Christmas and so much more/photo explosion!

     Christmas time is so much better with all the goodies. Thankfully I was all ready for Christmas a week or so before the big day so the week before Christmas I was able to relax and enjoy things like making sugar cookies. I also made home made caramel for the first time but didn't take any photos but it was yummy.

Fun sugar cookies and I love red hots on my frosted sugar cookies. 

They were in sugar heaven.

     Christmas Eve is always so much better when we get to attend our wards Christmas Eve program. This is a tradition I hope never ends. This year a few of my kids got to participate. Charlie was an angel, Brock was a wise man and McClane (Not photoed) was a shepherd.

     Last year our primary counselor started a new tradition. She invites anyone up to sing "Picture a Christmas" who has ever been a member of our wards primary. It's quite a sight to see all these older kids come up. Some our married & have primary kids of their own, so fun to see them all again.

    This year we 'broke' from tradition and opened our Christmas Eve gift before dinner at G & G Kmetzsch's instead of right before bed. It was kind of weird and a tiny bit sad to only have six kids but my budget didn't miss her. Ha ha!

Pajama pants for everyone!

     Christmas Eve was mostly cousin wrestling and kissing attacks from Aunt Kristin with some soup/chili, pepperoni rolls and ice cream cones thrown in the mix.

Carter says he hates being kissed by his aunts but secretly I think he loves it!

      Christmas Eve before bed I like to watch "Mr. Krueger's Christmas". A must see every year.

     A lot of people must have been praying for a white Christmas because Greg got to do a little snow plowing Christmas Eve and Christmas morning so it was another Christmas morning waiting for dad to get home so we could open presents. They're all pretty good sports about it.

      All the kids were happy with their gifts. We kept things pretty simple this year but no one seemed to really notice. They got one gift from mom & dad, a gift from a sibling via the name draw and Santa filled their stockings. Santa also helped fund our trip to Arizona along with the generous cash gift from both sets of grandparents. (Thanks grandmas and grandpas!)

I love when these two play so nicely together.

These two have been dying for snow so they could drive the four-wheelers in the slippery white 'stuff''.

These boys couldn't wait to start playing with their new toys.

Kayli and Tanner got us this cute sign.

Mark wearing his new Pit Viper safety glasses.

Candy and cash for the newlyweds.

Isaac got Charlie the Barbie and big teddy bear she'd been wishing for.

Soda, iPod cases and a new football for Carter from the newlyweds.

McClane was thrilled to gift a pillow and blanket to his big sister and new brother.

Carter knows what Isaac likes, Monsters and a new xbox controller/case.

Mark got McClane a fun hex bug toy.

Brock got Mark lots of cool stuff for his truck plus a little candy and soda.

Charlie got Brock the big teddy bear he was wishing for as well as a cool 'crashing' car.

      Now on to our Arizona adventure. First stop, a nearby cactus 'park', the Riparian Preserve.

A dream come true, a photo with a real life cactus!

These cousins are so happy to be together.

Ducks & dogs for the majority and skateboarding for the 'elite two'. (Mark & Carter)

Such a fun park!

Then there was an attempt to swim! Yeah, NO!! Freezing cold pool water!

Note to self, swimming in Arizona in December isn't what we expected! The weather was perfect, the unheated pool, epic fail! 

     Second day was a fun trip to the Phoenix Zoo.

Fun & seriously the weather could not be nicer!

     I have to say, the highlight of our trip (aside from seeing our family) would have to be our visit with our former Bishop and his wife, President & Sister Collins! There aren't enough words to describe how incredible these people are! I'm so glad we got to see them if only for a brief couple hours.

      Day three Mark convinced us to check out a nearby race car museum that also happened to be in the middle of some luxury car dealerships. Maserati anyone, or maybe a Ferrari? I'll take a Bentley, no, maybe a Lamborghini. Oh no, wait, a Rolls Royce and maybe a Jaguar for my mom. Super cool!

Isaac went with practicality!

End to day 3, dinner out!

We treated the kids to Costa Vida, yummy but the price tag was a reminder why we don't eat out very often, especially at places like this. ($88 for 8 meals and 8 sodas, we should have skipped the sodas!)

And this kid has fallen in love with Greg!

     So far our trip has been a success and Marie and Jeff have been very patient and accommodating. We're looking forward to our last few days in warm and sunny Arizona. What a great way to end 2017 and what a great start to 2018! Happy New Year in just 3 more sleeps!