Christmas Jammies

We had a wonderful Christmas vacation this year. And like always it has taken me forever to finally post about it and there is too much to really say. But there are a few specific things I want to remember, and mostly the pictures capture the memories.
We started our trip by spending some time at Grandma Jeannie's and Grandpa Richard's house. The boys fell in love with them! It was really sweet. They are still talking about them. My boys have always soaked up moments where they get one on one attention, and I think they can understand and feel when there is love. And Grandma and Grandpa were definitely showering them with love. They loved Grandpa's teasing and especially enjoyed the fact that he was half way bald. Grandma fed them and most importantly talked and listened to them. Grandma even took us out to lunch at Burgers. My favorite moment was definitely Sunday morning while we were waiting to go to Church. I was playing and singing Christmas hymns on the piano and Grandpa sat in the chair holding Landon and sang the hymns along with me. It was one of those special moments in time that I will always remember. Anyone who knows my Grandpa will know what I mean; Grandpa doesn't hold babies and he doesn't sing songs.
We had a day after we got there before everyone else arrived so mom planned to take the kids to the movie. We went to see Penguins of Madagascar which I didn't know anything about, but how bad could it be? Turns out Matthew and the movie theater are just not a good combination. It is too much for him to take in. Movies are so real to him and he feels everything so strongly. He broke down during the movie because it was too scary and I had to take him out. It took me a long time to calm him down and I almost couldn't get him back in the theater. The same thing happened when we took him to see Dragons 2 this summer and I noticed a pattern. As soon as it looks like the bad guy is going to get the good guys...he can't handle it. But as soon as he knows and that the good guys win and get away in the end it is all okay. It is actually kind of a sweet show of Matthew's heart; innocent and believing in the power of good. But despite the tears it was still a fun afternoon.

 Christmas Eve was a busy but wonderful day. As we say in our family, "It's Christmas Eve Spot, we have lots to do!"

I had to show my mom a few tips on pie crust baking : )

Jacque made the turkey for us.

 Jacque got to spend almost a whole week at home this year. It was great to spend some time with her. We wanted to do gingerbread houses with the kids, and I of course wanted to make them from scratch. Since Christmas Eve was the first day we were all together that was the day we had to do it. It ended up being a little crazy trying to do houses in the middle of cooking Christmas Eve dinner, but we made it happen. It was just a little "intense", not "tense"...right Ryan?

Brynnley really enjoyed the frosting!

 Christmas Eve jammies. When people ask what our traditions were on Christmas Eve I say Christmas jammies. But this entails so much more than just opening some measly pajamas; it is a whole Christmas Eve experience that I look forward to and love. Everyone gets their special package, then we all open them at once. Then we have to all change into our Christmas pajamas...and then the real fun begins: photo shoot! This creates laughs and silliness and lots of together time that eventually fades into a peaceful moment...then off to bed!

 I LOVE how the boys pajamas turned out this year. And I love pictures of my kids all together.

 The cousins: these guys were inseparable the whole week. Matthew and Maddi are a pair and Brynnley and Koyle are a pair. Sometimes they all play together and sometimes they branch off. It is so rewarding to see them forge lifetime friendships and memories together. My boys LOVE their girl cousins (and we love them too because our boys are so calm and well behaved when they hang out with Maddi and Brynnley).

 Koyle and Brynnley played a lot of house and princess/prince together which made from some pretty hysterical overheard comments. We found out later that they had even kissed, on the cheeks of course. Brynnley even got Koyle to dance with her and we caught her doing a dip!

 These two are going to be best buds just like their older siblings, they just don't know it yet.

 Landon learned a new trick! He finally decided to try moving. He can get himself up into crawling position like a pro now but he still can't go anywhere. At least I have hope that someday he will learn to crawl and move around.
Even though my mom never plans to do pajamas for the adults...she just can't help herself! This year she gave in to her minion love.

The two minion lovers together in a their happy place!

The guys got superman shirts this year

The ever epic grandkid picture. But hey-I got everyone looking!

I always insist on getting a family picture in front of the tree. 

Sisters! Sure love these girls.

 I got no pictures of Christmas morning because I couldn't find my camera and then I couldn't find it for the rest of the trip until we were packing up to head home. So that's all the photos I have. But some other fun moments to remember include:

• Looking at the lights in the freezing cold at the Botanical Gardens
• Wood crafts and shopping with the girls
• Shooting and archery for the boys
• Lots of time spent playing in the snow
• Matthew's nasty black eye (I need to get the pictures off my phone of that)
• Oh yeah-I got a smart phone!
• Playing games with the Jones clan
• Jam Berry Nails!
• Boise State won the Fiesta Bowl!! It was a close game.
• A noon New Years party for the little kids thrown my aunt Jamie
• Oh, and no sleep since Landon got an ear infection and became a sleeping disaster while we were gone.

Happy New Year folks!