More Christmas Vacation Fun!

The day after Christmas, we met up with the Ely's (minus Dandi's fam and Josh and Leigh) for some after Christmas deathball at the church and then hang out time at Gram and Papa's after.

Little Daphne came to me for  some snuggles. I loved every second!

Sam and Gwen bonding

Andrew getting down on Freia's level

Papa and Freia

Daphne and Uncle Richard were having a ball with "Give me five, up high, on the side, down low, too slow." She about died of giggles every time he said "too slow." He and Sara were laughing and laughing too. It was SOOO cute!!!

Bubba started a fire for us and the kids made smores. It was great to sit around the fire and talk nerdy with my brothers. We talked all things Brandon Sanderson. We are book nerds!

Wednesday, a bunch of the Ely's met at Feed My Starving Children to do service bagging food for children in the Philippines. They had a wonderful time! Dandi and Jessi were also there.

I love the view out my family room windows this time of year!!! SO PRETTY!!!!

Daniel and Sam had a blast playing our new Just Dance Wii game.

The girls decorated in their room!

Sara took the little girls to the Lundquist's to check on their dog. They got a hug from the giant teddy bear while they were there.

And Dad finally used his father's day gift from the kids and got a professional massage!!

He LOVED it!

Josh and Leigh went too. They got them for Christmas.

We got a package of sock from Tim!!! Everyone has had fun with their new socks!

Last night I couldn't find Andrew when I was checking in on all my sleeping kids. When I looked closer, I found that he was over in Freddy's bed, snuggling. So cute!!

Sam and Sara went to the YSA New Years Bash. They had a great time. Sam got to be part of a skit with the Jesters comedy team.

Spencer and Benson Jones, McKenna Breinholt and Rob Gardner performed.

It was a big dance party!

Today, Laney sang her first solo in sacrament meeting at church! She did a beautiful job singing The Manger of Bethlehem. Krista Baker accompanied her.

Christmas!!!

We thought we were going to be having our video call with Tim on Christmas Eve around 7pm, which was 11 am Christmas morning to him, but alas, we got to email with him and found that our call would be on our Christmas day at 7pm. It was torture to wait another whole day. We were SOOO excited!!

We had our not so fancy lasagna, salad and rolls with our fancy glasses and sparkling apple juice. We couldn't have it all together at the dining table because the dining room is completely covered in costumes for Beauty and the Beast. It was still fun.

Late that night Rich and I spent a couple hours getting everything set up and ready for Christmas morning. I always love this part, but it is so hard to go to sleep when you are so so excited for Christmas morning.

I had to take a few close up pictures of the tree. There are so many memories with all the ornaments we've collected through the years.

Our traditional Christmas morning picture before everyone sees what Santa's brought.

Hooray!!! Santa came! (Although, sadly, this was our first Christmas with everyone knowing who Santa is.) It was still magical and special, just a little different.

The very best part of Christmas is the kids secret Santa gift exchange. They are always so thoughtful and sweet about choosing gifts for each other.

Susanna had Freddy

She got him a watch and a cute shirt.

Laney had Daniel.

She got him a watch and a ton of sugar free pudding.

Daniel had Sara.

He got her some fancy colored gel pens and some soft, warm pajama pants.

Freddy had Josh.

He got him a Star Wars shirt and a cool stone lizard to be a guardian for his home with Leigh. We have had a golden monkey on the shelf that the kids have grown up with and Freddy thought it would be a fun tradition to continue.  It is a super cool lizard. Josh and Leigh named him Yoshi, which means good luck in Japanese.

Drew had Sam.

He got him a hat and some cool shirts.

Sam had Laney and Sara had Susanna, but they combined to get them lots of things to share.

They got them lots of beautiful decorations for their room.

Josh had Andrew. He began with a clue to find the first of five gifts. Each one had a clue and he had to go around the house to find them. Drew loved it!

He got him the Erogon Series books, a Mexican soda and a coupon to go on a double date with Josh and Leigh, all expenses paid.

It was wonderful to have Leigh with us for the fun on Christmas Day. She is such a delight!

After all the other gifts, we took the kids outside to see their new bikes. (New to them) They were thrilled! Now from Susanna up to Sara, they all have working bikes.

When we finished, we went to the Ely's for puff oven pancakes, with strawberries and whipped cream.

There was a bunch of playing with new toys and cousins.

Daniel serenaded us.

Some people really needed a nap.

There were LOTS of hugs!

Then we headed over to see the Alger gang. It is such a wonderful day when we get to see so much family from both sides!

Paxton, Audra, Talon, baby Reagan, Arianna, Jared and Laura

Sara, Sam
Caleb, Leilani, Laura and Natalie

Grandma, Stephen, Eli, Daniel and Laney

Heath, Seth, James, Jake, Jon, Joseph, Mike, Taylor
Rachel and Emily

Laney sure loves her Grandpa!

Adriana, Grandma, Grandpa, Steve, Natalie
Eli, Lydia and little Laney

Then we hurried home to talk with our missionary!!! Tim was so happy and delightful as always. We loved to hear about all he is learning and the culture and such. He loves it all and is thriving, just what every parent wants for their kiddos. The 40 minutes flew by and he had a hard time hanging up on us at the end. It was truly wonderful, the very best!

 A family picture!!! Leigh took it for us, so she is there too.