EVERY ONE (kids, spouses, and grandkids) was here for the holidays. That's what makes it special. Kioa even quit his job (looking for a change anyway) so that he could come up.
We got off to a bit of a rough start here. I had a fever for 3 days and then Rex got it, and then Hyrum got it. James hosted the family recital and pizza party here while I was shut up in the bedroom. I think he would have liked it better the other way around.
Because of sickness, we had our first Christmas Eve with just our family. It started to snow (the only snow we've had yet this year) as James took the well kids around to some of the neighbors, who we didn't catch on our first round, to deliver treats and carol. When they got back we read the Nativity story from the scriptures and used puppets instead of costumes this year.
Two of my handsomes on Christmas Eve.
Then we watched "Christmas Oranges" together downstairs before we tucked them in to their new bedding (their gift from James and I).
It was a really nice night together. By the time it got light on Christmas morning the flakes were big and soft and fluffy and their was a good blanket on the ground. It was quite magical actually. There is some magic that only God can make. I finally felt half alive on Christmas, (which I was very grateful for because I felt horrible last Christmas) so I took the well kids out to Christmas dinner at the church.
Our Christmas present for Vard (after we scrubbed it with toothpaste and a toothbrush).
On the 26th we took up 2 whole rows at the much anticipated Star Wars "The Last Jedi."
The 27th we took our family for a day trip up to Camp Zarahemla. It was beautiful up there (we even got to see a bald eagle) and we are grateful we made the effort. We were the only ones that went up this year besides the 7 people that were there for the duration, and 3 that came and went. We learned as we left, that with the decreased numbers, this will be the last year they reserve Z during the winter. We have a lot of memories at Z and the we were all a little sad at the thought of it being our last time.
Thursday we went out to Mom and Dad's just to be with family. It started in on freezing rain and it became impossible to travel. Dax and Jen's family were there in addition to those who were already there, Kase and Brielle and Kioa and Blaire. In fact, Kase and Brielle were on their way home in Dad's truck and it was so slick they couldn't make it down Ringold hill. Vard, Kioa, Cole, James, and Dax went to the rescue in Vard's truck. They couldn't make it up the hill so they ended up parking and hiking up to bring Kase, Brielle, Ada, Ella and their necessities back to the truck. The rescue took 2 hours. Everyone crashed all over the living room floor and it was kind of fun.
Friday, we had to wait until 2 in the afternoon for even a chance to travel. They had to push our van out of the driveway, and we went the long way through Basin City. We picked up the Spechts and I drove their Suburban back with the kids for a slumber party that we gave them for Christmas. Hayden was here too. I'm not sure how much sleeping went on that night, but it was nice to have a carpeted basement to host the cousins.
Saturday, all the adults went to the temple (Dave and Taneil weren't quite up to the temple yet, Taneil was pretty sick for awhile) and then we came back here with take-out to visit.
Sunday we were all back together at Mom and Dad's for New Year's Eve to play games. We watched home movies which was pretty entertaining, but we didn't stay until midnight. By the time we got home and got everyone in bed it was past midnight. On New Year's Day we were back to projects---we hung up the canvas prints I gave to James for Christmas. They make me love going downstairs. Now, the basement is somewhere where everybody loves to be instead of an eyesore.
For everybody else, it's probably because of this:
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