Christmas Eve 2010

This morning we got up at 7:00 and got ready for the day.  We drove over to the mall so we could get family portraits taken at 9:00.  We got there about 30 minutes early (I was worried there might have been traffic b/c it was raining a lot).  So, to kill some time Nick & Autumn & I walked around the mall and found the play area and I let Autumn run around for about 15 minutes.  She loved standing on this bridge so she could be up high.

Mom, Dad, Nate, Lexie, Jon & Andrew finally showed up at 9:00 and Dad played w/ the kids at the table while we waited for our photographer to get ready.

She took a bunch of pictures, but when we sat down to review them, this is the ONE & ONLY picture she had of all of us!  It’s a good thing it turned out well and that everyone was smiling and had their eyes open or else it could have been ugly.

We had to get one of Papa & Mimi w/ the grandbabies.

This is such a good one of just Mom & Dad.  I am thankful to my Heavenly Father every single day that I was born into such a great family and that they are my parents.

This was another good one w/ Lexie & Jon & Andrew.

Our photographer took a couple of pictures w/ just the boys and this was our favorite b/c everyone has genuine smiles and Andrew is doing his excited face.  Too cute.

She only took one of the kids, and again it’s a good thing that it turned out well.  I think this is so precious and that they are too adorable.

We took a straight laced picture w/ just the 4 kids, but this was my favorite one b/c this is SO us!  Just funny & goofy.  Lexie & I were comparing bossoms and the boys were pretending to wrestle.  I am so  lucky to have such fun siblings and that we all get along so well and actually like & love each other.

At the end, our photographer told us to make funny faces and this is what we ended up with.  My favorite is Dad’s face.  Autumn was trying to make a pig face like in the pictures below and that’s why she’s not looking at the camera.

This picture made us laugh the most.  Earlier in the session when we were taking a picture of just Mom & Dad with us 4 kids, she told us to make a funny face and Mom said we should make the pig face.  Dad didn’t have time to pull his eyes down and get his other arm around (he had it around Mom), so it looks like he’s just picking his nose and has his thumb diaper on.  Lexie still looks pretty even though she’s making a face.  Nate is still trying to look GQ and Mom makes the best face.  I am glad we got some good pictures of our family.

Dad took all the kids & grandkids and went home while Mom & Lexie & I stayed and picked which pictures we wanted to order.  It was so nice to take our time and look at the pictures instead of having to worry about the kids running around and being crazy.

We came home and by this time it was already noon, so we started lunch.  Nate’s good friend that he met at Air Force Basic Training, Evan Nichols, came over to eat lunch with us before they left to hang out.

We had salad & steaks for lunch.  You can’t tell in this picture, but the steaks were so huge that they filled our entire plates and we ate every last bit.  They were so tasty!  We are spoiled rotten.

After we ate and got everything cleaned up, Mom & I got busy baking.  We made the stuff for cream cheese bread.  Then I decided that we needed to have some butterhorn rolls to go w/ the fried turkey that Curt brought over.  Mom bought the turkey and Curt fried it for us b/c he was doing one for them and a few other people.  So, we made butterhorn rolls.  While we waited for the dough to rise, we watched some football and relaxed.

The kids went in the backroom where Dad has set up the Wii for them.  I found them sitting in the rocking chair together eating animal crackers and playing Wii.  I’m so glad they are only 6 months apart in age and that they play together so well (most of the time).  It’s good that they are such good little friends.

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and watching TV and eating good food.  Dad & the kids went and took some jars of Almond Rocca to the neighbors, and we had some people from the neighborhood and church stop by and drop off cakes or cookies they had made.  Mom had to keep telling the kids not to go in and out of the gate we had set up to keep Trace (Lexie’s dog) out of the living room.  They didn’t listen, so Lexie put them both in time out but I was laughing b/c they were just laughing and having fun sitting in time out together.  When I got out my camera to take a picture, Andrew closed his eyes and wouldn’t look at me.  They were in such a hyper and excited mood b/c they knew Santa was coming tonight.

Mom’s favorite part of Christmas Eve is when the Jones family comes and sings to us.  She loves how they harmonize and sing parts.  It’s always beautiful singing and as Mom says, it’s just not Christmas until they come and sing to us.

About an hour after taking that picture, it was about 9:00 and they sat down on the couch w/ Jon to watch a movie and they were both out in a few minutes.  We put them to bed and worked on a puzzle and watched A Christmas Story on TV.  I used to HATE that movie as a kid b/c I didn’t understand why Santa would kick a little kid in the face and that sexy leg lamp always bothered me.  Now that I’m older, it’s still not a movie I love, but it’s growing on me.

Anyways, after watching A Christmas Story I had to go to bed (it was around midnight) and force myself to quit working on the puzzle so I could go to bed so Santa Claus could come.  Nate was nice and let us sleep in his bed and he went and slept in the bed in Mom & Dad’s closet so we could all be here together on Christmas morning.