Christmas

I took the kids to see Santa at the Mall. Santa said "what do you want for Christmas?" Ethan said "My Dad's getting me a Wii." in a very dismissive tone. I think Santa's feelings were hurt.

On Monday the 22nd the Ortons finished arriving. I don't have room for everyone at my house, so we went to a hotel for a few days so we all could be together. Here is some of what we did:

The kids made ornaments and decorated a tree.

We played a lot of card games. This is Ethan playing phase 10. My parents got Texas themed playing cards for everyone, so we played some Texas Nertz as well. (is that how you spell Nertz?)

Papa tried to sleep, but Brenna didn't want to let him.

This is Taylie, Brenna, and Brooklyn bothering Blake.

The guys took the bigger kids sledding at this cool place. They drag you up the hill on your tube, then you slide down. Super fun!

We did our Christmas Eve traditions on Tuesday night so everyone could be there. This is Bridget enjoying aebleskivers. They're Danish pancakes and we've eaten them every Christmas Eve since I can remember.

Next we acted out the Nativity. Eric, with his PDA scriptures, was the narrator. Behind him is the Christmas Tree we decorated. It's made of butcher paper. Very, very classy. Bridget was the angel, and she did a great job. The best part was when she announced to Joseph that he needed to flee into Egypt because the wicked King Jared wanted to kill the baby Jesus. Bad Jared!

Taylie was a lovely Mary (with the hotel towel), Blake was a sweet baby Jesus, and Uncle Mikey was a great Joseph. Let's not forget Ethan, who practically deserves an Oscar for his portrayal of the donkey.

Wednesday Morning we opened presents. Brenna likes her Curious George toy.

The good news is that I got lots of good pictures. The bad news is that the battery in my camera was dead when we went to the Mayfield Family party. Dang! We had a lot of fun there too. We ate a very yummy dinner, opened presents, and just hung out together watching the cousins play. Maybe my New Year's resolution should be to keep that darn camera battery charged. I'll go do that right now. Merry Christmas Everyone!