Christmas in Utah 2017

Christmas Eve in my family is a bigger party than Christmas itself.  Hyrum went to his parents' house first thing in the morning to pick up the kids (we got back from Yellowstone late the night before) while I enjoyed a kid-free sacrament meeting in my parents' ward.  A few hours later we all went to Amie's ward because they were blessing baby Eden. That's when Jenna, Matt and Kayla joined the party. 

Peter and Hyrum were obviously wiped out from the fun.    

Dinner preparation was underway.  It was fun to relax and catch up with everyone.  And have people around to entertain my kids.  

There were more than 20 people at dinner.  And we were wise enough to send the little kids in the basement to play while we ate.  Everything was delicious!  Including this caramel pecan cheesecake and apple cake below. 

After dinner we (meaning my mom) gathered the kids up for the Nativity.  Tiago played Joseph, Siena played a shepherd, and Mila was a wise man.  Then my mom read a story to the whole group, a few musical numbers were performed, and the kids opened presents from their grandparents. 

My kids were exhausted by that point and went to bed pretty easily, and half of the crowd left.  The rest of us went out to the hot tub for some sibling bonding.  And unfortunately it was snowing pretty hard and my hair got soaking wet (then froze).

The next morning my kids weren't totally aware it was Christmas.  But we brought them up (around 7:30) to see what was under the tree.  I sort of manipulated them into asking for something specific from Santa, which (surprise!) is exactly what he brought them.  Tiago and Hyrum got light sabers, and the girls got little people dolls (including Minnie/Mickey and Beauty and the Beast.)

Hyrum had the biggest gift of Christmas: soccer goals from my mom. And maybe the most expensive gift: a new cell phone, from me.  He had no idea, and was thrilled to not have to use his cracked, slow phone anymore. 

My mom got the most unusually shaped gift of Christmas: a garage stair railing, made by Matt. 

All my kids received more dress up clothes from Grandma.  They seriously have so many now!!  They wanted to immediately try them all on.  And Tiago's happy to have more 'boy' costumes, in addition to the dozens of princess dresses. 

(Siena)

This Christmas I got exactly what I wanted!  I've learned to just shop for myself so I am always happy.  I was most excited to open the Kindle that I have had in the back of my closet since the Amazon sale in July.  That's a lot of self-control.  And felt hangers and a thread organizer from my mom. The one surprise was a cook book she also gave me.  

I think everyone was happy with what they got.  My kids' big present from us was magnatiles-- magnet tiles that you build with.  They weren't thrilled in the moment, but have played with them so much since then.  So they were kind of like a present for myself...

We ate breakfast, and for the first year in over a decade, didn't eat Betty's Brunch.  (So was it really even Christmas morning...?)  But the sausage haters were happy, and we still had the cinnamon roll Christmas tree (and a lemon/strawberry french toast thing.)

The kids played with the toys for a while, and in the afternoon we went to the Suarez' house for Christmas part 2.  Unfortunately I was terrible at taking pictures, but it was a completely full house. The big event was talking to Hunter on Skype, who is serving his mission in North Carolina.  Despite the challenges of a bad connection, forgotten passwords, and too many cooks in the kitchen, his family was able to talk with him and the rest of us got to say hi.  Hyrum even did a little dancing for him, to really make him miss home.  

We ate more food!  And had cake for Oscarito's birthday.  The kids all opened their presents which is always one of the more crazy moments of the day.  My kids got adorable church clothes, and some toys.  (The girls got make-up and nail stuff, which they're obsessed with.  Tiago got legos which he's also obsessed with.)

We stayed until it was the kids' bedtime, again, and went home to crash after a long day.  (I think we actually watched A Christmas Carol at Courtney's request, and then she fell asleep in the middle.)

As a parent, it's fun to experience Christmas through my kids.  They had such a blast with all the toys and all the relatives around to give them attention.  When I ask them what their favorite holiday is, it's fun to hear them say, "Christmas" and then list all the fun things: snow, lights, gingerbread houses, etc.