i heart ... christmas

here is the story of my christmas.

'twas the night before christmas when all through the house...

...lots of people were (there's not an appropriate word that rhymes here

so forget the rhyming thing!)...

lots of people were gathering to celebrate.

we always spend christmas eve with my dad's side of the family.

and we always begin the evening with lots of good food...

my dad & his brother brian

i made
martha stewart's triple chocolate peppermint trifle

which i've been waiting all year to make for christmas eve!

sierra, breanna, & brennan

after eating we just hung out for a little while.

it was nice and relaxing.

and it gave everyone a chance to chat -

because that's what my dad's family likes to do the most!

seriously!

super seriously!

look where thomas found santa?

this child loves santa!

we were having a debate over

what this creature was on eli's head.

someone said hedgehog.

i vote for that.

clayton & ava

kaitlyn & eli


after eating and hanging out

it was time for the nativity.

the most important part.

here come the players:

ava & ammon

look at this shy little lamb

(ha! don't be fooled!)

thomas


after the nativity we had numerous musical numbers

which were so awesome

and helped everyone to feel the christmas spirit

(but there is no way i can show all of them here

because there were so many!)

but i will just show you the final musical number.

scroll down further for the video.

can you guess the song?

last but not least,

eli received his stocking!

this is a very important event in our family.

my nana makes every new baby in the family a stocking

which is presented to them on christmas eve.

when it's presented we all sing

"hang up the baby's stocking".



aaaahhhhh,

christmas morning!

finally!

first we ate brunch...

... which is one of the best meals of the whole year!

creme brulee french toast, spinach quiche,

biscuits & gravy, fresh squeezed o.j.

and these amazing sticky rolls!

then the chaos begins

with the children opening their presents first...

...then finally it was the grown ups turn.

after all the presents were opened

then we played with the presents!

especially this one.

it's called floam.

clayton gave it to natalie,

but she shared it and we all enjoyed it.

it felt so good to squish it through my fingers!clayton, natalie, sierra, ammon, & kaitlyn

clayton, natalie, & thomas

thomas loved squishing it, too.

sadly christmas day always has to end.

the children were getting sleepy.

so were the adults.paulina

eli



but happily

there are always plans for after christmas.

it's the only way to not fall into a post-christmas depression.

i have to have something exciting to look forward to.

like,

our annual cousins soiree at matta's!

a few days later,

i was invited to go with stacy and her girls

to see "meet me in st. louis" at broadway palm. stacy, brennan, kaitlyn, & sierra


and another thing to keep my spirits lifted

is this new little gift i received on new years eve.

meet lucy!


and finally,

new years eve.

i don't have pictures of the partying

only pictures of the goodies i made.

the food is the most important part anyway, right?

i made these candy cane kiss brownie bites
and in case you're wondering,

yes,

i loved them!

.