Christmas 2023

Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday this year and we celebrated with our ward and enjoyed a beautiful musical program. I loved our Christmas Sunday outfits. The tartan print was so cute and the boys corduroy pants were adorable. 

I love these kids and I loved how adorable they looked in their Christmas outfits.

After church we said goodbye to our elves. Since the elves would be going back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. 

We also did our gingerbread house smash. This is one of our favorite traditions. 

We also finished our giving manger and placed our baby Jesus on the hay. We did pretty good this year. 
Some acts of service were small and some were bigger, but all helped us remember our Savior and show love to those around us. 

Then we loaded up the van and truck with all our stuff and drove ourselves to Mountain Home. 

We drove two vehicles because Chris has to go to drill after Christmas vacation. 
Naturally all the kids wanted to ride with me in the van so my ride was less than quiet. But we made it work. 

Sadly, Tanner and I were both diagnosed with strep throat on Sunday morning so we weren't feeling great. But we got our antibiotics and recovered quickly. 

We eventually arrived in Mtn Home and it was so fun to be together. Everyone except the Allreds were able to come to Mtn Home this year. We missed the Allreds but had so much fun with the Drake cousins and all the other aunts and uncles. 

Later that night the pajama elves delivered our Christmas pajamas. We read our book and the kids put on their pjs. 

We also sprinkled the lawn with reindeer food and laid out cookies for Santa. 

Benson is all about the Christmas magic. It's so cute. 

We eventually got the kids to bed and the adults stayed up visiting. It was so fun to be together. 

Christmas morning found us up pretty early with our kids. They sorted through their stockings and were giddy with all their treasures. 

Then around 8 am, everyone else woke up and we opened presents. 

I always love watching the kids open their presents and getting to see their reactions. 

My favorites are the sibling gift exchanges. 

Sometimes Bailey doesn't love physical affection. Unfortunately for her, it cracks her brothers up and they love to make her uncomfortable. 

These kids did a great job on their gift exchanges. 

The kids loved their gifts and both Chris and I got some great gifts too. 

The big gift from Nanny and Papa were hoverboard go-carts. The kids were over the moon excited. 
It was cold but they didn't seem to mind. 

That night we had a delicious Christmas dinner and then Michelle made us Pavlova. It was so yummy and perfectly festive. 

Over the next week we enjoyed lots of snuggles, games, movies and quality time together.

Tanner immediately went to work on his star wars lego set. 

I love watching these cute cousins enjoy each other. 
We got so much good quality time together. 

One day the girls went to get pedicures. It was so nice and relaxing. 

Then on one of our last days we took the kids to see "Wonka". It was so cute and we all really enjoyed it. It was a super cute movie and I think we will have to buy it when it comes out on dvd. 

We've had a wonderful Christmas break and now we are preparing to leave for a new years trip to Wisconsin and Michigan. Stay tuned for that.

But until then, we had a wonderful Christmas break with our Drake family in Mountain Home. 
I'm so incredibly grateful for my family and how much we enjoy each other. There is never drama. There is just love and fun.  We had a great week.