Christmas 2010

Well it is January 5th and I guess it is a good time to blog about our Christmas! This year we did things a bit different! Justin decided to "put in" for a deer hunt for the month of December, well that meant that if he didn't get a deer the first week of the hunt the whole family would head over for Christmas! Well he didn't get anything so that is where the chaos started. I had to not only pack for the family for 5 or so days I also had to make sure Santa was all ready to reroute to Thatcher and to Grandma and Grandpa Crockett's house! That was probably the most difficult thing because I had the kids home all week with me and you know how mom's talk with Santa always in private!

So off we went to Thatcher for Christmas it was a great trip everyone had a great time!

On Christmas Eve we had a very interesting nativity I think Grandma thought her house would be struck by lightning! Michelle was Mary holding a doll and Bronson as Joseph, who was very attentive! Parker was an unruly shepherd and Grandma had to take his staff! Eli was a shepherd and wise man along with Kaitlyn, and Madelyn was an Angel (of course).

Emie zonked out and woke up just in time to go for a walk around Grandma's neighborhood and take a look at all the lights! This one guy had the coolest light display we looked forward to his house the most and it didn't disappoint! When we got back we had a few snacks while watching a Christmas classic "A Christmas Story". I was surprised to find out that my family had never seen this movie! They weren't impressed, however I laughed with Justin and Jeff!

Kids in PJ's from Grandma Platt

Christmas Morning was full of the usual excitement! The kids slept in until about 7 which I told Justin was good! I actually had to wake Parker up! We gathered around the Christmas tree and I played Santa. Our Christmas was little this year but the kids would have never thought that! They each got something they "couldn't live without" and a few things mom and Santa thought would be a good thing for them!

These pictures are blurry because the kids wouldn't back up!

After presents on Christmas morning we were invited over to Uncle Jon's house where we had Christmas Breakfast! They had about 40 people there, about 18 of which were kids, visiting and playing. Jon added on a huge addition so the family could be accommodated for Christmas this year and it looked great! And the food was fantastic, lots of food!

We stayed for Sunday and came home after church. When we got home we noticed that Santa actually left a few other presents here at our house! The kids were told to get a few things put away so we could open the remaining presents! They were a little surprised when they opened a box of paper (just white copy paper) and a package of 6 scotch tapes. They were less than enthused until they realized that that was theirs and they weren't going to get into trouble when they used it! Unlike when they use mom's grrr :(

They were then instructed to go outside to the back yard and look for something new! Yep, Santa left a basketball hoop! They are really excited about being able to "shoot hoops" and play with that! I didn't get any pictures of what Santa left at home so I am going to have to rely upon my memory for their cute reactions! We actually had to put the thing together right then we were up until 10:30 that night!

Justin didn't get a deer over the Christmas visit so we again left to go back for new years. We had a few things we needed to do before the fun started. Dad watched the kids while Monica and I went over to Old Grandma's house and helped her take her Christmas decorations down. After that we went to help Grandma out at her class room and cleaned up after a semester of nothing being cleaned...I am sure of that, the place was dirty! The next day Monica and I went shopping with Grandma and spent a little bit of money :) We went home that night to discover that Justin and Jeff didn't see anything to shoot! The last day of the hunt and nothing! I would say the guys spirits were a little defeated! New Year's eve was a little down played...we watched a couple movies the kids colored and colored and colored, until 12:00 and then it was off to bed! We left the next day, not without a great new years lunch of pork, mashed potatoes, peas, and sauerkraut.

All in all we had a great hoilday season and we are thankful for our friends and family and are greatful for all of our blessings!