Christmas 2011

Christmas was wonderful this year. Farris was able to take off the days that the kids were off of school so we had a lot of family time, which was wonderful. Too bad we didn't have any snow to enjoy! On Christmas Eve we decided to watch Puss in Boots at the theater here in town. Cute movie, but not a great movie. But the kids loved it and were quoting it the rest of the day. Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner isn't so traditional: we make Ebelskivers, danish pancake balls. My mom learned to make them from her grandma and I sort of learned from her...I still need a lot of practice flipping them! We made two batches and one with peaches and one with pineapple. Next year I think I'll find a recipe for a desert ebelskiver, yummy.
Another tradition that the kids love is the opening of Christmas Pajamas. This year I used our new baby as an excuse for not making them, much less stressful for me!

Abigail loved the gift wrap much more than her new pjs.

After baths we watched Joy to the World, which I love. So beautiful.
The kids decided they wanted to all sleep in the boys room together, thus the better to catch Santa, and had us bring the plate of cookies into the room with them. Santa must have hit our house late, because there was a lot of squirming and giggling for awhile after the lights were out.

We didn't have church until 11:00, so we decided to do stockings before breakfast, then presents, then church, then the long drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We decided to simplify presents this year, like Rocky and Stacey's family. Like the Wise Men, we gave three presents. Just not gold and oils. That wouldn't be quite the same in today's world. Instead it was clothes (church clothes for all of them this year), books, and a toy. It was nice to not have the pressure of making sure everyone has the same amount of stuff in their pile. Joseph got the Millennium Falcon, complete with a little Han Solo and Chewbecca.

Caleb is hitting his Lego craze age and was so excited with this set.

At a yard sale with year we found a huge bin of Littlest Pet Shop things. Felicity was so excited. And, yes, we sometimes shop for Christmas presents at yard sales. How cheap are we...

Abigail surrounded by presents. Again, she was more interested in the paper. The kids did a good job each picking out a present for her.

We only had Sacrament meeting for church and our Bishopric did a great job reminding us of Christ and what is really important. The kids behaved fairly well, considering they were keyed up to the extreme.

When church was over we threw everything into the van and headed out. We spent a few days at Grandma and Grandpa Newey's, playing with cousins and eating lots of yummy food. All the adult women (and Abby) hit the after Christmas sales. A lot less craziness than during the after Thanksgiving sales. It was fun to spend that day with some of my best friends, I love my family.

After a couple days we headed over to Farris' mom's house. His whole family was there, so it was great fun. The family party is always a little crazy with plenty of wrapping paper fights in the middle of much unwrapping and picture taking.

Joseph incognito.

Seth, too.

Mustaches seem to be a theme this year. I forgot my camera for my family's Christmas party, and everyone was going to send my pictures of the mustachio adventures from it...but it hasn't happened...yes, this is a hint...I will post them when I get some.

I love this picture of Great Grandma Larsen and Abigail. Abby smiled at just the right time. Rachel loved seeing all the kids being crazy around her. She gets more great grandkids every year, five or six last year alone I think?, but they all adore her.

We came home on New Year's Eve, we even managed to get home before too late so we wouldn't' have to worry about crazy partiers. The kids were excited to get back to their new toys. I was glad to get home to my own bed, even though we had to do the After Christmas Digout. So much stuff to find places for and get put together!

I love Christmas. We're still trying to find the perfect blend of traditions to keep and the ones to toss so that we're not overwhelmed and we don't lose sight of what we need to really have and be at Christmas. I do miss the specialness of the whole season and how excited the kids are about everything. I miss the fun and the music, but I am glad to slow down a little now. It's a nice feeling the day we take the tree down and get the last ornaments put away. It's almost a cleansing feeling to put everything back in it's everyday (hopefully better than) order and get back to the ordinary.
Well, as ordinary as can be at our house.

Christmas lights at Temple Square

We finally did it. We rode the Trax up to Temple Square. And it was beautiful and cold, and the kids loved it. We watched about half of the Nativity before the kids got too cold and looked through some of the exhibits in the visitors center. It was just cold enough and we were later than we had thought we would be (more on that later) so we didn't walk around outside as much as usual. We did take pictures by that grouping of trees over by the seagull monument that is all red. So pretty! But the red in the trees didn't show. But this picture turned out cute! Seth smiling at his Daddy, Caleb and Felicity doing the cheese, and Joseph making a silly face. Yep, that's my crew! Abigail was bundled up in Farris' coat, she slept quite a bit.

The Trax was quite an adventure. I goggle mapped the address for the closest station...and we could not find it anywhere. We finally stopped at a business and I ran in to ask the receptionist. So we were there a little later than we thought we would be. There was a train pulling in when we found a parking spot, so I grabbed the kids and the gear while Farris ran to get the tickets (next time, we'll buy them online). I grabbed, grabbed, grabbed, managed to get the van locked and we all ran over there...Farris was still in line, not too many people, just really slow people. We eventually found another kiosk, but by this time the train was gone. It's only 15 minutes between trains, so we weren't worried. We waited and then boarded the next train. I sat down next to Seth, and then immediately jumped up again. Seth was missing one white sneaker. We decided that I'd take Seth to find the shoe and just meet them at the Salt Lake station. I ran around like a crazy lady trying to find the shoe before the train left, some sweet people helped me look, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Luckily I had my keys to the van so I ran back to see if it was there. Sure enough, it had fallen off inside the van before he got out. He never said a word as he walked through the parking lot, waited in line, crossed the tracks to the other side, and waited some more. Never said a word. Oh, that crazy kid. By the time I'd found it the train was gone and I figured we'd meet the rest of the family in Salt Lake, but they had gotten off before it left. They couldn't see me at first, and then they were afraid that I had gotten back on without them noticing. Whew. Now we were all together with the right number of shoes, coats, gloves and hats and we waited for one more train.

The ride home went a little smoother. It was fun riding the train, the kids loved it, and we didn't have to find parking downtown, hurrah! I think this will become a tradition every year. But I'm afraid I'll be paranoid about shoes.

Abigail's 4 month picture

Here's our happy girl! Abby turned 4 months old on December 11...and I've so far remembered to take her picture right on time every month. Hopefully that will continue! As you can see, her smile is growing. She is a baby that smiles with her whole body: sparkling eyes, chubby cheeks all crinkled, arms waving, tummy jiggling, legs tucked up and I'm sure her toes are curled under those socks.
She started rolling from back to tummy right before she was 4 months, but she didn't master it until a week before Christmas. She's rolled from tummy to front once, but mostly she plays for a minute, and then puts her face into the floor and howls until someone rolls her over. Bubbles she can do (she entertains her brothers that way) and she just started blowing razberries, too. Her face gets this far away look and she starts blowing like she's too bored for us. But as soon as you blow her one back, she starts to do her wiggle smile. She makes a lot of people smile with her sweet grin. We are enjoying our little cutie!