Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa

The Monday before Christmas, we got to have “Christmas Eve” with my mom and dad.    It’s fun to have so many special celebrations with the ones we love.  I am so mad I didn’t take a picture of my mom’s favorite egg rolls!  She made nearly 100 of them!  And, shockingly, they were all gone by the next day!  We love them and they are a rare treat.

 

The kids all did a special talent number for us, one at a time.  Lexi read us a story.

 

 

 

The audience…

 

Lyric read a story too.

 

 

And then Lexi helped her….

 

 

Peyton loves to hold Kylee (3 1/2 year difference)

 

 

Pax and Pey both sang a song for us

 

 

Grandma helped Pey read a story

 

 

And then they all helped Grandma sing a song.

 

 

Pey got grumpy.

 

 

Jordyn convinced Grandpa to help her with a stage production!  She wrote a three page play and only stopped because we told her it was late and we needed to get started!

 

 

Lined up youngest to oldest, of course missing the very oldest, Ms. Alyson.

 

 

Then present time!!

 

 

Personalized, durable piggy banks for all the kids!

 

 

I love this pic.  Every Christmas, I have a strong memory of my dad picking up the trash the minute it hits the floor.  Always.  So on our Christmas morning, I was asking Tucker if he could pick up the trash from the floor as the girls were opening it and he said “Nah, I like it.  It makes it feel fun and festive.  I’ll do it after”.  I was like…ok, sure…I guess not everyone likes it picked up immediately (even though I do :-)

 

My mom discovered lots of vintage things this Christmas and all the girls got these antique blue glass bowls and cups with Shirley Temple etched into the glass!  Something unique!

Paxton and his gum…he is obsessed!

Clothes for their American girl dolls!

They each got musical instruments…Jordyn got an accordion.

 

Kylee loved this life sized doll!

 

 

Lexi got a lap harp and is already quite good at it

 

 

I sure love to hold this baby!  It’s fun to have a little niece around to snuggle.

 

It was a fun evening.  My mom did an amazing job personalizing things this year,  I know she put a lot of thought into it. Thanks Mom and Dad!

What a Night!!

 

We planned a get together at Katie’s house with Brittany, Karli and our families.  She’s sort of central and we are all childhood friends, and Katie is so gracious to host all of us when we’re in town. 

Karli and Chris couldn’t end up making it, but the rest of us gathered at about 5:00 and were excited for a night of catching up.  No sooner had we put the pizza in the oven when our night took a turn for the worse.  We heard a huge thump fall from the second floor down to the first floor.  And then the next few minutes seemed like hours.

 

I heard Katie screaming “COOPER!  Oh no, Ryan, his bone is popping out!” and scary things like that.  I was afraid to look.  The poor boy had flipped over the top of the railing, at least 15 feet, and landed in a heap on the floor.  It was so scary.  He was crying, but also seemed like he was in shock.  Finally, Katie decided to take him to LDS hospital and left Ryan to be with their guests.  Soon after she left, she called him and said she really needed him to go with her because Cooper started freaking out as the pain settled in.  Ryan hopped in his car and the Hanamaikai’s and us stayed with the rest of the kids until about 9:30 when Ryan’s parents arrived to take over.

 

Cooper ended up being transferred to Primary Children’s Hospital where he could see a pediatric bone specialist.  After extensive testing, and pain, and fear on everyone’s parts, the final verdict is that he suffered a severely broken wrist, fractured elbow and broken foot. Of course, it could have been much worse, but it was still quite traumatic.  I felt nauseaus for a bit after all of that adrenaline.  I felt so bad that Katie and Ryan had to watch their little guy in so much pain. That has got to be one of the worst parts of parenting.

 

 

During the rest of the evening, the remaining 10 kids played quite well. 

 

 

These three put on a talent show for us with Savannah’s karaoke machine.

 

Lexi got to be a back up dancer, doing her twirls and the splits which she is so good at.

 

And Katie’s little guy Cannon is such a cute and independent 14 month old!

 

 

Quinn and Tucker

Britt and I.  So fun to have friends that have known you for SO long!

 

We got cute little invitations from the girls to their “show”.

 

We sure missed Katie and Ryan (and Cooper…Peyton kept asking when Cooper and his mom were gonna come back because she “really wanted to play with Cooper”) that night and are glad that Cooper is home recuperating now.

Earrings from Carly

For Christmas, Carly (besides buying all the girls the matching red shirts) let us all make earrings from her fun bead selection!  It was really fun!  Thanks Carly!

Matching Christmas Dresses from Grandma

My mom loves to coordinate Christmas outfits for all the grandkids.  This year, she did a great job once again!  I love these pics.  Here are some of the grandkids wearing the matching dresses in Utah with Alyson.  We’ll take more with Lyric, Pax and Kylee when we return.

 

 

(this is how Pey felt about taking more pics)

 

 

Coming out of church it was snowing!  I love Jordyn and Lexi’s tongues in this pic!