On the afternoon of Christmas, the whole family descended upon my parents quiet and empty home and the craziness began! Michael and Jesse, as well as Jesse's dad Chris, drove in from San Antonio, and Tiff and Cam came in from Denver. It was so good to have the holiday together with everyone there! The house was full to the max, and we even had two fifth wheel trailers hooked up outside so that everyone had their own "room" between the trailers and bedrooms. It was crazy, but so much fun!
The weather was pretty good most days so the kids were able to go outside and play which was nice. We also spent a lot of time playing games, doing crafts, playing iPads, and hanging out in our jammies.
On one of the afternoons, we made gingerbread houses which was a little crazy. The adults were definitely outnumbered by small children who needed help so it was chaotic to say the least, but the kids ate lots of candy along the way and they seemed to have a fun time decorating their houses. The parents were a little relieved when that activity was over. :)
On Friday morning we took family pictures, which I'll put in another post, but after we got back we had another Christmas celebration. We had all already done our individual family Christmas, but now was time for the group to exchange the gifts we had for each other. It was really cute the way the kids all arranged themselves without any prompting. All the little boys sat on the stairs, and all the girls sat in front of the tree. Cute kids.
We started out having the kids open their presents one at a time, but that only lasted for about 1.5 kids until paper just started flying everywhere. It was crazy and fun to watch them all reacting to their gifts from their cousins.
Eden had Jade and helped pick out a cute purse that came with markers so Jade could color in the designs. Eden was really excited about giving it to her and was happy that Jade liked it. Later in the day Jade got the markers out and Eden sat by her side for a long time and watched as she colored it.
Prior to going down to my parents for Christmas, Eden also worked many hours at her craft table making presents for people. For Jade she had a rainbow pillow. Erin and my mom got "dream lights" and cards, and my dad got the beautiful blue beaded necklace. ha ha She watched nervously, sometimes chewing her finger nails as each person opened the present she made them.
Once the kids were done opening their presents, many of them scattered away to play with their new things and the adults opened our gifts. My parents got each of us cute little music boxes and a nice outdoor hammock. I'm so excited for warmer weather so we can use it!
Michael and Jesse had Brad and I and they got us a big box of candy from the 90s. It was fun to go through and see all the popular things from back in the day. :) We are still enjoying that gift. We also had them and we got them a gift card to a cool and unique restaurant in their area, but Brad made sure to throw something special in for Michael. It was a pack of 5 different kinds of chapsticks that were disgusting flavors like cheeseburger, french fries, etc. Michael had fun smelling each one and trying to guess what it was. The cheeseburger one was by far the most disgusting smell ever and actually had Tiffany gagging. I think we decided the only one that was actually ok to use was the chocolate milkshake one because it smelled pretty descent.
Dad got a new saw from all of us and his face proved that he was very excited about it.
On Saturday we were fortunate enough to attend Jaxon's baptism. The kids were all so excited to watch, and I know he was excited to have everyone there to support him. We arrived early so all the kids could practice the song they were singing during the baptism, and they also really enjoyed watching the font fill up with water. Congrats Jaxon! We are so proud of you and so grateful for the example you have set for all your younger cousins!
Eden's little tiny body is so cute, especially when I pull her tights up to her armpits. She definitely found it very funny.
The cotton candy machine was a big hit, as usual. Thanks Brad!
While Bentley napped and Eden played, Brad and I actually got to play a couple games at the same time. I think he was totally trying to antagonize me! It didn't matter though - I stink at the game RA and lose every time anyway.
Bentley loved the cat and would always lay on his belly and try to get it to look him right in the eyes. He just says, "Hi kitty" over and over again as he tries to get it to look at him. He's such a cutie.
My parents graciously let our family take over their room for the week while they slept in their trailer. They have a fancy new bed that you can elevate the head and feet and it was heavenly for me. Right now sleeping isn't the most comfortable thing, and getting the bed at just the right angle really relieved some of the pressure off my hips and it felt great. My mom thought it the perfect picture moment as our whole family was hanging out in her bed. :)
On New Year's eve we did our big annual fondue party. We had appetizers in the cheese fondue, then the meat course of chicken, steak, and shrimp with a bunch of different dipping sauces. Once that was complete we ended the meal with the yummy carmel fondue. I unfortunately didn't get any pictures, there was just this one of me prepping the meat, but even though there are no pictures to prove it, the meal was delicious and so filling! This has become such a fun New Year's Eve tradition.
Usually Brad and I also like to do our vision boards, but it just didn't happen until after we had left my parents and gone home.
One other thing that happened that I didn't get any pictures of, but was a HUGE deal, was the gender reveal party for Kally and Dallen's coming baby. Her ultrasound was on the morning of the 30th and after leaving there, Kally and Dallen went to the bakery and had them make a white cake with either pink or blue frosting in the middle. When Kally got to my parents house we could tell she had been crying, but we still weren't sure if it had been an afternoon of happy tears or disappointed tears. :) We all gathered around anxiously as Jaxon and Austin cut into the cake and revealed PINK frosting on the inside! We are all SO excited for them to finally be having a baby girl join their family of four rambunctious little boys. It will be good times for sure. (And selfishly, I'm really excited that my baby girl will have a girl cousin so close in age!) This was definitely the best news of the whole week. So fun.
Overall it was such a fun week. I'm so incredibly grateful to be part of such an amazing and fun family. I love them all so much and can't wait until the next time we all gather together! By then, there will be three new babies in the family - two girls and a boy! Whoo hoo!!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's!
