This Christmas season was busy as usual, but we enjoyed a lot of family time together and had a wonderful Christmas season. We did all the usual things... we saw Christmas lights, made gingerbread houses, watched a lot of Christmas movies, decorated Christmas cookies, went skiing and Grinch night. We also got to try out the Giving Machine for the first time. It was fun to go to the village and let the kids choose what they wanted to donate. Craig wanted to buy a goat, I choose recreational equipment, Brooklyn choose bedding for a women's shelter and McKay got diapers and wipes. It was really a great experience and I hope that they continue to bring the giving machines to Boise. Brooklyn and I went to the Egyptian Theatre and watched White Christmas with Diane, Paige and Audrey. Such a cute movie. McKay also had a Christmas program at school, always fun to hear the songs they sing.
This year Stan and Diane decided to give experiences again. Brooklyn choose going to the Nutcracker for the first time and McKay choose a sleigh ride to feed the elk and a dinner. Brooklyn was so excited to get dressed up and go to the Nutcracker with all the adults. I think she really enjoyed it and is looking forward to it again next year. I think McKay made a wise choice, I think he would have liked the nutcracker, but I think he had a lot more fun with the sleigh ride.
Brooklyn wanted to have a Christmas party with her friends. The only night that would work for my schedule was the same night as the Mountain West Conference Championship. We gave her the option of party or football game and she unexpectedly choose a party. We thought for sure she would want to go to the game. So I stayed home with her and her friends and they ate pizza, decorated Christmas cookies, drank hot chocolate and watched a Christmas movie. I didn't realize how loud 8 6th grade girls could be, but they did seem to have fun (and I completely forgot to take any pictures). Craig and McKay had a blast at the football game. BSU pulled out the win against UNLV. After the game the BSU fans rushed the field and pulled down the goal posts and even threw them into the Boise river. McKay of course wanted to head down on the field too. After Craig got home he informed be that he lost McKay down on the field. McKay was so excited to get down on the field that started weaving in and out of people and he said he even crawled through some peoples legs. He really wanted to get to the players. Once he realized that Craig was no longer with him he headed back to where they came onto the field and luckily that's where Craig waited for him. Luckily I wasn't there, because I would have totally freaked out. But when I asked McKay what he would have done if he wasn't able to find Craig he said, "Well there were a lot of police officers on the field, so I would have just asked one of them to help me." Smart kid for sure.
The weekend before Christmas we headed up to the cabin, we hadn't been there since the start of August. Luckily there had been enough snow that we were able to go skiing on both Saturday and Monday. We grabbed dinner at Pueblo Lindo on Saturday and lunch at My Father's Place on Monday. It was so nice to sneak away to the mountains for a few days. We headed home Monday night so that we could be home for Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve morning after a quick workout we headed out to Idaho Ice World to go ice skating with the rest of my family. The kids had a blast and I managed not to fall once. After ice skating we headed to Missy's house for lunch and to let the kids decorate cookies for Santa. That evening we went over to Stan and Diane's for a prime rim dinner. My mom and Tucker joined us and we all filled our bellies with delicious food. We then went through the nativity with the kids before heading home. After the kids went to bed we got the stockings out and headed to bed ourselves.
We told the kids they could come into our room at 7:00am and that we could head down around 7:30. McKay was right in at 7:00 and Brooklyn shortly after. We then headed downstairs to see what "Santa" brought. Neither Santa or mom and dad gave a ton for Christmas since we were taking them to Hawaii a few weeks after Christmas. A lot of their gifts had something to do with our trip like swimsuits, sunglasses, etc. After Santa gifts we ate our traditional Christmas morning cinnamon rolls. My mom then came over to watch the kids open their gifts from here (new basketball shoes) and the rest of their gifts. After we were finished opening gifts we took the rest of the morning slow before heading over to my mom's house for brunch. After a yummy brunch and time with cousins we then headed over to Stan and Diane's and ended up eating leftovers from the night before. It was a wonderful Christmas day filled with a lot of family and love. We are so lucky to have so much family close and to be able to have our kids so close to their cousins and grandparents. We truly have a village and it is amazing. It was such an amazing season celebrating our Savior's birth. Each year I do my best to get as much of the busy work of Christmas done before December, the Christmas cards, neighbor gifts, decorations, etc. so that we can focus more on the real meaning of Christmas. I never know if it is enough, but I hope the kids will have good memories when they look back on the Christmases of their childhood.
Brian's family was in town for Christmas and it was so fun to see them. Shortly after Christmas Lisa and her family came to down for a week. The kids had a blast with her kids. Stan and Diane took everyone to the tubing hill at Eagle Island. It is always fun to see the kids with their cousins. Overall it was a fantastic Christmas and lots of memories were made!
