Best Christmas Ever

Even though I promised Vince 2 years ago that we would never haul all of Christmas to Utah again...

Guess what?

We did.

And it was the Best Christmas Ever!

Here is Christmas in pictures 

(the condensed version, as I took literally 2,000+ photos)

Christmas Eve at the Cabin

Our first real tree ever!

Making Ornaments 

Ta Dah!

Nativity Puppet Show

Brooke being silly

Christmas Jammies

The Fam

Christmas Morning!

17 peoples' Christmas in one room= Total Mayhem 

New Slippers

Christmas Swimming

Family Portraits, isn't Park City gorgeous!

The Whole Gang

Somehow we managed to fit it all back in the car and made it home last night.

Grandma Jane had a few presents waiting for us.

 I have never seen two kids who loved little chairs and a big tent more!

Merry Christmas

Once again, our Christmas Cards won't be making it to your mailboxes.

At least this year I have a good excuse ;)

7-27-11

SANTA x 3

We had the busiest weekend of our lives last weekend.

And Santa showed up during this weekend multiple times!

Friday night we rode "The Polar Express"

Okay it was call The North Pole Express, but don't tell Jack that ;)

 It was magical!

 Mrs. Claus even came aboard and was full of surprises. She asked Jack if he had any elves at his house.  Well wouldn't you know it, we do!  Remember when I posted about "Buddy"!  Jack's eyes lit up and he told her all about Buddy and she told him that Buddy was her very favorite elf!  It was a magical moment.

I seriously can't describe to you what that conversation with Mrs. Claus meant to Jack!

We rode all the way to the North Pole and picked up this guy!

Santa #1
(Red eyes)

  He gave all the kids a top and was on his way.

                              Jack told me "no more pictures!"         It was snowing when we left, truly magical!

Sunday it was off to Grandma Jane's and Grandpa George's for some more Christmas fun! Vince's dad went in for a triple heart bypass and a valve replacement today so we had our festivities a little earlier than usual.

It was a Jammie party!  Grandma's jammies won the prize for sure!

And then this guy showed up again!

Santa #2
(No eyes)

 Here is Vince telling Brooke how wonderful Santa is.....she is not so convinced!

Nope, not a lover of the man in red.

I have been very good this year ;)

 Jane dressed up all the kiddies in their Nativity best and they sang for us.  It was too cute!

Tonight was Jack's Preschool Christmas Program

And sadly, this is the best picture I got.

If you can find Jack, I will send you a special prize!

And Mr. Jolly himself came around for one more visit. 

I do have to say that Santa #3 (four eyes) was the saddest one of all.

I mean, come on, the black plastic over his shoes was supposed to look like boots? 

Jack did mention tonight that all the Santa's beards feel different. 

I'm glad that was his only observation.

I think we are Santa'd out.

In fact, if Brooke sees one more Santa, she just might die from an overdose of fright!

Santa

At least Santa smiled

Waiting.....

He has been waiting,

 and waiting

and waiting

for the perfect weather for playing in the snow!

 Yesterday we finally had a break in our constant string of wind and snow so we headed out to play!

This is really what Jack has been waiting for!

Brookie too!

 She was all smiles at first, but when they returned from their ride her smile was gone!

I got tired of pulling the kids around on foot, so Vince stepped in and saved me. 

Don't worry Mom, they were going so slow that I walked along side them :)

 Jack's job was to hold on to Brooke, he is such sport and didn't  complain once!

 Although the look on his face says otherwise.

We are loving all this snow!

Neck-Braced-Brookie

She has decided not to let a little necklace get in the way of her adventures.

She still copies everything her brother does

She thought this reindeer was real and wanted a ride.  Too bad the reindeer didn't survive.

Occasionally I catch her resting her cheeks on the brace and she gets the cutest little chipmunk face.

She wants to play rough, and I am sure she is tired of me telling her "Slow down, get up, get down from there don't run", and the most commonly used, "No JUMPING"!

She still has a little mischief up her sleeve. I fear she is bottling it and will soon explode!

She still has her sense of humor....Santa headband for a belt?

And she still manages to make me laugh.  How can this not make you smile?

When she sees herself in the mirror, she will touch her brace and say "My Pitty".  Makes me cry every time. 

How does it not bother her?

I am not even wearing it and it drives me nuts!

A neck brace doesn't slow these two monkeys down one bit!

 Jack has bee having a hard time with all the attention Brooke has been getting, so as a treat for him, we put up CHRISTMAS!

Oh who am I kidding, it was a treat for me too!

 For some crazy reason I decided to buy the biggest tree available this year, and it hits our ceiling.  No room for a star.  Perhaps I will tie that in to the "no room in the Inn" or something.

Buddy the Elf has even showed up from the North Pole to monitor us all.  He returns home to Santa after we go to bed every night and reports our behavior. Then he returns in the morning and hides a new spot. This morning he was in the tree.  Jack spotted him and said, "Mom, I have never seen this before."

I had high hopes that Buddy would help my kids be nice to each other.  

Ha ha ha.