MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

It's been a fun week. We've had lots of visits with family and friends. There's been a lot of good food to consume. But, sadly, the festivities all seem to end when those who come to visit head home. And so it was today as Patrick and Heather headed back to their home and Kevin, Marcy and Bremen headed off to...DISNEYLAND. (OK, some of us get to extend our festivities a little longer than others!) To hit some of the highlights, here's a few pictures of the week...

Monday evening we took the Mom and the Dawn out looking at Christmas lights. Well, first of all it was raining. Second of all, lots of people didn't have their lights turned on. (Thank you to those who risked electrical shorts for our enjoyment! This is one of the best we saw that evening.) Third of all, we tried to go see this supposedly wonderous display in Gilbert. "Tried" is the operative word in that sentence - we called Sheri twice for directions and still couldn't find the house. I ended up calling Jared who got us to the correct place (thank you!) only to find that house wasn't among those who risked a house fire or power outage to please us! So, we left the darkened house and sadly cruised on home.

Early Tuesday morning (12:15'ish in the a.m. to be exact) we got our Utah kids in for holidays. That was a great Christmas present for us!

Christmas day was non-stop fun all day. We did, however, miss our Idaho kids. (Everyone start sending them your spare change and maybe we can get them home for Christmas next year!) Our morning started off with our traditional fare - your choice of breakfast burritos or eggs, hashbrowns, and glazed spiral ham. We always have something sweet to go with it - like this year's mini-cinnamon rolls - and juice. An added twist to this year's menu was appetizers! I've always had something extra made for snacking on after opening presents (like this year's macaroni salad to go with the ham), but Dave wanted to go all out with finger food. So, hot wings, bbq wings, chicken quesadilla trumpets, jalepeno poppers, little smokies, ham rollups, chips/dip, fudge and Oreo Cookie truffles were also on the menu! If anyone left here hungry, it wasn't our fault!










We sure enjoyed our day with all the kids and grandkids that could make it. (Of course, the Idaho bunch wasn't here - :( - sigh.) The rain did spoil our planned game of croquet, but that was the only downer of the day! Ryan and Bremen got Star Wars Storm Trooper helmets that change your voice. They had a great time playing with them - the only thing was they thought they were for head butting!

A good time was had by all - especially Shane, Wendy and Kailee. Those lucky ducks got to go the Suns game. They sure look happy about that, don't they?







So, just for fun. What's your take on this picture? Doesn't it look like Dave is either directing us in song, playing like he has lobster claws, or telling us how big the fish was that got away!





And, for those who are concerned (especially you, Tim), here's proof that Kevin does eat when he's at my house!





We also went to Grandma's house and played dominoes. Terry, Cathi and Kylie came and we had a great time. Then we came home and continued our fun by playing Apples to Apples with Kevin, Marcy, Patrick and Heather. Playing games with Patrick and Kevin make me laugh!



It's been a fun week and we've enjoyed most all of our family (including our Ray girls - Micaela and Tammy - newsflash - Tammy's engaged - we even got to meet Adam!). Yup, it's been a wonderul holiday. With one exception. No Idaho kids - did I mention that?

So, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! May your 2009 be better than 2008!!