MeRrY ChRiStMaS!

We are having our first Christmas without Zach.  It is very different, but this will be the way it will be from now on, we knew last year would be our last year as a family of six.  We have had a nice day. We are just waiting for Elder Johnson to call us today! 

We got a nice little surprise yesterday afternoon--Zach called!!  It was a brief hello to set things up for today.  We were all so surprised.  We just happened to be sitting around the kitchen--all of us.  When the phone rang, Tanner checked caller id and I had said, oh just let it go (it was unknown name unknown number).  When he said it was Zach, we were all so surprised!  It was so fun to hear his voice and his accent.  It will be nice to talk to him for a little longer today!

Merry Christmas!



Thank you Rhonda :-)

Last night we went to the Butlers for our annual Christmas Eve party.  We each brought a different kind of soup for dinner.  Then we cleaned up and read the Christmas Story and sang Christmas songs.  Then we played a white elephant gift exchange game and enjoyed some goodies (chips, dip, cookies, fudge, English toffee, punch, shrimp, buffalo wings and pizza rolls).  It was fun to be together as a family--we always miss Debbi and D'Lynn and their families.

We came home and Santa left some pajamas!  After getting ready for bed, we read a Nephite Christmas Story and got ready for bed.  Once the kiddies were tucked in bed (ha ha, they stayed up talking late!), Santa came!!  Brynn woke us up right at 7 am--sigh, I was secretly hoping their habit of sleeping in every other day of the year would hold true for today--no such luck!  We took our time getting up and getting breakfast (breakfast casserole) in the oven and then headed downstairs around 8 am.  The kids were just as excited as they were when they were small!  So fun! 

Santa left some fun goodies (shoes for Tanner, Cousins jersey for Kaden and an Under Armor Sweatshirt for Brynn and other things in their stockings).  We started opening presents and Greg and I could see Tanner and Kaden getting a little worried.  The presents were almost opened and there was no sign of a PS4--their wish this year.  Greg handed me a present and that was about it under the tree---I opened it and it was a PS4!!  Wow, for me???  They were so excited!  Greg pulled out four more gifts (PS4 games and control).  They were so excited!  It is so fun to share the story of how we got what and how long we have had them, etc.  We played it pretty well like we couldn't find a PS4 and we weren't sure Santa would find one either because they were so hard to get.  Little did they know, we had one since the day they were released!

Santa came!!

Kids waiting to come down (oh and Chewie, too!)

My little girl is growing up!

Sick---Cousins Jersey

Nike shoes

Letterman's Jacket--Needs a few more patches put on

Oh no, a One Direction CD



Uh Oh--Daddy got his gun!

Wow, Mom got a PS4!

What an awesome surprise!

Tanner and Kaden--very relieved!

Dad is enjoying the PS4, too!

Now, we have most of the mess cleaned up, things put away and we are just waiting for Zach to call us before we will head back over to the Butler's for Christmas Dinner and more time with family.

Merry Christmas!