Houston Christmas

We went to Houston for Christmas to be with a lot of Jeff's family. It was party time, family time, cousin time. Non-stop for 10 days. So many babies and so not a lot of crying, it was an anomale. So many princesses and definitely never enough tiaras, or blue sparkly high heels. So many people (little girls) singing "Let it Go" that it will forever be fondly engrained in each of our brains. So many dishes that were mostly done by my mother in law. And so many red solo cups (with each person's name) disappearing into thin air. Oh, and a christmas day that was 70 degrees! :)

Christmas eve was simple. It consisted of yummy food, and a very simple nativity that consisted of two Elsa's, instead of Mary or an angel, and a bunch of babies crying in shepherd robes made out of grandma's scrap fabric. :) My favorite part was sitting in a circle and singing just about every Christmas song that we know. Oh and at 8 o'clock when Santa's "sleigh bells" started ringing, coincidentally right outside our window ;), and my 4 year old nephew Sam said "AHH!! HE'S COMING! IT'S TIME TO GO TO BED!!" And off he went.

jane was doing a great job of paying attention, and not distracting others during story time.

Christmas morning, I'm pretty sure I was more excited than any of the kids. I was standing at the bottom of the stairs for like 7 hours with a video camera just waiting to capture those sweet little faces. Ok maybe not 7 hours, but seriously? The one day all the children decide to sleep in? I got Jane a baby doll, a puppy, and a whole bunch of balloons. She saw her little Santa set up and said "Balloon!", "Puppy!", "Baby!" and then gave each of them a big old kiss. 

Jeff spoiled me with a Blendtec and we have been sneaking spinach into each of our diets on a daily basis ever since. Boo-YA.

My mom got us a GoPro and that little guy is Jeff's new pet. (and the only pet he will ever have, if I have anything to say about it.)

I managed to get a picture of the post christmas morning crash. Complete with a myriad of scattered toys. 

Christmas is fun with kids. Even more fun with lots of kids. I absolutely loved watching Jane play with her cousins. And even though it rendered me ill or sleeping for a lot of the time, my favorite gift this year is the little babe growing inside of me. It's true, everyone is popping out babies like mad, but the miracle of it all will just never get old. 

I'm grateful for the sweet spirit of Christmas, especially when shared with family, and hope that it lingers as long as humanly possible. 

A quote my sister in law put on her Christmas card is a good dose of medicine for the post-christmas blues:

"God's gifts, unlike seasonal gifts, are eternal and unperishable, constituting a continuing Christmas which is never over!" - Neal A. Maxwell