Christmas Day 2014

Merry Christmas 2014!!

Christmas Day was absolutely beautiful.  I'm sure we couldn't have ordered a better day.  First of all, we woke up to a complete winter wonderland.  

The kids all woke up (a little bummed that they didn't catch Santa.  Again!!!) and quickly made it down to the living room.  Santa magically transported our stockings from Nevada all the way to Grandma and Grandpa's house, as well as dropping off his present.  What a busy guy!

After the presents were open and the breakfast/lunch eaten, we took the kids out to enjoy a day in the snow.  Robert and I were originally only going to spend a half an hour or so out with the kids.  However, the weather was so mild and the snow was like powder, so we ended up staying outside until it got dark.  

Robert built up a bank on the side of the hill so that we could start sledding from the porch and then continue on down the big hill.  That was a lot of shoveling, but he didn't seem to mind the work.  

Jason spent hours outside in the snow.  He loved every minute of it.  He is a funny little guy and he spent the whole time on his belly, making this long trail.  He would put his arm out in front of his body, plop it into the snow, cover it with snow with his other arm and then pop it out of the snow again.  Then he would scoot forward to do it all over again.  He never did seem to get tired of his little game.  

Ethan loved snowboarding down the hill.

Austin and Ethan built a small igloo.

Alaina was my most daring sledder.  She went up and down that hill a hundred times.

The day went by too quickly.  Mom and dad hung out with little Emmett all day.  We offered to trade places, but they didn't feel like sledding.  When we finally went in, we enjoyed a quiet evening playing games and working on puzzles.  That was a pretty awesome day.  ("...why couldn't I have that day, over and over and over again?!"  guess that movie line!)  

Christmas Eve came and the weather man promised that, although there was no snow to be seen, we would be having a major snowfall late that night.  It was decided that we'd stay and experience our first white Christmas.  That morning Alaina and Mom made some orange rolls together.

There is something about orange rolls that makes me think of almost every Christmas I've ever had.  Some of my earliest memories include grating the orange rind off of oranges, working in the kitchen (or watching) with Mom covered in flour.  The whole process of cutting the roll and twisting each section is very comforting and peaceful for me.  Of course, the very best part would be taking bite after bite of warm, just-out-of-the-oven, soft, sticky, sweet rolls.  It warmed my heart watching Mom and Alaina make those rolls together this time.  I know they are just cooking, but I had to take a bunch of pictures.  It just seemed too sweet a moment not to capture on film. 

I think this was my favorite picture...

Later that evening we took a drive with Dad over to the new Payson Temple that they are building.   It is almost complete and very pretty.  That evening brought pretty spectacular sunset as well.

After we got home, the kids did their very best to stay away all night, so they could catch Santa.   They looked cute in their Christmas pajamas and the big kids got Jason pretty excited about the whole experience.  Ethan came up every 15 minutes to tell us who was still awake and who was asleep.  (Ethan got to be a Santa's Helper this year, since he has declared himself to be an unbeliever.  He was pretty excited to be the giver of Christmas spirit.)  

Even by midnight, there wasn't a snowflake in the sky...

This year we spent Christmas up in Utah with my family.  For anyone who knows us, this is a big deal.  Ever since Ethan joined our little family, we have always spent every Christmas in our own home.  This year wasn't going to be any different.  We planned on spending a few days in Utah before heading back home a couple days before Christmas.  My parents were holding an early Christmas Eve party with all the Utah family, and so we knew we'd be able see everyone.  However, right before we left, we realized that it was forecasted to snow on Christmas Eve.  Robert said he'd never had a white Christmas, and so we packed a few things just in case we decided to stay.

We drove up the evening of the party and walked in just as everyone was eating.  After dinner we gathered together and had a big home-night.  A bunch of the grandkids performed on various instruments.  (Piano, guitar and clarinet.)  Ethan, Tommy and Alaina sang "It's all about the Bass." which was pretty amusing.  Then, some of my silly brothers played the same songs that we heard all growing up.  The pink panther.  The Man from Snowy River theme song.  It was funny to hear and actually quite nostalgic for me.   (I was trying out a new lens for Robert's camera, but I didn't realize that it blurred out everyone who was more than two inches away from the person I focused on.)

My mom brought some of the grandkids up to test them on a few family stories.  (All the kids remember more details than I do.)  Then she told them a couple new ones.

It was a fun evening, and some of the family stayed the night, which was good because we had important things to do the next day....like a hair train.

The next night we took the train up from Provo to Salt Lake to see the lights at Temple square.  Even though there wasn't any snow to be seen, the night was absolutely frigid.

On the square, every single tree and branch is covered in lights.  They also have a ton of different nativity scenes from around the world.  (we didn't take too many pictures since our hands were going to fall off...)  It was absolutely stunning.

It was a trip worth taking, but very, very cold.  (Russ and his family were with us as well as Jimmy and Oliver and Mom & Dad...unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of them to prove it.) We couldn't get our kids back home and tucked into bed, fast enough.