Christmas with Family

We drove to Albuquerque, NM for Christmas this year. My oldest sister, Sharee and her husband, Arthur and their 4 children live there. Sharee was cast as Martha in the play "The Secret Garden" and her performances were just before and after Christmas, so all of my family, with the exception of Reed who is on a mission in Texas (right where he should be), were there! Very Cool! We even got tickets to Sharee's play (I've been kicking myself for not getting a photo of her all decked out in costume and makeup) and she was StElLaR! That's not even including my biases...seriously...there were people behind us in the audience who were saying how much they liked Martha! Yup, she's amazing!

Anyway, our 8 days in Albubuerque were very fun! Brandon and I rarely saw Jemma, she was so busy partying with her cousins. Here are some shots of the good times...

Sharee and Jewel diggin' into the Christmas Feast!


Dad, Emma and Brandon in the background.

Mom made all of the girls matching Christmas aprons...soooo cute...and we all wore them while we were busy baking all the goods for Christmas dinner. Thanks again mom!!! (p.s. I've made muffins several times with my new aluminum tin and it's simply wonderful!)

Jemma Christmas morning with her new princess crown, earings, necklace, magic wand and homemade tutu!

Carter sayin' "CHEESE" with his new backpack on and cars in hand.

Jemma, Kyrie and Carter with their scooters from Santa.

Our family's stockings, stuffed and overflowing with GoOdIeS!

Everyone's stockings...Mom and Dad accidently left theirs (along with Melanie, Emma, Jacob and Nathan's) at home in Cali...so they improvised with some of Dad's sturdiest (and biggest) socks. :)

The Nativity:

Jemma took part in her first Nativity this year. We have actually never spent Christmas Eve with my family because we are usually with Brandon's Dad side. Jemma thouroughly enjoyed acting out her part as a "Wise Woman" (instead of a wise man).

The whole crew...Jemma, Dallin and Nathan as the Three Kings/Royalty :), Jacob and Daphne as Joseph and Mary, Kyrie as the angel and Sean as a shepherd.

Other fun stuff with cousins...I don't know that this bathtub was quite full enough :)

Daphne, Jemma and Carter bein' silly on the way back from Caroling.

Kyrie, Daphne and Jemma with their snowman. (There wasn't a whole lot of snow, so I was impressed with their attempt.)

Makin' sugar cookies. (Left to right, Sean, Jemma, Hayden and Daphne.)

Hayden and Carter...six months apart and destined for a "best bud" relationship...I hope.

Thanks again Sharee and Arthur for hosting all of us. We had a wonderful time and miss you all ToNs!!!