Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was so wonderful this year for multiple reasons. We didn't have to spend the day flying from New York to Utah, followed by a drive from Utah to Idaho. Our total travel time was around 3 1/2 hours, driving. It was marvelous! Also, we got to spend some time with both sides of the family, something we've never been able to do before.

Brian's last day of work before the holiday was December 23rd. While he was working, I spent the day packing, baking a couple pies, and trying not to be too excited. The next day, Christmas Eve, we got up early, loaded the car and headed out. Luckily the weather was great, and the roads mostly clear and dry. The drive went smoothly, and we only ran into a couple snow storms, one around Malad and the other around Blackfoot and Idaho Falls. The roads were pretty snowy/icy along those stretches, so that slowed us down a little, but not too much. 

We stopped first at Layne and Kris' house. It was so great to get to see them. We had a yummy lunch with them, and spent some time visiting. Before we left, we were able to exchange presents. Although short, it was a fun visit. Seeing family around the holidays is the best.

    

From there, we drove up to my parent's house. We made it just in time for our annual Christmas Eve sleigh ride. We all bundled up, and Brian and I realized that we need to invest in some winter clothes such as snow pants and boots now that we are more likely to be involved in outdoor winter activities. We scrounged what we could from my brothers and parents, and put on some extra layers, and were ready to go. The kids were so bundled up that they looked like little marshmallows. So cute!

My Dad and brother Luke drove the team around to the front of the house and we all piled onto the sleigh.

Our usual route leads out back through the fields behind my parents' house, but it was quite cold, so we opted for a shorter route down the road and back. We had a lot of fun as always, and took turns riding on the lone sled tied behind the sleigh. The kiddos especially loved it.

After the sleight ride, we changed out of our winter clothes, loaded up all the presents and food at my parent's house and headed down the road to my brother Tyler's house. They just bought a new house a few months ago, and it is big enough to house our crew of 18. After unloading everything, arranging all the gifts under the tree, and storing the food away in the fridge, the festivities began.

We ate dinner together first, and just talked and caught up. It'd been a couple months since we'd been up to see everyone, and a few years before that. In fact, this was the first Christmas in five years that my whole family had been together. It was wonderful.

When it was getting closer to the kid's bed time, we each opened one present--pajamas. Kids and adults alike were excited about their new pj's.

    

    

Brian and I went shopping for our pajamas together. Brian picked out a batman onesie, complete with pocket, cape, and hood with bat ears. He was quite excited to open them and get to sleep in them. 

    

My parents surprised all of us kids with new pajamas as well. Although Brian got me some cute plaid pj's, I opted to wear the nightgown so we could get a group picture. Brian loved his onesie so much that he chose to be Batman for Christmas Eve. Our nieces and nephew called him Batman all night. It was so funny, and he loved it. We had to take some obligatory pictures of everyone in their pajamas. (Excuse the very low ceiling fan.)

 

My Dad works at the local fire station, and was on call on Christmas Day. :( We were sad that he wasn't going to be there to celebrate with all of us. We didn't want him to totally miss out, so we all gave him his presents that night. It was fun to see him open each present. All three of his little granddaughters wanted to get in on the action and "help" Grandpa tear off the wrapping paper. I didn't get any great pictures of him because of all the little ones bouncing around him. That's okay though, it was still fun to watch. 

    

Once the presents were all done, the adults started getting tired, but the kids were still pretty wired. We blew up all the air mattresses and positioned them around Tyler's big downstairs room. It took a while for everyone to get situated with the right blankets and pillows...and to find the right spot. It took some convincing to get Kaylee and Sophia to lay on their bed. They both wanted to sleep next to Brian. Haha!

Once everyone was situated, we turned off all the lights except for a string of Christmas lights that Kelsey had strung around the room. It was so fun! The kids were still pretty wired, so we all took turns telling them stories from our childhood. Lots of fun memories there. It was hilarious to hear the stories told from my siblings' perspectives. 

Finally, the kids dropped off to sleep one by one. I was too excited to sleep, so I got up with Jamie, Danny, and Kelsey as they put out their kids' presents from Santa. Luke was awake helping too. It was fun to get to help play Santa, even though we don't have any kids yet. Brian was one of the first ones to fall asleep, so I got to stuff his stocking as well. 

Finally, we all went back to bed to try to get some sleep before morning. I was just so happy and excited that we were all together and couldn't wait to see the kids' reactions the next day, that I found it hard to sleep. Eventually I must have dozed off, because the next thing I remember is waking up at 6:30am when the kids woke up... to be continued.