Celebrating Christmas

Saturday, December 19th

Progressive Dinner

We had our first annual progressive dinner!  We started at Chris and Tina's house with appetizers.

Next stop, Matt and Tonya's for salad.

The main dish, cheesy linguini, was at my house.  Guess I was too busy hosting.  No pictures.  :(

We ended the evening at Dad and Mom's for dessert, a gift exchange, and games.

At one point we found Ethan under the table.  We were wondering what he was doing there...

but, as you can see, he was hiding because he had Chase's ipod!

Chase couldn't help showing off his amazing hand.  Too bad Grammy beat him.  Ha!

We all had such a great time that night.  It was nice to be able to go from house to house to see everyone's homes and Christmas decorations.  Kevin and Aimee, it was so nice to spend the evening with you.  We don't get to do that nearly enough!

Wednesday, December 23rd

Christmas Lights

Mom, Tina, Tonya, Garrett, Jacob, Ethan, Abby, and I all headed out to look at Christmas lights.  Yes, it was a carload!  We saw some incredible lights.  Our favorite was the house where the lights were set to music.  Amazing!  Speaking of music, we had a little caroling of our own.

  (Not your traditional caroling, but caroling non the less.)

We found out the next day that "E" had a double ear infection.  Poor little guy!  I think this picture describes how he was feeling.

Christmas Eve

It is our family tradition to go to my Grana's for Christmas Eve.  We all bring finger foods and spend the evening playing games and just being together.  My Grana also plans a service/program where she shares some wisdom, the Christmas story is read, and then we end by singing songs all together.  We've done this for as long as I can remember.  I love this tradition!

Here we are playing Crazy Bridge.  Have you ever played this?  It's SO much fun.  Twelve or more people can play.  You play 17 hands and move/switch partners after each hand.  We play it every year.  Actually, this is usually the only time we play it!

Christmas Day

Dad, Mom, and I start Christmas by dropping in on all the kids on our way to my Papa and Grandma's.  This is something we started last year.  I love it!  The kids love it too because they get to show us what Santa left them. 

Me and my Papa!  He's AMAZING!

We saw a picture from a year ago and couldn't believe how much Chase had grown in just a year.  We ended up measuring him.  In case you're wondering, he's 5'10" and is 12 years old!

Here's Papa reading the Christmas story.

Just hanging out waiting for lunch!

After lunch, we all head over to Dad and Mom's to exchange gifts.

Look at all those presents!

Smiles, that's what we like to see!

Mom and Dad bought me a new bible.  One that will fit in my purse!

Chloe had to sit in a chair by me.  We have to keep a close eye on her when Abs is around!

Mom made Tina these towels.  She LOVED  them!

Abby got this kitty from Mom and Dad.  Abby loved it and Chloe was especially thankful, too!

Looks like Tonya's surprised!

Grammy got a bleacher chair to make the hours she spends watching her grandkids even more enjoyable.

Christmas night Michelle and Derek always come over for snacks and (you guessed it) games!  Apparently I was too tired... no pictures. :(

We've had a wonderful holiday season enjoying each other and rejoicing in the best gift of all: JESUS!