Surprise!

I know, I know, you are all shocked that I have finally posted. I'm not going to make excuses, I just promise to be better. I'm not really sure why it has taken so long to blog. I have heard numerous complaints of my lack of posts, so I hope that all I am going to blog about is worth the wait!

I have heaps of pictures to post so be prepared for a long post.

For Thanksgiving this year we headed home to Idaho for the holiday. It was a long drive, but so worth it. We had a wonderful time with 3 of my sisters and their families along with my amazing parents. We finally got to meet a new nephew, James, my brother's son. He was so easy going and fun to have around. We missed out on Hiram and Alanna joining the fun, but they were busy relaxin on a cruise ship! Rebecca and Josh were in California with friends so they missed out as well!

Here is little James. He is anxiously awaiting his brother to join the family!Laney loved having James around and loved holding him!

My sister Amy made delicious caramels while we were there and my little man and Will couldn't keep there hands off of them!

The grandkids helped my mom decorate their "travel" tree, which has ornaments from all the different trips, reunions, vacations we have had over the years. The kids loved doing this as they remembered where a lot of the oranaments came from! Mom and Haleigh couldn't unwrap them fast enough to keep up will all those helpers!

My mom and 8 of the 11 grandchildren.

Rachel entertained kids with a Christmas tree craft and the girls kept

busy with dress-ups and games!

The kids had so much fun playing in the little snow that was there and managed to roll snow from the whole yard to make snowmen! They had a blast and didn't seem to mind the cold at all. They were very proud of their snowmen and Elena, Emma, and Addilyn even made a little village!

I didn't get a picture of the full spread on the table but we thoroughly enjoyed the feast that was prepared. My mom and dad did a fabulous job of hosting and feeding the masses! My favorite part was my mom's homemade rolls with homemade jam, and frozen corn from the garden! It was amazing!

Friday was our Christmas party! Since we wouldn't be getting together for Christmas mom and dad planned Christmas as well! We made watches for the girls, and the boys did picture frames! After dinner the party began. My parents always get Christmas shirts for the kids and they were a hit.

We played chimes which was very entertaining to say the least!

Lemuel couldn't quite get the ryhthm but was very dedicated to trying!

Some of us trying to stay on beat!

My mom was a fabulous director!

More of her students trying to keep time!

This picture of Amy and Will sums up our performance! I love this picture! :)

Next on the list was acting out the nativity!

Here is Olivia as a shepherd.

Jake was Joseph, Emma was Mary, Sam was a donkey, Grandma was a shepherd along with Lemuel and Max, and Aidan and I were wisemen. Lemuel was a switch-hitter halfway through and joined us as the third wiseman at the end!
Elena was a angel and she couldn't stop laughing! We are definitely a pretty entertaining bunch!

Aidan doubled as King Herod and a wiseman.

Here is our crew in our costumes.

After the nativity we watched an amazing video clip called "Is there room?" It really brought the spirit in as we talked about the birth of our Savior. We ended our night with our spirits rekindled and full of love.

I can't forget, we also celebrated Will's 4th birthday!

He was so good and waited so long to open his much anticipated cowboy boots!

A very happy 4 year old! Happy Birthday Will! So glad we got to be there to celebrate!

Thanks again mom and dad for an amazing holiday weekend! We loved every minute of it and really appreciate all the worries and work that went into it! We love you!