Christmas 2011

I was so excited this year for Christmas!  My entire family was together for the first time in quite a while and I didn't even have to travel to see them!  My parents flew down with James, and Amanda and Kurt drove over from Phoenix.  I think it helped to have both Julie and I living in the same city.  I hope we can get them down here more often since we have double the pull. 

Dallin and Brooke love Uncle James and Uncle Kurt!  Those two watched my kids all morning while Doug worked and I went shopping with my mom and sisters.  When I came home the dishes were done, floor swept, and they had played in the backyard with the kids and made gingerbread houses.  The best babysitters I have ever had!!!

My parents were slightly addicted to the Wii during Christmas.  My mom shocked us all with her baseball skills and even her interest in all the games.  James took the high score in basketball and Doug has been spending all of his free time trying to get back on top.  It was a blast and I know Doug was glad to have someone in my family wanting the TV on so that I wouldn't stop him from playing so much.  It was a great break for us all.

Mary and a wise man.

We spent Christmas Eve at Julie's house.  She made a wonderful dinner and Russ prepared a great Nativity for the kids.  It was a lot of fun and very entertaining.

That night my parents gave the kids their Christmas presents.  The sleeping bags were a huge hit and they were so excited to be able to sleep in them that night.

This year for Christmas we tried to focus our gifts on emergency preparedness.  We tried to use a lot of our food storage before moving and since we've spent every year of our marriage paying for school, we just haven't been able to get prepared the way we need to be.  Doug and I tried to get a few things to get us going, but both of our parents helped by getting us things that we could use as well.  Really....it was the Christmas of Doug's dreams.  We got sleeping bags, a tent, camping tools, and Doug's favorite- a camp stove.  My mom and dad have a Volcano stove in their emergency stuff and thought we could use one.  Doug was thrilled!  He opened it up Christmas afternoon and was grilling up everything in the kitchen.  The kids had fun making eggs, marshmallows, and hot chocolate. Since Christmas Doug has used his new grill a couple of times a week!

We had so much fun with family and it was hard to send everyone off.  I hope we can have more of these fun get togethers now that we are all a little bit closer.  It was a perfect holiday!!