Festive

It's been a Very Busy week.

Thursday night we had a family party in Provo. It started with everyone just trying to get there. A crazy storm blew in and made it treacherous, but most of us made it.

We had good food (meatballs, salads, chips & dip, rolls, cookies...) and a surprise visit from Santa! He didn't ask the kids what they wanted for Christmas, he just asked them if they had been good. They - most of them - were thrilled.

Jordan faking scared

The kids had a gift exchange which turned out really great because at Thanksgiving we had written each of their names on little cards and listed 3 suggestions for things they would love. That made them all very excited to give their gifts as well as receive. Everyone got something they were totally happy about and the cutest thing was seeing the reactions on both sides. Like when Alyssa gave Jordan his gift he went crazy over it and she was equally as crazy giggling and saying, "I just KNEW he'd love it!" It was very cute.

The adults had a gift exchange too. We all brought one gift per person and exchanged them randomly. After all the gifts were open we played a trading game. The most sought after gift was the DVD of The Office, season one. Just check out the clever wrapping on this:



My dad wrapped it so creatively that no one could possibly have guessed what was inside.


Jordan went after the famous leg lamp from The Christmas Story movie (he played in the game for Chris since Chris didn't make it there). I'm not sure how thankful Chris was that Jordan fought for this on his behalf, but it was funny.



I had brought a CD of the old Osmond's Christmas album. Kristin was so excited to end up with it. It was our favorite Christmas album as kids. We all loved it, so the night ended with some home videos from 1985 where we were listening, singing and dancing to that album. I honestly hope that footage of us was not too disconcerting to our in-laws. Embarrassing.

The kids and I ended up having an unplanned sleepover at my parent's house since it was still snowing that night. Here's what it looked like Friday morning when we got home. I always think the snow makes it feel more like Christmas. It has it's drawbacks, but it's beautiful.