Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve we started off with the church’s Nativity video. Then we had our traditional homemade pretzels and chocolate milk picnic by the tree for dinner:

Then we acted out the nativity. Zane was Joseph, Cora was Mary, Ryan was the angel and narrator, Hyrum was a sheep and a wise man, and I was a shepherd and wise woman:

The kids then each got to open their Christmas Eve present, which was their ornament for the year. Zane got a monkey, Cora got a little ballerina, Hyrum got a Pikachu, and Ryan and I got a Washington, DC ornament.

Here’s what awaited our kids Christmas morning:

Zane got a tool bench from Santa:

Cora got a doll, Ginger, from Santa:

Hyrum got a dinosaur Lego set from Santa:

Ryan got a Raspberry Pi, I got curtains, and the kids got plenty of other presents:

Christmas was on Sunday this year, which was awesome! Here we are, all ready for church:

After church the kids played with their new toys, and then we had a delicious dinner of bacon-wrapped filet mignon, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, cranberry fluff, corn casserole, and Martinelli’s. The best part of dinner was the peppermint bark cheesecake!

After dinner we went on a Christmas lights scavenger hunt, something the kids have been asking about for the past year. We got almost everything, and even saw an amazing light/music show in the neighborhood next to ours:

We were supposed to watch Elf that night, but Cora fell asleep so we watched it the next day instead:

All in all we really had a great Christmas!!

Golden Friends

We got to meet up with so many old friends in December, it was awesome! We have been so fortunate over the years to have made such good friends wherever we go, and we miss them all so much.

We’ve been friends with this couple since before they were married (though me and this beautiful blonde have been friends since high school). We used to get together weekly and our husbands would play video games and we girls would just chat, before we ever had kids. We’ve visited back and forth a bunch since then, and now all together we have 8.5 kids! We’re so glad we got to see them!

This amazing family lived down the street from us in Tucson, and became such good friends they are like family. Our kids were best friends, and they still send each other things and letters every now and then. They are also all betrothed (all our kids are within 6 months of each other, and all opposite gender). They even have a baby boy, which is perfect for our little girl on her way!

Here they all are, sitting by their betrothed (missing the baby, and apparently my kids all make the same funny face):

Our attempt at a group hug:

I loved my time in high school, and I know that is in large part due to the amazing group of friends I had and hung out with. Some of us were in AZ for Christmas, or still live there, so we tried to catch who we could to meet up one morning and hang out at the park and have breakfast together:

We live all over now- Utah, Georgia, AZ, Nebraska, but I’m so glad we got this small chance to hang out again for a bit!

Once we got home to NE, we got to see one more family we miss- they came to visit their own family in NE for the holidays! We are so lucky to live where she’s from, so I get to see them every now and then. It was great catching up with them!

Trip to Arizona

 

We had a great trip to Arizona right before Christmas! We got to go to Costa Vida twice, which was a must-do on our list. And we also got to spend a lot of time with the whole Martin family, which we haven’t done in 1.5 years, so it was a ton of fun! On Sunday we went to church with my parents and later that evening we got to see my brother and sister-in-law’s new house, eat lasagna, and play games:

Monday morning was when we went to Legoland (a different post) and later that evening we went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant, then we all went to the Mesa temple lights. Here are the grandkids touching the temple:

And the pretty lights!

Tuesday all the bigger kids and adults went to see the new Star Wars movie (Rouge One). We also went with my parents and Mindi to pick out a real live Christmas tree, and the kids thought it was fun to grab all the little branches that had fallen off in the tree lot:

Ryan and I got to go on a quick date to Ikea while we were in AZ, so he could try out his Christmas present- a new desk chair! And of course we had to try the meatballs:

The kids put on a play while we were there, just like me and my cousins did for my grandparents!

Wednesday morning all the adult women went and got a pedicure!

The lotion guy was quite the artist, as was the nail painter:

Later that evening we had our big Christmas dinner. Here’s the little kids’ table:

We also had our traditional nativity, and Cora got to be Mary! That is something she has talked about doing all month long:

Hyrum was a sheep, because he can make good sheep sounds, he said:

Mary and Joseph coming into Bethlehem (though Joseph refused to hold Mary’s hand):

Zane was an angel, and here he is singing with the angels. He also wouldn’t leave the baby’s side for the rest of the nativity. He kept picking up and holding the baby, and rocking it. It kind of made me wonder if angels stayed at baby Jesus’ side.

Hyrum was a good sheep:

And Cora spent good time loving on the baby Jesus, too:

Then it was time for Santa Clause! Or, as Hyrum deemed him, “Grandpa Clause!”

Zane was tired and was having none of it, though he did willingly accept the present:

Cora with Grandpa Clause:

Hyrum with Grandpa Clause:

On Thursday morning we took my Grandpa Langford to breakfast then visited with him in his room for awhile. Cora willingly sat on my Grandpa’s lap, and it really seemed to mean a lot to him:

We went to the temple later that afternoon to do some sealings for our family names. I love being in the temple with my eternal family!

Here is what was Hyrum’s favorite part of the whole trip- a whole lot of Wii playing went on, with all the cousins taking turns and Mindi regulating the whole thing:

We also were able to take some family pictures, which we haven’t done in awhile:

All the grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa:

The original 3 kids:

Aren’t they cute?

We really had a great trip and were glad we got to do so many fun things with our family!