-15 people staying in one house (mabel, pops, cam, suzie, austin, james & ben, kylie, dean & leah, phil, kim, me, brad and drew) it was a mad/loud/crazy/fun/wild/insane house, but was exciting and something was always going on. brad and i were thankful for our own bedroom and bathroom in the basement...it was a nice escape from the chaos.
-lots of meals, snacks, treats and dishes...tacos, tamales, salads, ham, yams, lamb, pizza, bow-tie bake, swiss chicken, eggs, bacon, chips salsa, carmel corn, chocolate pretzels, christmas crunch, pirate booty etc. someone was always in the kitchen. thank goodness for paper plates, red plastic cups and dishwashers.
-sledding for everyone...cam and phil made a perfect sledding ramp off the deck stairs. they even iced it so it was faster. the kids loved it and brad practiced/showed off his tricks. austin and james spent a good hour or two out there before naps.
-flying with pops...austin got to spend an afternoon christmas eve flying with pops...he gave it a thumbs up. pops is a pretty smooth pilot.
-answering questions about santa...the little boys had a lot of concerns about him this year.
-shooting trip for the boys...they needed to get out of the house...dean had a printer to blow up and phil had a headlight to get rid of.
-decorating gingerbread houses...james kept eating the candy instead of putting it on the house. our house(brad, me, austin and kim) had a falling roof or a skylight depending on who you ask...falling roof- me...skylight-brad...next year we will have a better plan.
-acting out the nativity...i was a sheep and brad was a shepherd. we didnt have any costumes and did it impromptu, but it was pretty funny. the three wisemen brought books and a cell phone as gifts and the manger was a pink pottery barn kids chair.
-lots of presents...thanks brad, mabs, pops, droo, risdons and kramers.
-nerf guns & remote control helicopters noises...annoying!
-fires in the fireplace...super sunggie
-sharing family stories christmas eve...a good memory!
-game nights...yahtzee & tripoley...suzie and i finally got more than one yahtzee in a game. when pops joined in he got a yahtzee on his first roll. brad, dean, ky and mabs love tripoley...brad might be a little competitive! oh i cant forget super stretchy abcs...its a kids game like twister but you use your feet, hands, and ears. kim and i spent a few hours playing this game with the little boys.
-christmas movies...brad and i watched part of elf every night until we finally finished it on christmas
-no work or school...yay!
-lots of hugs and kisses...the kids loved showing their affection and it was really cute!
-a trip to the local chevron for some diet coke/cherry pepsi and a trip out of the house with ONLY brad...needed
-lunch at jasons deli with ky, dean, lu, phil and kim...super good and delicious..we love soft serve!
we loved it and had a ton of fun, but are excited to go back to our little, silent home and get back into our routine again.
some pictures from christmas 2009! they are all mixed up...ill fix it later
