Christmas with family (okay...with Mason)

A large part of Christmas really is about spending time with family, and to Ellie, Mason IS family. Mason arrived at Grandma's house early on the 23rd and Ellie was already there from the prior night sleepover. It was a bit torturous to separate them for a brief moment for Ellie to come home and get cleaned up, but soon enough we all made it back to grandma's house to help make her famous cinnamon bread. To my mom, family is now her grandchildren. (Yes, we've crossed into that stage where if you show up without the grandchildren you may as well go back home. This isn't new....it's been going on for about eight years now.)

The kids were all entertained as they mixed, rolled, sprinkled and folded bread and rolls with grandma. My grandma, my mom's mom - was an incredible old fashioned cook. I say old fashioned because it was good home cooked meals, not the fancy things you need a sous chef for, but basically every meal that reminds me of home. She owned a cafe and worked in various others (she even cooked the very first batch of Kentucky Fried Chicken) and people in town loved her pies and breads. It is something my mom also does. Every Sunday we have a home cooked meal in her kitchen, and every Christmas we get extra special Christmas food - like this bread. Home made white bread with cinnamon sugar sprinkled throughout. I loved watching one of our oldest family food traditions become a family activity.

All of the kids put their hands into it:



Titus, some determination:



Mason put some muscle into it:


Ellie some concentrated perfection:


And Logan - well, some tongue:


Later that night Grandma gathered her entire family for a Christmas story.


Levi and Robin had driven all night, shopped all day and the Christmas story turned into a bedtime story for them.


Uncle Jed entertained us with his latest tricks.


That night Mason slept at our house and the girls woke up to a little present from Chip. He left Ellie and her cousins each a bag of reindeer dust to spread on the lawn.


Later that morning, Ellie and Mason had another surprise - some of the neighbor girls came over to play outside for a bit. I typically like snow for Christmas, but I didn't complain about how beautiful it was outside. The girls are new to our neighborhood and not shy. They knocked on the door and waited as the girls got out of the bath and got their coats on (which they quickly took off).


Our driveway is pretty steep so it is a hot spot for bikes, scooters, skateboards, pretty much anything with wheels. Notice in the video the three girls going down with no reservation. Ellie and Mason watching and going down on their "wheels" from about half way. It didn't take long before they were both ready to try it from the top. Ellie on her scooter and then Mason on Ellie's bike.



I recall the feeling I had that morning. I was overwhelmed with excitement. I was so happy to be in a neighborhood with kids. I was excited that they came over to play, that it was warm outside, that the kids got to have good, clean (what felt like summer) fun. It was really a perfect morning for me and honestly one of the best moments I had all season. The kids made their way to the trampoline, and then back to the wall to get closer to the horses. Not a typical Christmas Eve morning for us, but one I loved.



Later that day we got back to our traditional celebrations. We had grandma's Christmas Eve feast, we spread some reindeer dust, the kids opened a gift from grandma, and made some sugar cookies for Santa. Ellie left with her dad to enjoy time with him while the rest of us stayed behind to act out of story of the birth of Christ, to write our letters to Santa and then to get to bed early so Santa could arrive!











I am thankful for my family and for how much fun they make each holiday. I am also thankful Ellie has a great dad she gets to spend time with. She is happy wherever she is and enjoys time with all of her family.

Christmas morning we opened some gifts and then went to church to hear grandma sing in the choir. We had our traditional breakfast, which was banner this year (because I helped with the chili verde and tamales) and then I anxiously awaited Ellie's arrival. I did enjoy watching Titus open gifts - each time it was clothing he wanted to put the new item on. He also was so excited about his candy he kept walking around showing it to everyone and saying "canny".


We decided we wanted to do our Christmas gifts with Ellie at our own house. Everyone had already had a full day so it was a bit crazier than I had hoped but, but really I was just thankful that all of our family would be there. Christmas #2 for Ellie can be a bit overwhelming, but I thought she handled it pretty well this year. She was genuinely excited and thankful for her presents. We gave Ellie 107 squinkies and it was fun to watch them roll out of the package.





The rest of the afternoon we continued to enjoy time together and had a wonderful day. It was warm again so we even got Uncle Levi out on the trampoline.


The day after Christmas uncle Jed had planned a mule ride for us, but it didn't work out, so instead he took us all to lunch and then we went to feed the ducks (and birds) at Decker lake.






We did make a stop this year at my dad's grave together as a family. I miss him each year at Christmas and think of the Christmas memories I have of him. He was so fun and happy each Christmas morning. He turned on the music, the lights, the video camera - always had his jeans on and loved to surprise us with gifts he usually bought just the day before. I wish he could share Christmas with his grandchildren. I think we all felt that at his grave and decided we weren't ready for the family time to end.

So, afterwords we finally made it to see the elves at Gardner Village and did the search for each one as a family. At the end the boys were pretty worn out, but I think we all had fun being together.



The rest of the night we all played with our new toys and I had to laugh at Ellie - categorizing her new squinkies into groups. She really is my kid. It is exactly what I would have done and did do with my gifts for many years. Then they would get put away appropriately. Ellie isn't as good at that part yet. :D




So by far one of my favorite things to watch the kids (including Kevin) play with was the new Just Dance Xbox game. I promised Kevin I wouldn't post my video of him doing it - but if I ever need comic relief I have it saved in more than one spot on my hard drive. Over the next couple of days that game was played over and over.


Mason's last day in Utah was the 29th. For Christmas we wanted to give their family something we could do together rather than something extra to take home so Kevin, Levi and the girls went tubing and Robin, myself and the boys went to the Discovery Museum.









I think they were memorable gifts and it was for sure a memorable Christmas. I'm thankful that my family takes the time to spend together and I'm thankful Levi and his family make the long trip each year. I'm thankful for the planning and hard work my mom puts into Christmas. I'm thankful for my husband. I'm so glad that he enjoys time with our family, enjoys making everything fun and has adopted our overboard nature into our traditions and activities and has made them his. I am thankful for Ellie and for the magic she brings to the season as well as her Christ-like love. I'm so thankful for Christmas and what it means. And finally, I am thankful to celebrate the birth of Christ and for that - we make the time to be together.