Our holidays have been fantastic, as usual! The only bad part was the stomach flu that Sam, Lily and I got just before Christmas, which then spread to all of my family and some of Dann's. Sorry, everyone!
Dann was home for all of December with us, which I loved! He spent time doing projects around the house and playing with the kids. Somehow, dads are just naturally more fun than moms. But I'm okay with that. I really appreciated all his help and the free time it gave me!
One night, Sam watched the BYU bowl game with his dad and all the guys, and now he is crazy about football. Each day since he has asked if there is a game on. He watches intently for hours, sometimes asking what down it is. He understands almost everything going on. It is amazing! He usually cheers for the team that is wearing the color he likes best.
A few days before Christmas my parents hosted their annual adult Christmas dinner, a tradition they started long ago when my older sister turned 16. Every year since, all of us kids 16 and older have been required to find a date (which is a lot easier being married) and invite them to a nice family dinner. This year we had a HUGE table and ate all kinds of yummy food. We played games and had a great time, just missing my older sister Heather and her husband Matt, and my brothers on their missions.
Since a lot of us were sick on Christmas Eve, we celebrated a little more low-key than we had planned. My two brothers and their families came from St. Louis, so we spent the evening at my mom and dad's house with a big pot of chicken noodle soup, a nativity program, and then one present (always pajamas).
The nativity scene...my cute shepherd and "wise-woman"
The new pajamas
Lily with her cousins in the new pajamas
Christmas morning was our first one we have ever spent at home, and we loved it! The kids seemed really happy with the presents Santa had brought them and played with their toys all day.
The kids with their favorite gifts
A few days after Christmas we drove to Las Vegas, then onto Santa Barbara, California the next day to celebrate Christmas with Dann's family. We always go to a great Italian restaurant and then back to his sister's house to open presents. A great time was had by all!
Lily, pretty excited about her new stroller!
Sam loves cars....
The next day Dann and I celebrated our anniversary with a day at Six Flags while his mom watched all the kids. We had so much fun and felt like we were in high school again. Maybe because everyone around us probably was in high school. I have never seen so many people kissing in public. I guess there is nothing else to do while waiting in line. After waiting 2 hours for our first ride, we paid more money to get a "flash pass" that let us go to the front of all the lines. I would definitely recommend that! We were able to go on almost all of the rides.
This ride was the worst...I wasn't in tight and felt like I could fall out!
I couldn't figure out why everyone was staring at us until I realized that Dann and I matched exactly and were both wearing dark jeans, and bright blue shirts with white jackets over them. Kind of embarrassing. Oh, well! Dann lost his hat on one of the first rides, forgetting he had it on. We splurged on the way out of the park, spending $10 on a Cold Stone ice cream. What a fun day!
We spent New Year's Eve in a hotel room with sleeping kids. Nothing too exciting. Dann and I could barely stay awake until midnight, anyway. New Year's Day we drove back to Las Vegas, stopping in Pasadena to see a little bit of the Rose Bowl Parade. There were so many people there that we couldn't get too close the parade route, but we could still see the floats and marching bands and other participants.
A float going by on the parade route
The Goodyear blimp
We hope you all have had a wonderful holiday season, too!
I'm adding on a few extra random pictures here of our cute, happy Bella on the trip...she doesn't seem to be in the other ones!
