Lonerblog: Christmas 2011

back row: Wes, Seth, Grandpa, Daniel, Tristan & Martin

middle row: Christen, Cari, baby Alex, Grandma, me, little Seth & Mari

front row: Lily, Luke, Alicia, Avery, Adelaide, Ryan & Kate

We were very sad to be missing Mitchell and his wife, Emily this Christmas. They were in Virginia visiting her side of the family.

Christmas Eve was divided into 2 chaotic sessions. We started out pretty early in the morning with family pictures....always quite the event. My mom had found these cute Santa dresses for all the little girls to wear. They were all red, except Kate's, which was pink. Somehow we didn't end up with a picture of all the little girls together though. Quite a shame. After pictures the crowd dispersed. Mari went to choir practice; Seth went on a 9 mile run (who does that?) to Martin's; Cari and I went to Goodcents for some lunch; and Wes and Christen went back her her parent's place to help get things ready for their Christmas. We met back together in the afternoon for all our Christmas Eve traditions. We got the kids ready for the Nativity while we waited for Daniel, Tristan, and Alicia to get back from picking up Tristan and Alicia's older sister, Dominic and her 2 little girls, Jai' Mya (2) and Haylee (3). Adelaide and Lily got a kick out of the fact that Tristan and Alicia are an aunt and uncle. After they got back, we did the Nativity and sang some Christmas Carols. After that, we got ready for a yummy ham dinner, and then some visiting, and then the kids decorated cookies for Santa, and then it was time to get everyone home and in their beds so Santa could come!!

I felt pretty bad for Wes and Christen. Whereas it is so nice to have both sides of the family living close to each other...they sure wore themselves out trying to bounce back and forth making sure to spend ample time with each side. The kids all love and adore them, so they didn't get much relaxation when they came over. You can see how Wes felt about it all....

I thought this picture of Avery with baby Alex was really sweet. Avery liked hanging out with Alex and showing her toys. We just had to be careful that Avery stayed gentle.

Avery was supposed to be an angel for the Nativity, but she wouldn't keep her halo on....you can see it on the floor on the right. She definitely has a mind of her own.

So Adelaide and Kate were the angels.

Tristan and Ryan were wisemen, Adelaide and Kate (who decided she wanted to wear the dress Adelaide was wearing...you can tell she wasn't impressed with not getting her way) were the angels, Martin was a shepherd, Alicia was the star, Luke was Joseph and Lily was Mary. Jai' Mya and Haylee were sheep, but they were long over it by the time the Nativity was over and we took this photo.

Funny Kate...much happier when she got a turn in the angel dress after the Nativity was over.

Little Seth and Big Seth

back row: me, Dominic, Avery, Alicia, Jai' Mya & Daniel

front row: Adelaide, Haylee, & Tristan

It was a special experience having Dominic and her girls with us on Christmas Eve. I think it was especially nice for Tristan and Alicia. A true blend of their biological and adopted life.

Jai' Mya and Tristan

Alicia and Jai' Mya...she was quite attached to Alicia pretty quickly and by the end of the evening, she would only want Alicia to hold her...so cute.

Adelaide and Avery decorating cookies for Santa.

Christmas Day was mass chaos with a mass exodus. Later, my mom and I agreed we should have opened gifts on Christmas Eve, and just had stockings and Santa gifts to open on Christmas morning. Of course, Avery and I were the first ones up...good thing Santa knew this would happen and planned accordingly by giving Avery a wooden train set. She was quite happy with that for a good while as we waited for everyone else to get up and come open their stockings. Opening gifts with a lot of people really stresses Daniel out. With all the wrapping paper and gifts, he is always afraid something of great value will get thrown away. When he was a kid he got a $100 bill one year for Christmas. Amongst all the opening of other gifts, chaos, and wrapping paper, his beloved $100 bill got thrown away. Even after scouring through the trash, it was not found...he was devastated, and that experience has stuck with him. So poor Daniel was a very tense and careful trash man/organizer. Didn't make for a pleasant and relaxing Christmas morning for him. I think we all walked away with a good pile of loot. Grandma had made all the little kids capes...they were a big hit and so cute! Ryan immediately decided that his was a cloak of invisibility, so he had fun with that the rest of the morning. After gifts, it was a mad dash to get breakfast on the table as well and everyone packed up. We were leaving to go to the Lake to visit with Daniel's parents; Cari and Seth had to drive back to Utah since he had to go back to work Monday afternoon; Martin and Mari could only stay for so long because they need to get ready for church; and Wes and Christen had the big Botteron

Avery playing with her new wooden train set.

Adelaide opening her stocking...warm sweater slippers were unwrapped first.

Avery LOVED her new Jack-in-the-Box...she still jumps a little every time he pops up!

Tristan gave Alicia some silver bracelets.

Alicia gave Tristan some sweatbands.

All the kids with their capes.

Martin always seems to know how to really get into the spirit of things...

What a hot mess...

A big thank you goes to my mom for making our time at her house so fabulous. She did so much prep work before we came so that there was little work to be done. Most of our meals had been made and frozen beforehand, so that made for far less cooking. All the arranging of beds and bedding, cleaning, and as if that isn't enough, she stayed home 2 nights with the kids so that we could go out and play games. Another thank you goes to Martin and Mari for all of their hard work and preparations to feed us yummy sushi one night, and delicious pulled pork tamales another. You guys are all fabulous and greatly appreciated!!

After the mass exodus from my parents house, we piled in the car and drove a short 3 hours to the Lake of the Ozarks to stay with Daniel's parents for a few days. We got there in the afternoon, so it gave us all some time to get out some pent up energy before having dinner and opening gifts...again. It was a lovely stay with Daniel's parents. Daniel and I both got to read through a book while the kids were occupied playing with their cousins, Ryan and Jackson (Jared's 2 kids). We chatted a lot with Tam and Cindy, took a shopping trip to the outlet mall, and Daniel and Tristan went to the movies with Tam a few nights. It was very low-key and very nice and relaxing. Wednesday morning, we packed up the car one more time, and made the 9 hour drive home. Once again...I didn't have to do any driving!! Thanks again, Daniel!

We got Cindy a set of serving bowls from Crate and Barrel...she loved them...of course.

Grandpa's dog, KC had passed away a few weeks before Christmas. Daniel and I had bought KC in Kansas City over 9 years ago to give to his oldest brother, Aaron. Soon KC somehow became Grandpa's dog, and shortly after Aaron passed away. The passing of KC was especially painful because of the strong connection she was to Aaron, whom we've missed for almost 8 years. So for Christmas, Daniel made a collage of photos of KC to give to Grandpa with a copy of KC's memoir that Grandpa wrote glued onto the back. It was a very thoughtful gift and I think Grandpa really appreciated it.