Creative Friday--Christmas Vacation Edition

Landon, Whitney and I headed over to Michelle's house on the first Monday of our Christmas Vacation (the 19th).

We took our self-portrait next to the Christmas tree, fa la la la la.

We started with big beverages from Sonic of course. I had cramps so I treated myself to a medicinal vanilla Coke.

I spent the entire day working on this stack of 125 Christmas cards. This was the first time in 17 years that Randy didn't create our card, we just wanted to get it done and not have to hassle with it this year so I uploaded a photo to Costco and they were done the next day...God Bless America!

Michelle worked on these beautiful ornaments for book club gifts.

Whitney made Eva's dreams come true by playing with her all day long...they did great!

Michelle took this picture of Whitney's lunch, I didn't see this set up.

I also didn't write a letter to go in our cards this year so I ended up writing on a lot of the cards, phew. This photo showcases the skin cancer divot I had on my right cheek. I had it biopsied in October then did a month of cream treatment and then found out this week it's okay...relief!

Oh so sparkly!

The table was covered in goodness.

The boys played video games and chess throughout the day.

Michelle's aesthetically pleasing book club boxes.

The finished stack of cards!

We've been on standby to get together this week because Eva was sick and then Lucas got sick and now Whitney is sick...argh!!

**Do you write on your Christmas cards?

Are you planning to do thank you notes?

Have you gotten together with a friend lately?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I've been reading a ton to finish my GoodReads goal for the year and I made it!!!

Christmas Day

Santa ate the Oreos and milk Whitney left out for him, but she was alarmed that she forgot to leave out carrots (as promised in her note) for the reindeer. Randy actually fed carrots to the horse next door (which seemed rather random at the time) so I think it still makes for good JuJu.

Santa complied with Whitney's wishes and covered all his gifts with blankets so as to hide them from the kids on Sunday morning.

We had ooey, gooey cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning.

We had a great morning at church and came home feeling uplifted from the talk the bishop gave (I definitely needed to hear it) and the great music. I tortured the kids by making them pose for a self-portrait when we got home, they were dying to go in to open presents.

We all changed clothes and began the opening of the presents. The kids were definitely surprised to find the keyboard.

Landon was happy with his BYU basketball jersey.

And the cash he found in his stocking.

Landon is so sweet, he kept stopping to say thank-you and to say that just the stuff from Santa was enough!

Whitney did not share his sentiments! She likes to keep the presents coming (I'm like that too!).

We gave randy a couple new ties (he asked for some).

We love Rango!

Whitney made this calendar at school. It has all the family birthdays inside along with great illustrations for us to enjoy year round.

Landon typed up a list of 25 things he loves about me. This kid has a way of going right to my heart.

Landon made thoughtful coupons as a present for Whitney. They involve doing many of her much-disliked jobs.

Kristi sent me this awesome book full of tons of awesome good mail photos.

Landon gave me this double layered cup full of Twix.

Prior to Christmas, Whitney went through the Toys-R-Us catalog and circled everything she wanted (which was a lot), but when I asked her what one item she would want the most she chose this Journey Girl (which we all think looks just like Bella).

Randy got me a new body for camera!!! A couple pedicure gift certificates and a huge box full of my favorite Lehi Roller Mills Raspberry Muffin Mixes.

We went from not being able to find it anywhere to being very well stocked.

My parents, Lori, Robyn and her kids came over for a lunch of all our Christmas Eve leftovers.

It was tight quarters.

We had the tasty vanilla cream pie I made and the Egg Nog Christmas Cake Randy made.

Cute picture of Robyn and Olivia.

Andrew was "thrilled" to be at our house.

The gift for my parents was waiting for us when we returned home from their house on Christmas Eve so we were able to give it to them on Christmas. I was just bummed because a big part of the gift was setting it up for them and I would have liked to have done that on the day I gave it to them. (Instead I drove out there and did it on Tuesday.) After everyone left we enjoyed a mellow afternoon of reveling in the Christmas goodness and talking to Randy's dad on the phone.

This year's Christmas card.


**How was your Christmas?

What was your favorite gift?**

Comment Window Tidbit: We still don't have any snow! We had a record high temperature of 53 degrees today! What is going on?!

Christmas Eve with the Whole Family

My family always gets together on Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas. I like this tradition because it turns Christmas into a 2-day affair and it eliminates travel on Christmas day. I was feeling strangely emotional (think raging PMS, but it wasn't) all day and was battling it so that I'd be in good form. I spent most of the morning in the kitchen making pie, Christmas cake and funeral potatoes. I was enjoying the Christmas music and group effort with Randy and the kids, but I kept feeling like I was going to start sobbing any moment (not my favorite feeling).

 Also on my mind was the gift I'd ordered for my parents. I tracked it online and saw that it was scheduled to arrive that day which gave me hope because our mail usually comes by noon on Saturdays...but not this time. I was crushed. Randy and I were looking down our snow-free street trying to spy the mailman before we left but there was no such luck.

Apparently when Santa drives around town he drives a red station wagon!

It was good to see Andrew home for Christmas and enjoying some nachos.

It's crazy how tiny the kitchen feels when we're all there, but 17 people is a lot!

The kids ate in the kitchen (we were also celebrating Austin's 11th birthday).

The adults were in the dining room for a couple hours talking. We had a couple belly laughs which I loved.

Austin was super anxious to get his birthday party going so we gathered in the kitchen again for presents and birthday brownies.

Randy made this awesome card of Austin in his soccer uniform reading (he's a big reader).

My mom originally planned for the grandkids to do a talent show on Thanksgiving, but it didn't happen that day so we did it for Christmas instead. Bella and Megan played a couple songs on the violin, Tess played a song on the piano, Austin told some jokes, Olivia sang a Christmas song, Landon talked about his physical therapy progress, and Whitney told a funny story.

Andrew was dying to open "pesents" so we let him go first. It's so fun to watch him because he almost can't contain his excitement.

The funniest moment came when he opened a black jacket which he spied and handed to Lori so quickly it didn't seem possible that he could have even looked at it. He knew it wasn't a DVD or something Toy Story-related so he wanted nothing to do with it!

I think my mom looks so cute in this picture!

Amy was in action!

Landon was very pleased with the shoes my mom and I picked out for him, but that my parents bought for him.

My mom cracked us up by numbering the presents this year rather than writing our names on them. She used to do this when we were kids so that we couldn't figure out who had more presents than each other, it helped the grand kids keep from piling the gifts up in front of people.

Ashley got this huge American Girl horse which proved to be a huge draw for all the girls. They took turns brushing its hair, which made me wonder if perhaps they wouldn't all enjoy a wig for Christmas.

I had this collage print made for Andrew and his love was evidenced by the 10 full seconds he spent looking at it!

Lori gave Landon a Miami Heat t-shirt, which he absolutely loved.

Whitney's big gift from my parents was a bike! She had picked this out months ago with my mom but had changed her mind and decided not to get it for her birthday. It's a huge bike and a stark contrast from the tiny bike she's been riding for years.

My dad's only request was for family photos to put in his flip-frame at work. Me, Robyn, Lori and Amy all had a bunch printed and put them in an envelope for him...he should be stocked for quite awhile.

Amy had my name this year and made me 2 pairs of earrings and a charm for a necklace! I love all of these items and was thrilled to get them.

My new charm!

Lori is very generous and buys presents for everyone just because. She gave me a new book and a gift certificate for a pedicure, woohoo!

We ended the day by saying goodbye to Andrew who was freshly bathed and set up with his favorite toys in my parents' room as always.

**Do you draw names in your family?

Do you ever get emotionally overloaded at Christmas?

Did all of your gifts arrive on time?

Did you Santa driving around town?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I've been managing my time off from work rather poorly and can't decide if I'm okay with that or not. It's nice not to "have" to do things, but it's frustrating to have whole days disappearing without much to show for them.