Christmas

We spent our Christmas break on the road! Bright and early Tuesday morning, the girls and I left for Colorado to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I was a little nervous about driving with all of them by myself, but they did SO good- we listened to Christmas music the whole time and I didn't even have to pull out the ipad. No traffic and perfect weather, and 9 hours later we were at my parents!

Maddie was especially happy to see "Pa-pa" who she has grown particularly fond of, and to snuggle up and stay warm.

The next day we did basically nothing and waited for the cousins to arrive later that night. While we were lounging, Lance was very busy back at home. We were getting new carpet put in upstairs and he had to disassemble and move all the furniture. He stayed pretty busy for 3 days until he joined us on Thursday night. 

And our new carpet is absolutely delightful. 

This year it was just Sharon and I and our families. Which means a lot of little girls running around! The next few days are kind of a blur. There was lots of watching Uncle Andrew play video games. 

And some kid playing, too.

It snowed a couple times, so we didn't spend much time outside, although the girls did venture out once or twice.

And they all loved going to check out the Christmas decorations every night when they turned on.

 Maddie and Daryn discovered that Grandpa's feet are still just as ticklish as they were when I was a little girl.

Eric and Cassidy came over a lot and the girls got out lots of energy wrestling Uncle Eric. I think I was the real winner here. 

We also ventured over to their apartment once and nearly froze our tushies off.

On Friday we did homemade pizza, of course.

The girls all loved making sugar cookies and they were delicious, too. 

 

Grandpa did lots of fires. Always a huge hit.

And Grandma read lots of stories. 

Maddie's main job was to walk around being adorable, and she totally nailed it.

We had a couple other things planned, but a good portion of the house came down with some sort of stomach bug and we decided hanging out at home was the best plan of action.

We had church early on Christmas Eve, and then a busy day getting ready for Christmas.

Getting a good picture of all 7 of them is basically impossible.

That afternoon we had the kids do a little gift exchange. It was adorable and sweet.

"Everyone hold up what you got!"

After dinner we had Christmas carols (and dancing...) and a very informal Nativity reenactment.

 

Then it was time to hang stockings!

And leave out notes and cookies for Santa.

Lance read The Night Before Christmas to everyone.

One last hug for Grandpa Claus!

And Santa came while everyone was snug in their beds.

Maddie was up early, but the rest of the girls slept in pretty late.

Look at those cute little Christmas faces!

Maddie quickly tried to lay claim to Lance's giant Reeses pb cups.

Breakfast before presents!

Reagan's face when opening her remote control car from Santa was magical.

And Maddie was pretty happy with her new Bear.

Presents took awhile, and then a lot of us needed naps... before we could get excited a yummy Christmas dinner!

The next morning it was time for us to leave. One last picture before a boy joins this crazy group!

We had an uneventful drive to Lance's parents house in New Mexico. The girls were happy to get out of the car. 

The next morning we visited Mumsy and Mimi's houses. The girls were spoiled and had a lot of fun.

The rest of the cousins got there the next day and they all had a great time playing.

And we had our own little Christmas!

And a little more formal (but not necessarily more successful...) Nativity. 

Daryn, who was Mary, wound up getting stage fright and ran out, dumped Baby Jesus in the basket upside down, and ran back off. 

Apparently the pressure was too much?

Cutest little angel ever!

We had dinner at the club one night and Maddie had a very hard time sitting still.

Maddie made sure to dress up nice and warm before we went for a drive in the Think.

We could only stay for a few days before it was time for us to go home. On our way out of town we passed the wild mustangs! Lance said it's pretty rare to see them.

We got home late Saturday night and had our last week of early church the next day. The girls looked sparkly for New Years Eve!

That evening we watched the program in New York, played games, and had snacks. 

Maddie enjoyed her poppers.

Sadly, the was the start of a pretty rough week for us. Daryn got sick with the flu, followed by Reagan and then Lance. Things were pretty miserable. 

Lance also had outpatient surgery to remove some skin cancer that was growing near his eyebrow, so that was painful for him for a few days. 

I had a my first 3D ultrasound, and it was cooler than I expected. Little guy is so cute!

Madelyn really loved playing with the new dollhouse parts while her sisters were sick.

We were all feeling well enough by Saturday to go to my niece Chiara's baptism, although only Daryn and I attended the whole thing- Lance brought the other girls in from the car for a few  minutes. Daryn made this cute card for her!

Also Maddie apparently loves tomato soup now and eats it like a puppy. Pretty cute (and messy).

Everyone except Lance felt well enough to go to church today, so hopefully things are on the mend. Fingers crossed that the rest of 2018 goes up from here!