A Christmas Montage

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! It was quite busy around here but it was good. Since my poor blog has clearly been neglected in the craziness of the season, I thought it right to post a montage of our Christmas festivities. This doesn't include the Christmas drama that we were all a part of at church (where Dan sang "The Grinch" song), our co-op Christmas Party, or the evening we spent exchanging presents with our dear friends. Come to think of it, there is probably more that I've missed. Oh, well. Maybe I'll get to posting some of those and maybe I won't :)

My wonderful husband bought me a new Pentax DSLR for Christmas! Isn't he amazing :) I spent Christmas Eve wiping the Canon's memory cards and backing up my files. I put the Canon on the bench so I could put a charged battery in it Christmas morning. Well, the Canon wasn't where I left it. As I'm looking all over for it, I realize my camera bag was full. He had put the Pentax in the camera bag to surprise me! It's a cute camera with a black and white body. It fits my hand perfectly AND it will fit my zoom lens from my film SLR. I'm still trying to figure it out so excuse the quality while I get used to it.

Dan and Aly getting the Angel on top of the tree.

Dan, Granny, Papa, and Skyeler playing foosball. It took Dan, Skyeler, and I to get that thing in from the garage to the downstairs bedroom! Many bruises (on my part) and tears (again, on my part...I'm such a wimp...Skye is stronger than me!) later, we got it. The plan was to give the kids something to do when Dan's family came for Christmas. The irony...none of the kids played. Papa enjoyed playing with the girls, though :)

Aly on Christmas morning trying on her new coat.

Papa loved the present that Aly picked out for him. We put a picture of him and Granny with the girls and Bryce and Carter in it. It was his favorite!

Aly and Skye both got new hats from Granny and Papa. Poor Skye. My new camera's flash is really bright. Add that to an early morning and she's a bit bleary eyed :)

Dan giving Aly a hug. Her present to him...two magnets for the car. One said "26.2" for his marathon run. The other just says "Run."

Skyeler got many new journals for Christmas. She writes poetry and finds these small journals to be perfect for recording her poetry. If you would like to read some of her poetry, check out her blog "A Maiden's Notes," it's linked in the sidebar.

Skyeler also got a coat from Granny and Papa. I got a picture of them with their coats and hats.

After Granny and Papa headed back home, we all just bummed out :) Both Dan and Aly received an ITouch for Christmas. Oh. My. Goodness. They were like this most of Christmas day LOL! Dan is addicted to Plants vs. Zombies :)

We got to host Dan's family Christmas get together at our house this year! We had such a wonderful time having everyone here. The family has grown and we were quite packed but the kids were great and we had plenty of food. It was nice to spend time with them considering we usually only see them once a year. Here are Zac and Skyeler. I take their picture every year. I can't believe they are practically all grown up. Zac turned 18 December 29th. Where did time go? He used to play with Power Rangers and give Skyeler the pink one because she was a girl LOL! Zac got Skyeler to play the piano for him...in front of all the family... quite the amazing feat :)

Aly and Elena and David Henry playing together. Elena will be as tall as her Aunt Angel very soon!

Diane's husband Tim got all the kids together for a picture. This was the best of my four. I don't know if anyone else got anything better!

Then someone had the big idea that all the adults needed a picture, too. I'm glad we did. As my dad says...it's great to be making memories!

Jordan, Oliver, Zac, Skyeler, and Skyeler's friend Elizabeth. I had some great shots of them cracking up and being silly but they were kind of blurry from all the movement.

After opening presents we played LCR for pennies, dimes, and nickels. Even though Oliver was cheating by pulling more coins from his pocket (yeah, Skye told on you!), it still came down to Dan and Skyeler. Dan ended up winning. The funny thing is, the game is totally random. Dan gloated about getting change to go to Starbuck's with.

It really was a great holiday! I love spending time with family and friends. We still have one more Christmas to go, though. Cheryl and I haven't got a chance to get together yet. I know the kids are really looking forward to that too.