Two weeks over Christmas...

So it has taken me two weeks to put this post together.... why you ask.... the many interruptions with kids, phone, laundry, cleaning... you get the picture. So here it is, our two weeks over Christmas.

So over our two week Christmas break we kept very busy. We had our Ward Christmas Breakfast with lots of doughnuts (each kid ate 2 and then took 1 home), delicious fruit, and plenty of juice for my kids to drink. (Doughnuts and juice are special treats for my kids.) Of course it wouldn't be Christmas without Santa. Samuel was not too happy about meeting him and of course Claudia wanted nothing to do with him!

Here is my attempt at taking pictures of the kids in their Christmas clothes after church. Well, as you can see... there will not be a framed picture this year. Well, maybe in a few years I will laugh at my attempt. But for now I am still not happy with my best effort at getting my kids to just look at the camera. Can anyone help me out with this problem?


Every year we have some friends over to make gingerbread houses. Jadyn, Maia, Shannon, and Rachael came over to help. The kids had a blast! Samuel did more eating the candy than decorating...

Bowling is another favorite activities of my kids. This time we brought along GiGi and Ben and the Maughans met us there. Scott was in charge of watching Samuel run up and down the alley and lanes... Just a side note, my kids scored better than I did!

Going to the temple lights with the Garretts is another tradition of ours. They live in Mesa about 5 miles from the temple. We head down there, eat chili, and then walk over to see the beautiful lights that surround the temple. There is always a group singing amazing ChristmasCarols.

The Maughans invited us over for Christmas Eve dinner. (Amanda is the most amazing cook ever. We NEVER turn her down when she invites us over to eat.) The kids reenacted the Christmas Story with such seriousness, which brought tears to my eyes... contained laughter! (I mean really... Who can keep a straight face when Samuel is biting baby Jesus head, and Claudia is telling him to stop, over and over and over. The Shepard's aren't any too happy that they are Shepard's and want to be angels. But with one boy, Who is going to be Joseph then?) Memories, oh the Memories. Later that evening Scott read the story, Silver Spurs. It was one of my favorites growing up. It tells the story of a little elf named Silver Spurs who helps Santa get into homes that do not have chimneys. That helps explain a lot of questions that our kids have! Of course, Amanda sent us home with cookies for Santa because he doesn't get enough from every other house that he goes to. And on Christmas Morning the kids woke up with lots of fun presents which included games, barbies, and Camelbacks for the kids! We planned on going hiking but the rain kept us indoors. So we watched some of the bazillion movies that Santa brought and Scott fixed us shrimp and grits for breakfast! Yummmm my favorite!

The day after Christmas at 4:30am while the moon was still out, we were on hwy 17 heading toward Salt Lake City. Because Flagstaff was covered in snow, we decided to detour through Las Vegas, which adds on about an hour. Traveling this way would take us over the Hoover Dam which Daniel has been dying to see for years. This event just made his day! After 12 hours of driving, with many stops, we finally arrived at Kendric and Bethani's. Papa and Grandma Teresa had just flew in from NC and we were all excited to see each other. Lauren was waiting our arrival in her new princess dress, which she wore about everyday! And Indy was looking ever so cute in his mohawk, which has been there since the day he was born. Our trip was a blast! There were pillow fights and beds made from pillows. Anything the kids could make or do with the pillows it was done. (Bethani has a feddish with pillows... and her husband doesn't mind) The kids loved playing in the snow, going sledding, snow skiing, snowmobiling, building snowmen, and rock climbing. But their favorite part was the babysitters come over to play while the adults went away! WE all had a great time with Scott's family. You forget how much you really miss your family until you are with them again. WE didn't want to leave! Until next year....