Christmas--if I can remember...

Christmas was splendid! Jason's sister Abby was getting married on Jan. 3 and was taking out her endowment on Dec. 23 so we took off early to go to Salt Lake. So the day before we had our own little Christmas at home in our new family room (if you look close you can see that the trim's not done). It was really cute and fun for the kids to have the presents spread out some. We left for Salt Lake for with just enough time to make it to Abby's 5 PM session. I dropped Jason off because Josiah couldn't go that long without his mom and headed to my folks where they told me that the Salt Lake temple doesn't have a 5 o'clock session. Confused, Jason called me a couple hours later to come get him and told me that my parents were right and that he hadn't seen Abby, but went through any way. We then found out that Abby did go through the 5 PM session, but it was in the Bountiful temple! Oops! At least she knew we tried!

We had a delightful Christmas Eve with my parents, reading scripture stories, singing hymns, and playing games. The kids opened their Christmas Eve presents to get new pajamas and slippers. Unfortunately, Emma's p.j.s were smalls in Juniors not kids, so they were giant on her. I ran to Wal-Mart to try to trade them in for her only to get there right as they were closing. So we rolled up the cuffs and rolled down the waist and she wore them anyway! (She got Dora full-bodied p.j.s later that just thrilled her, so it made up for the disappointment.) The kids are really at that magical age where Christmas is truly the best time of the year. Josiah was awake long enough to open stockings, but soon fell asleep again and missed all of the rest of the present opening--not that he knew the difference.

Two of the greatest presents the kids got were gorgeous, fun, comfy blankets from Grammy. She did a fabulous job and, frankly, I'm a little jealous. :) They love them! Gavin got a little overwhelmed and finally ended up curling up with his new blanket to watch his new Cars movie before we were done.

Emma's most anticipated present was the "Cupcake Maker." She told me that she had grand ideas of setting up a Cupcake Stand (instead of lemonade) and making money off of it. We made a cupcake later that took over an hour to make with all the washing and mixing and so on, which kind of dashed hopes of big money.

The most exciting of all gifts was the last one from "Santa" of a giant Thomas the Tank Engine train set. The kids spent most of the afternoon playing with this one, though a lot of that time was spent with mom trying to set the thing up!

Later on we went to my aunt Alyson's house and had some fun time with my extended family. It turned out to be a fabulous day with all the joy and fun that a Christmas day should have. We loved having the opportunity of spending Jesus' birthday spending so much time with family.

Abby was having a wedding reception on the 27th before going to back to Vermont to get married in the Boston Massachusetts temple. So we got to hang out with the folks and visit with friends and shovel lots of snow (there was a major snowstorm that dump several inches on Christmas night). The kids were able to put together some wooden models with their pro-model maker Papa and we had a generally grand time. I also enjoyed seeing my friend Jane's new house and cousin Julie's new residence. Now I just need to see Jane's new baby, Owen! Congrats!

Abby reception was beautiful and we had a lovely time meeting her new in-laws. We had really tried to be able to arrange a trip to Vermont to be there for her wedding, but we just couldn't afford it, the kids would have had to miss school, and Jason didn't have enough vacation time saved up. I was lucky enough to get to throw her a bridal shower back in November though which was tons of fun. Abby has a very diverse and enjoyable group of friends that got together at my mom's house (thanks Mom!). We played games and ate vegan treats (my first time making them, WAY tasty) and had a genuinely good time. (Abby's the cute one with the glasses.)