Merry Christmas

We've had such a great holiday season. I can't believe all of the snow we have received so far this year. This morning we woke up to almost a foot of snow in our driveway. Why can't it stay in the mountains?



Last Saturday night we had our annual party with Mark's family. It was a small gathering due to the fact that Ryan (Mark's brother) is in England serving a mission and Kim and her family moved this past June to Kansas.

After dinner and a movie, we opened presents in their basement. Kim sent a framed picture for her parents. Nothing unusual about that, but there were packing peanuts in that box and the kids found it. They had a great time making a huge mess. The packing peanuts were everywhere!







The kids were having the time of their lives and we couldn't help but laugh. The peanuts were stuck to our clothes, up the walls, drug upstairs...everywhere! We had to get out the shop vac to tackle the job.

Christmas Eve was spent at my sister Karyn's house. We were lucky enough to visit with Jon's parents who were up from Arizona for the holidays. We had a delicious dinner of steamed clams, prime rib, shrimp and potatoes. My brother in law Jon is such a great chef. It is always fun to eat at their house!

Who needs a fork?

Don't you just love Charlie's crazy hair!

Mark and grandpa Dick.

The chaos!

Steve and my mom gave these great teepee's to each family. Will and Ben are going to sleep in their new sleeping bags from them and the teepee tonight.


Thanks everyone for all the nice gifts and great company!

Christmas Day

We told our kids that they couldn't wake us up until eight o'clock and they were great. They showed up in our room earlier and we sent them back to bed. At about ten to eight, they showed back up, anxious to begin the unveiling. We slowly made our way downstairs. Will and Ben had already sized up their packages and everything in their stockings. I think they knew what they had received even before they opened their presents.

I left my camera at my sister's house the night before. So, I was bummed that I didn't get any pictures. My mom and Steve braved the snow to venture out to everyone's house to see what the kids got from Santa. They even ate a little french toast at our house to hold them over until brunch with my grandpa.

We didn't make it to Mark's parents to be able to talk to Ryan, who is serving in London. If I had known we could call him from home like his sister did, I would have pressed the issue. It sounds like he is doing great, busying himself with the work. After missing Ryan's call, we headed to his grandmothers house for a little get together with the Cannon side of the family.

We were all pretty anxious to get home. The kids really wanted to play with the toys they had received for Christmas. I was also able to swing by my sisters and pick up my camera. After all, I needed to take some pictures of my cute family on Christmas Day!

A little naked rock band anyone? Luckily Max was the only one naked!

Merry Christmas!