Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve +

There was a snow storm moving into Utah the night before we were scheduled to leave for California for Christmas.  We ended up deciding to leave on Friday night, and drive through the night to get there.  We stayed at the Nugget in Sparks, NV, arriving about 4 am.  Matt was doing great, and could have kept driving, but I wasn't able to sleep in the car, and Lucas was getting restless.  The kids thought all the bright lights and loud noises in the casino meant it was time to party, not sleep though.  I'm not sure we actually got much rest once we checked in.  It was all part of the experience!  We had a great breakfast, and drove the rest of the way in on Saturday morning.  Before we left on Friday night we let the kids open one of their presents so they could take them on the road.  The girls were so excited about their packs with a blanket, pillow, stuffed animal, and books.  Lucas was too, but was ready for bed, and not interested in taking pictures!

We enjoyed a couple of days at Grandma's before Christmas came.  John, Ayme and the girls arrived that night, and the cousins were so happy to see each other and get to play.  We got to go see Frozen one of the afternoons, which was a big hit!  Matt stayed with Lucas.

Uncle Chunk reading to the girls

Christmas Eve finally arrived!  We hosted Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at mom's house so it got a little overwhelming trying to get all the food ready and the house somewhat presentable with all of us staying there.  Everything turned out great though, and we were happy to be able to enjoy our company without having to pack everyone up and travel.  The girls couldn't wait to start the festivities that afternoon. 

We played a present game, like a white elephant idea, but with nice presents that mom bought.  Nobody was very ruthless with stealing though!  Then we read the nativity and let the girls act it out with the figures from my Fisher Price nativity set.  They were less than reverent!  They were ready to get onto the present opening.

We had time to open a few presents before it was time to get ready for a few people to come over.  Aunt Linda came over, and Books, Al, and Amanda.  Cousin Kay and Ross were packing and getting ready for their upcoming move.

Lucas is looking very serious in these pictures, but he was really enjoying the present opening!

The girls loved their journals from Heather.  A talking password one for Matisyn, and a Hello Kitty key lock one for Emilyn.

The highlight for the girls were ipods from Grandma Karen.  They are so spoiled, and they know it!  They were so excited and kept saying that they have an iphone now!  Matisyn keeps telling me we need to do something special for Grandma, because she does such special things for her!

My mom's best friend has a daughter, Amanda, and we've been friends since we were tiny.  I don't get to see her or talk to her very often anymore, but I love it when I do.  She got braces, so she refused to smile in any of the pictures.  We took a series of weird poses with her covering her mouth in all different ways!  Lifelong friends like this are pretty rare and special!

Matisyn made a whole display for Santa this year.  She set out cookies and milk and made him a bunch of card board pictures and notes.  So precious!  I can't believe she is getting so big.  I love this girl!