Christmas

The kickoff for Christmas started on Friday... we went up to Flagstaff to ride the Polar Express!We went with Greg and Cayla and their two little boys. When we got to Flag we went to Outback and had a very yummy dinner and then we were on our way. When we arrived to the Polar Express it was freezing, as it always is so we were in a hurry to get to the train. Tanner was freezing so Cayla left us all in the dust. We were in the last cart too, but she was the first one on the train and I think we were probably the last ones there. Haha. What a good mommy. Deagan was too distracted by all the Christmas lights to even think about being cold. Once we were on the train, got comfortable and they finally got things going the train stopped... the cart in front of us was having some problems so they had to stop, disconnect us, disconnect them and then reconnect us... then they had to put everyone that was on that cart into our cart, so our already noisy group got even noisier... it was ok though, kind of drowned out our screaming children. Haha. We drank hot chocolate, ate cookies and sang Christmas carols. So fun. When Santa finally got on Deagan was so excited... Dev and I couldn't believe it, we didn't think he even knew who Santa was. I mean we would talk about him to Deagan, but we didn't think he would remember. He was clapping his hands and saying Santa, Santa! He had so much fun, we all did. I am glad that Greg and Cayla and the boys could come with us, it wouldn't have been the same. I think we should make it a new tradition :)

Deagan and I in our beanies... I was shocked that he wore his. It didn't last very long but still. He wasn't too fond of his big coat though, he couldn't move in it... he looked so cute in it though.

All the boys... so sweet.


Deagan was particularly fond of the cookies... and after he ate his cookie as well as mine and was working on his third he decided to be nice and share a little with Castin... what a good boy.

I guess Deagan was feeling the Christmas spirit... sharing cookies... giving kisses... and hugs for everone... he is so sweet.


All of us... what a good lookin' bunch :)... it was just a little crowded.


THE NORTH POLE!!! YAY.

After the Polar Express we drove to Snowflake. The next day Deagan and all the little kids were supposed to go up to Jolene's and make gingerbread houses. I wasn't sure if Deagan would be a very good participant or if he would just eat everything...

So, Deagan wasn't much help, he stole a gingerbread man and ate it and that was his part in the whole deal. Ha. He spent the rest of the time jumping on the bed with Brooklin and listening to music... their favorite thing to do whenever we visit. Later that night we had an adult dinner at Grandma's, I forgot my camera so I don't have any pics but it was so nice. The tables were beautiful and the food was delicious... Grandma and Grandad did a lot of cooking over those four days and it was all so good... the punch was pretty tasty as well (wink, wink). Thank you so much for everything.

CHRISTMAS EVE...

Every year all the grandkids draw names and exchange gifts. This is a picture of all of them sitting on the floor waiting to recieve their presents.

Here is Deagan opening one of his... it took him forever, he would just rip little pieces off at a time, but he loved it and thats all that matters.

Here is Deagan playing with Porter's toy that he got. It was a popular toy, they seemed to fight over it all night. Deagan loves to pretend to drive so I knew once he spotted it, he would need it. It was so funny... Deagan would just wait patiently for Porter to get distracted by something else and he would go and snatch it... ha and then Porter would see that Deagan had it and the brawling would begin. He was nice enough to let Deagan play with it for a little while though. Thank you Porter :)

Grandpa Spud and the great great grandbabies.

After we do things at Grandma and Grandad's we go to Dev's parent's house and open all our gifts there. Deagan got this horse. It is so cute... it sings and neighs... he loves it. I will have to post video of him riding it some time. We brought it out for him first because he was tired and he just wasnt having the whole opening presents thing, so we were hoping it would cheer him up... and it did. He got the biggest smile on his face when they brought it out to him. He didn't wanna open any other gifts after the horse though, so everyone else opened them for him. Oh well. We had to leave his horse in Snowflake though because there was no way it was fitting in our car... we barely got ourselves in there. Thankfully, Dev's parents are coming to visit tomorrow so they will be bringing it with them. Deagan has been awfully worried about it, he is always asking about his "weesy." I have no idea where we are going to put it... or the giant giraffe tent that Aunt Riley got for him. Ha. I am sure we will make room.

On Christmas morning we went over to my mom's and opened presents... I wish we could have gotten pictures but we had taken our memory card out the night before and forgot to put it back in our camera. Dangit! It was a good morning though and everyone got lots of good stuff. Later that day my mom made us all a delicious Christmas dinner. It was so good. Thanks mom. We should have brought home some leftovers, I have been craving them all week :).

So Christmas came and went just like it always does. I get so excited for it to come, but at the same time I want everything to just pass slowly... but it never does... it is always over so fast. I love Christmas because we get to spend quality time with friends and family and catch up on everything... I just wish we could have got to spend a little more time with everyone, it seems like everytime we are up there we are so busy... but the time we did spend with them was so nice. Now that Dev and I have moved away we cherish every moment we spend with family even more than we did before... we just wish we could do it more often. We love you all and it was so nice to see you... we hope you have a wonderful new year and hope to see you again soon...