Happy Holidays

I thought I'd see if I could be the very last person in the world to post their Christmas pictures :)

We started off our holiday festivities by going to see the live Nativity at the Provo Tabernacle. Afterward they had a bunch of animals outside you could pet - mini donkeys, sheep, goats, and this enormous camel! He was so cool; I was fascinated. Gigantic and docile.

A bunch of us with some random kid who also wanted to pose :)

Then it was off to Canada! Among other things (including the wedding) we did an extended family Christmas morning and all got together to open a few gifts. Then Santa showed up! That was a great surprise. We really love Santa and are so glad we are related :) You did know Santa was from Canada, right?

Quick, quick trip to Niagara Falls. Betsy had never been there and Dave and Caden were flying out of Buffalo just a few minutes away, so we all headed there before we went to our respective airports. Lunch in Niagara Falls at a pizza place. It had good reviews but wasn't all that special. Should've gone to Appleby's like Betsy wanted :)

Fast forward to Christmas Eve and our now-traditional toboganning day with Aunt Betsy and Uncle Betsy ;) ha ha (Davin calls them both Betsy.)

Steve and Betsy stayed overnight and spent Christmas morning with us, which is also another tradition we love! We decided to do the Three Wisemen gifts this year and give each child 3 gifts from Mom and Dad that were special. They also got their Santa gifts and things from relatives, but it made for a great Christmas morning because they got gifts they loved and could really play with, and everyone watched each other open their presents and things weren't getting lost in paper and it was just rather calm and delightful! We will definitely do that again.

Santa brough Tessa this great doll where you feed her a bottle, then she cries and you take off her diaper and she squirts "pee". I saw it on a commercial and thought, "Never! Disgusting!" but it was the cutest looking doll around and the kids just love it and try to get her to spray each other. It's made for some fun times. I obviously enjoy it as well.

Stockings - always magical!

On New Year's Eve we went to the Shumway's house and had a great time playing games, doing karaoke, eating great food and counting down to midnight! I can't believe the kids made it to midnight. Caden thought it was pretty great he had stayed awake until "tomorrow". They all crashed in the car within 2 minutes of leaving. Betsy's parents are the greatest, though! A house full of fun toys and activities, party hats and noise makers ... can't beat it!



Overall, fun festive times! Thanks for taking pictures for us, Steve and Betsy! And thanks for being there for all this fun stuff!