here's what we got.

That evening we went out to visit my Grandma Shoaf and other family members who were there. I'm so grateful that every time I'm there (which, admittedly, is not very often) there are tons of people there. I think it's very rare that she's alone which I think is good since my Grandpa passed away last year. She has raised a lot of family members who love and care about her.

When we got back that night, we played Headbandz with Nalon before he went to bed, then Dad, Mom, Micah, and I played Ticket to Ride.

We still had more in us, though, so Micah, my mom, and I made sugar cookies. We sang and danced around while we made them. It was really fun. We listened to a CD of Christmas songs done by some famous artists (mostly from the 80s and 90s) and I couldn't get over how few of them Micah knew. It's not that surprising, I guess, that she didn't recognize a lot of their voices, but she wouldn't even recognize the name when I would tell her! People like Luther Vandross...and I can't remember the others. But famous names that she should have at least heard of!

Then she stole my phone and did this to herself.

I was in charge of rolling out the dough and cutting out the shapes. It took me a few tries to get it right, but I think they turned out well.

Christmas at my parents' house is magical. I love being there with my family. It never gets old.