Christmas in Tahoe

I realize Christmas was almost 3 weeks ago, but it would be a sin not to blog about it, so here goes.

This year we spent Christmas up at my grandparents cabin in Northstar at Tahoe. We always go up just before or after Christmas, but this year we spent the actual holiday there and it was WONDERFUL...aside from the fact that we did not have snow. Sad. So much for a white Christmas. And, about half of the family caught a nasty flu bug...wouldn't be an official family get-together without a little sickness I guess. (Darn it.)

Sharee, I bet you are loving me for posting this picture of you...especially as my first picture. You are adorable, and it's the only picture I got that shows the adorable V-day runner we all made! Mom had a genius idea to have us all make matching runners and introduce the rest of the girls to free-motion quilting. I think we have some new addicts! :)

Doesn't Sharee's look fabulous? All my sisters are naturals, but if I had to give an award out for the one who can quilt at super-sonic speeds, it would be Jewel. Those little fingers can whip out some serious stippling! :)
Jewel and Mel.

Like I said, we spent Christmas up there and my amazing parents brought a tree all the way up there, cuz, let's face it, it just wouldn't feel the same without a tree! The kids worked hard one afternoon painting, gluing, and folding to create ornaments for the tree.

Here it is. All decorated and all with homemade ornaments. It turned out SO CUTE. I may never buy an ornament again!

We also celebrated Brandon's 29th birthday up there. (Oh my goodness! I just realized I didn't do a birthday post for him! I am a terrible wife. SORRY HONEY!) Natalie made these cream filled cupcakes and let Jemma help her decorate them. They were DeLiSh!

Brandon prepping to blow his candles out.

Christmas Eve was a busy night. After celebrating Brandon's birthday, the kids put on the Nativity for us. Jemma was Mary this year (boy was she excited about that) and Carter was a donkey. Aren't all those costumes cute? A lady in our ward let us borrow it all and bring it up here. It made me want to start making my own stash of Nativity costumes. It's goin' on the list. ;)

(Jemma in her hiding place and Carter and Hayden in theirs.)

After the nativity, the kids built their forts to hide from Santa.

For those of you who don't know, one of our family traditions is to hide from and watch Santa deliver our presents on Christmas morning. He always tells us in a letter the approximate time he'll be arriving and reminds us to be sound asleep in our beds. So, we set our alarm clocks for 15 min. before he arrives so we can quickly climb into our hiding places and spy on him when he arrives. For some reason, he always uses our front door, and he always falls asleep on the couch for a few minutes, but never has he caught us. I've been doing it for 28 Christmas' now, and he's yet to find us out. ;)

Christmas morning:

Poor Jemma threw up about 20 minutes before Santa arrived, but somehow we had her bathed and clean before he came through the door. She hid with her daddy at the top of the stairs instead of behind her stack of presents so they would have quick access to the bathroom.

Carter with his new playmobile police helicopter. (Thanks Kristina for introducing those to me...my kids are HOOKED.)

Our family had my sister Jewel's family this year for Christmas and I made my first quilt to give away. I know, that's pathetic that it's taken me so long to give one away, but those babies are a lot of work, and I seem to always need more blankets. ;) This is the best picture I got of it that morning. So, you can go here to see a better picture of it. (This is a blog my long distance friends and I use so we can still see each others projects.)

We gave Mom and Dad the start of a Mission Fund this year. Mom & Dad cried. Not our intent, but a good sign they liked it.

All the brothers-in-law got together this year and planned a gift for all their wives; a trip to Vegas to see Celine Dion in concert!!! We were freaking out! They were so creative and gave us a letter bank and hangman blanks to figure out what the gift was. Probably the funnest way I have EVER figured out what my gift was. Thanks again guys! And, ladies, I can't wait to see you all January 21st on the Strip. :)

Gavin slept through most of the early morning festivities. (There was NO WAY we were getting him up to watch Santa. He would have scared him away for sure!) But he sure enjoyed opening his gifts. :)

After church, we attempted to take a picture of the whole family. This top one is about the best we could get, of us being serious that is.

My personal favorite is this close up shot of Mom & Dad though. :)

What a wonderful Christmas we had! It was so fun to be all together up there. I have to admit, when everyone went back home, I was a little depressed for a day or two...things were just too quiet.

Love & miss you guys!