Home for the Holidays, Part III--Christmas

I never really imagined, several months ago when I first threw it out there, that my family would actually consider traveling from all over the country to our little house in Colorado for Christmas.  But I prayed for a Christmas miracle, and a miracle is what we got!  Apart from my two oldest sisters, everyone came here for Christmas!!!!!  And our dear friends who live just up the street from us let us use their house for lodging--what would we have done without that extra space?!?! Thank you!!! 

Not having to squeeze all our holiday events into the first half of December, pack all of our belongings in our van, worry about travel conditions, and deal with kids off their schedules was only the beginning of the awesomeness that was this Christmas.

On Wednesday morning, the 21st, the first of the crew arrived.  My dad, Julia and Nathan all flew in (from the Provo airport, how cool is that?!). It was a warm morning, with no snow on the ground. But magic was in the air.

School was out, family was starting to arrive, and a big snow storm was coming in the perfect window of time between arrivals.  The girls still needed to have a chat with Mr. Claus, after which we could all go ice skating. It was a perfect plan, accompanied by the perfect snow storm.  We headed to the outdoor shops not far from our house and found ourselves walking in a Courier and Ives painting. Dicken's carolers, ice skaters, an outdoor fireplace, the nicest, most genuine Santa Claus you've ever seen, huge snowflakes falling slowly enough that even my 3 year old could catch them on her tongue--it was truly a magical evening.

See how my girls' eyes were all lit up?  Or is that just the creepy "white-eye" that phone cameras give?

Unbundling and prepping to talk to Santa

Grace having second thoughts

Do you see the magical gleam in Santa's eyes?  the rosy in his cheek?  he was so great!!

Look at the lights, the snow, the skaters that aren't quite in this picture--love it!

Santa was so kind. As was his wife.  It was the sweetest Santa moment we've ever had with our kids.  Grace asked Santa for a "real camera and a sleigh bell from your sleigh" and Abby asked Santa for a "kids' guitar."  After both requests he said "that's a wonderful idea, I'll be sure to bring that for you."  Eliza asked for the one thing she loves more than anything else in the world--chapstick.  Not only did Santa have a hard time understanding what she was saying (she struggles with the "ch" and the "s" so you can imagine how it sounded) but when I finally repeated what it was she had said, he was so surprised and confused and shocked he didn't know what to say.  He looked to Mrs. Claus, who gave him an encouraging smile, and then muttered something like "okay, well then, ummmm, I'll be sure to bring that. And maybe something else, too, if you're a good girl."  It was quite hilarious.

When we got home that evening, Reid built me my second fire in our fireplace, completing my one Christmas wish (thanks again, babe!) We sipped hot cocoa, and watched the snowflakes fall while listening to the crackle of the firewood. And in the morning we woke up to 8 inches of Christmas snow!

My dad and Julia went for a walk in the freshly fallen whiteness

 while the rest of us stayed in our jammies all day.

 We made toffee, cheeseball, salami, and microwave peanut brittle--all of which are family traditions that my mom taught us (minus the microwave part, but we had to make do w/o a candy thermometer!).  Making toffee will always remind me of my mom, which will always be bitter-sweet. But I must say that this year felt much more sweet than last.  The bitter truly does get better with time.

We also went sledding in our neighbor's backyard, vegged and watched movies, played with sweet baby James, and made stained-glass ornaments.

I grew up with these exact ornaments on our tree.  But, being in the younger half of the family, I  wasn't a part  of making the ornaments.  So when I found this kit at a consignment shop I snatched it up!

Abby, Grace, Julia and I each made one.  Abby was mostly frustrated by it, Grace absolutely loved it.  Of course, I don't have any after photos.

The next evening, Jared, Kristie and baby Alia arrived.  Grace and Abby spent the remaining 10 days playing make-believe, with James and Alia as their baby dolls.  Very cute.

The two babies were pretty much disinterested in each other, but the rest of us were extremely interested in them!

Don't you think they look alike?

Julia, James, Alia and Jared

Kristie, Alia, Jared and James.  We didn't even plan the matchy-matchy action in this picture

On Christmas Eve we delivered gifts to a young family we all "adopted" through a local Adventist's program.  It was a highlight of the season.  This sweet family has been out of work for months.  It was so nice being able to fulfill their extremely modest wish-lists.  Because this was so last minute, most things we got for them were purchased from a store (I know, how conventional of me) but we did find someone to donate a bike for the 5-year old boy.  The girls worked for over 30 minutes on wiping it down and cleaning it up for the little boy.  I was really proud of them for sticking with it till it was done.  They did a great job!

It was so fun unloading the gifts from the van and watching their little boy's eyes light up.   It was also fun for all of us adults to brush up on our Spanish.  My dad, a retired Spanish professor, was either extremely proud to hear all of his kids using their best Spanish skills, or extremely embarrassed to hear all of his kids using their best Spanish skills.

Later that evening we had a nativity.  Grace missed out 'cause she was having a melt-down in her room.  I was too distracted to get out my camera and take any real photos, so I only have one not-so-great photo.  But i do want to remember how much I loved being Mary this year, and holding my own baby boy!!  I maybe even cried a little bit.

Kevin arrived late Christmas Eve--which meant that everyone was here!  We stayed up late playing games (everyone else) and sewing last minute gifts for the girls (me and Kristie).  By "late" I mean 2:30am. Needless to say, Sunday morning came bright and early.  

We had told the girls that they'd get to "open" their Santa gift before church (Santa doesn't actually wrap his gifts in our home, but just leaves them on the couch by their stocking), and do the rest afterwards.  They were, thankfully, totally okay with this.  

Abby is in love with her guitar

Grace was amazed by how legit her real camera was.  Santa loves craigslist!

Santa brought Grace a sleigh bell from his sleigh, and two more--for her sisters.  I told you he was kind!

And Eliza loved her chapsticks more than you can possibly imagine.  She honestly didn't really care about a single other thing that day.  The house smelled of raspberry creme all day :)

The rest of Christmas morning was filled with a wonderful meeting at Church with beautiful Christmas hymns,  yummy gifts imported from NC and CA's Trader Joe's, homemade creations, donations to Heifer Int'l, and me, saying over and over just how thankful I was to everyone for traveling from all over the country to come to our house!!  It was absolutely perfect!

James loved his little cars.  They're the only gift he got.  And I didn't even buy them.  My friend, Kayleen, gave them to him when he was born, and I wrapped them up and gave them to him for Christmas.  I should really be embarrassed by that, huh....

Okay, James actually got TWO gifts this year.  My friend  Laura got him this aodrable shirt.  You better believe I put it on him as often as it gets out of the dryer.  So cute!

Grandpa with his adorable grandkids

The next evening we had the truest Christmas miracle of all.  My dad read us some of his and my mom's old love letters--letters they wrote to each other when they were dating long-distance.  It was so sweet.  Hearing him read my mom's words truly made it feel like she was there.  And then, through skype, we had Cynthia and Melanie in the room listening to the letters, too.

 I'm pretty sure this is as close as it gets to having us all in the same room.

 It was, for me, the single greatest moment of the whole holiday.

My dad with all seven of his kids (two on skype)

Thank you all for making this the best Christmas ever!!!!!  

Winter Advisory

We interrupt our scheduled "Home for the Holidays" series for this important announcement.

If you sleep with your pajamas inside-out and put a spoon under your pillow,

 the next day school will indeed be cancelled due to a huge snowstorm!

 And since this boy isn't a huge fan of his insanely adorable red snowsuit....

he (and working-from-home-Reid) just stayed inside and played with his toys while the rest of us made snow angels, snow caves, snowballs, and chocolate snow ice cream! 

Home for the Holiday, Part II--December Festivities

December was a magical month.  There were so many moments and days that felt magical and charmed.   I love Christmas more and more each year.  And my kids love it more and more each year.  Grace loved helping decorate the Christmas tree, Abby loved playing with all the nativities, and Eliza loved showing everyone our stockings.  And James loved that right around the 1st of December he learned how to sit up all by himself.  That was his gift to me--a tiny bit of independence :)

I told Reid, soon after Thanksgiving, that I had but one wish on my wishlist--that he build me two fires in our poor and underused wood-burning fireplace.  And he did not disappoint.  The first week in December we had some very, very cold days.  And our poor furnace just wasn't cuttin' it.  So he got his axe, chopped up some firewood, and built me the first half of my gift.  The girls thought it was so cool, and I loved sitting on the couch and staring at my tree and my fire and my family.  

Grace and Abby wanted to decorate gingerbread houses, which I thought sounded like a lot of work.  So, instead I told them to invite six friends over for a gingerbread making party! (See how my mind works?  yeah, me niether...)

Actually, I'd been wanting to get to know some of Grace's friends from school, so it worked out well.  We played a few Christmasy games (Santa Says, Pass the Ornament, etc.), ate some candy, and attempted to glue graham cracker pieces together with homemade frosting.  The girls had fun, and it didn't feel like that much more work than it would have been with just my girls alone.  (Is that an indication that I have too many kids??? i think so...)  My favorite (and the most surprising) part of the party was seeing Grace be really kind to both of her younger sisters--even around her "grown-up" friends.  

Abby, our resident ballerina, performed in a Nutcracker recital.  She could not have been any cuter.  She was right on with the music (most of the time) and followed her teacher's instructions (the entire time).  She loves music and loves to dance.  And, thanks to Barbie and the Nutcracker, she already knew all of the songs :)

The Sunday morning before Christmas, I was upstairs trying to get ready for church, yelling who-knows-what at who-knows-who (that's just how Sunday morning go around here. It's a new form of worship) and stressing that we were going to be late to church again and how next Sunday we're going to do this and that differently and yada yada.  When all of a sudden I hear silence from the front room, followed by a series of uncontrollable giggles.  Then Grace calls "Mom, come look what we did for you!"  And this is what I see. 

Here's a close-up

These sweet girls had somehow managed to tune out Mom's grumpiness and arrange themselves in a row, in a sweet effort to brighten my day.  I mean seriously?!?  how cute is that?  Needless to say, I joined them in the laughter, changed my mood, and we were even later to church.  This is just one of so many moments this December that was filled with the joy and happiness that the Season brings with it.  It's a time of year when I have more visible reminders around my house: reminders to teach my kids about giving, sharing, how insanely blessed they are, and how grateful I am for Jesus's birth, life, death and resurrection.  

Home for the Holidays, Part 1--Thanksgiving

Do you wanna know why this is "Part 1" of my Home for the Holidays series?!?!?!  It's because for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, that's exactly where we were!!  And with our families!!!!!!!!  I don't know how many exclamation points I'm going to use in these posts, but my guess is--it won't be enough to let you know how much we loved spending the Holidays with family here at home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reid's family came for Thanksgiving.  They arrived on the 22nd--his mom's birthday.  So we celebrated...

 with chocolate "lava cakes"--which ended up more like "lava goo."  Turns out that lava goo is still delicious, and even goo can hold a birthday candle.

I am so grateful for my amazing in-laws.  I know that not many people are lucky enough to marry into a family that they truly enjoy being with.  I did.

They were all here for four days, and it was so wonderful!! We finally got to meet Tom and Jana's little Winnie Lou, who is one month younger than James, and is just as cute as her name!!!  We couldn't get enough pictures of the two of them together.

gotta love the seemingly coordinated blank stares

 James, as usual, just wanted to put his fingers in his mouth.  

 And when we kept taking them out?  He just put them in Winnie's mouth

We were amazed at how long we could just do nothing but stare at these two sweet little babies!!!

We also managed to....

 squeeze in some game-playing

make Grandma's cute little candy turkeys

eat a HUGE and AMAZING Thanksgiving feast (Note to future self:  prior to sprinkling ground pepper on the turkey, securely fasten the lid.  Although should you forget, 1 cup of ground pepper doth not a turkey ruin...surprisingly...)

spend every day home from school loving this little brother

and soak in some snuggles and Vitamin D with Grandpa

I also forced Reid, Tom and Mike to go to my gym with me.  I made the mistake of dragging them to a weight-lifting class, where both Reid and Tom nearly died.  Of both cardiac arrest and humiliation.  Their dad is in great shape and made them look like little school girls.  No, in fact, little school girls probably wouldn't have cried as much as they did.

I got an intense 12 hour sore throat on T-day itself, which was a total bummer.  Turns out swallowing is a pretty major part of the feast.  Thankfully there were leftovers the next day.  And my sore throat did get me out of Black Thursday shopping.

We are so grateful that they made the drive (and do it almost every year!) out here to spend this wonderful holiday with us.  Being with the Allreds is always a good time, and it always leaves us with the "why-don't-we-live-closer-to-family?" feeling.

Thanks for such a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!!