Dinner Prep

Since we like to just relax on Christmas, we always do a Christmas Eve dinner & then munch on leftovers the next day. Again, everyone had their own job & they pulled through marvelously...especially in the hallway that is my kitchen :) Counter to counter fits 2 hip to hip & maybe a little person attached to a leg in between. Length-wise? I don't know, but we definitely maxed all of its potential on this trip & got some serious bonding in. Thanks kitch.

  The yumness was as follows: Turkey: Dad (oh, wait, lack of communication & the turkey was totally contaminated & had to be thrown out! Good thing everyone was okay with the awesome-est deli turkey available...weird...), Sw Potato casserole  & green salad: Sarin, Mash Po & Gravy: Meagan, 2 Spinach Bakes: Mom, Garlic Carrots: Spence, Pretzel Jello (totally made it non-Red 40, natural gelatin/juice style--oh, yeah it was even better!), Stuffing, coconut sugar Pumpkin Roll: Me, Caramels: Devin, Rolls, 2 pies & homemade ice-cream: Grabill Country Sales. Aren't you glad you know all of that (for those of you still reading...Mom :)? What can I say, I love to remember stuff like that & I do make a blog book every year. Carrying on...the pics of our labors (including a model): 

 And what better meal to be your first...Noelle seriously grabbed for the spoon to get at the sweet potatoes and rice mixed with breast milk...not like my children, I tell you what...

 While the grownups clean up, Jyson entertained with his laser beam...those two little girls chased it and chased it forever!

Not an awesome picture, but it shows the props we use to tell our traditional "Teach the Children" story, following the Bible Nativity story.

 Then on to passing out one present each...look how fast those boys are moving :)

Then the adults tuck littles in with the sugarplums & go downstairs to finish Christmas preparations. The magic of Christmas Eve & morn just cannot be rivaled with anything else.

Phase II: The Trickle

Next was Nana Cobia who came in late Wed night. The boys woke up & when I came down for devotional in the morning early before school I gestured into the dark computer room. They caught on & realized who it was & dove in for hugs & kisses. They told me they weren't surprised she was there, (they know how dedicated she is to being with us whenever possible) but they didn't think anyone would be able to come...heh heh heh...

Two nights later, they were surprised yet again..the biggest surprise of all...carolers outside our door from California (bro, wife & babe & a half :) & Colorado (sis, husby, & babe). Up to that point, no snow other than a few flurries on the wind passing through. That night, that moment, there was snow falling & a light layer already covering the ground. Beautiful.

 

 

 No time was wasted in making friends with baby Noelle--last time we saw her she was 2 weeks old & I didn't even get to hold her because I was sick!

 The meal scene: we have an 8ft table which made it [barely] possible for all 15 of us to squeeze around . I'm just glad we all got to fit around 1 table!

 After one of his faithful morning trips to the gym (he would have gone on Christmas if it had been open), bro-in-law Jared is just bringing in the 'goods'

The first few days were pretty chill, like this pic of me taking a lovely, restful nap:

And this is where I say how awesome everyone was. There's no way I could have done it all by myself! Everyone was willing to go along with my plans & meal assignments to help make the craziness a little less so. Honestly, the biggest struggle was just getting all of us out the door (that & making a final decision on whatever...)! Hats, scarves, and mittens off to you, Duggar family.

First was practicing for the musical number I volunteered them for (perks of being related to the Ward Music Chairman--me ;). But see, we were still missing our other bass--my Dad--until Sat night (day before we sang). Ah, well, we'll just go play Laser Tag as soon as he arrives instead of practicing like mad......TOTALLY AWESOME FAMILY ACTIVITY (minus the fact that we don't have any pics of it)! I got Groupons so it was half off for everyone & we ALL played...it was pretty fabulous chasing around my Mom & 30 week prego Meagan (can I just say, she was amazing!). Definitely a bonding experience. 

And...singing in church was such a neat experience. It ended up being just the siblings (the others corralled the youngsters) & my Dad, with my Mom playing the piano. I just love singing with them because, I guess, we've obviously been doing it for awhile & I love the way we blend/harmonize & really concentrate on having the Spirit. I feel blessed.

Sunday scenes:

The dainty duds

Sienna's window buddy

 Nana always reads to the boys when she comes. This time it was a book she gave us awhile ago, which we started reading before she came & then she picked it up: The Christmas Jars. Since then we've started our own & the boys are so excited about it. What is it you ask? Better read & find out...

The birds at the Assisted Living place :)

Later that night we went caroling to the nearby assisted living place. Wow, what a cool experience. It's been awhile since I've done that with my family & not only was it fun to walk around harmonizing Christmas music, we were able to connect with some who really seemed to appreciate it. We would poke our heads in & if they weren't plugging their ears ;) or asleep, we'd ask if we could come inside to sing them a song. Soon this lovely nurse kept coming to find us to tell us which doors to go in & who was hoping we'd stop at their door. This picture above is of this lady I just don't want to forget. She was so God-centered, and funny, and soo grateful. *(& thanks a million to incredibly kind neighbors who let us use a CAR the whole time so we could travel legally and cheaply).

Phase 1: The Devanator

Not all the fam came in on the same day. Dev (youngest bro) was the first since he is in his last semester at BYU-I (accounting major, music minor) he had more time to spend...3 weeks...SCORE for all of us! He flew into the Ft Wayne airport on a Sunday & up to this point, the boys knew absolutely nothing. However, I thought it would be fun for them to surprise Dev at the airport so I told them we needed to go help someone by picking them up at the airport and taking him to his family (100% true!). Sadly--from my end--they are too smart & started speculating once they realized how crazy it was that I wouldn't tell them who it was, they gathered it might be someone related to us....

Still, the reunion was not any less sweet. 

Must.be.connected.at.all.times...all the littles gravitate toward Uncle Devy-poo...baby magnet.

 Devin thought it was pretty amazing how much more Rhett eats than Ari every morning so I snapped a shot of their oatmeal bowls.

 And, thanks to him being there, I was able to do my students' masterclass sans toddler 1 & 2. Peaceful, is the word that comes to mind.

Due to his impeccable timing, Devin was able to come to Tony's work "Santa/luncheon" shin-diggy-dig. They serve a mean, *free* Christmas meal and let all kids (up to age 10--boys last year, sniff for 'growing up' children') sit on Santa's lap (or scream, as the case may be) & receive a personalized gift! Jaydon/Jyson got legos, Rhett got a book & Ari...I forget already. Awesome.