This year, we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas in Hyde Park, Utah with Jason's parents and siblings. It's been a long while since we were all together for the holidays, and we really enjoyed some relaxed time to catch up. Highlights included swimming, bowling, dinner at Hamilton's, "Tangled" on the big screen, a jingle run, and of course, lots of late evenings playing "Cities and Knights."
Brianna made us all adorable stockings, so on Christmas-eve-afternoon we had a creative decorating party. Here are Jason and Justin hard at work. Can ya tell they're brothers?
Christy contemplates what to glue next.
Brooklyn, looking mighty crafty...
And Talia, getting friendly with the ric rac. Her Dick-and-Jane-era attire comes courtesy of her great-aunts and the dress-up box.
In the Wheeler home, Christmas dinner is served on Christmas Eve. So here's Grandma Susie, getting things ready from her beloved spot. (Well, at least it's beloved to the rest of us...)
Meanwhile Grandpa Charles gets comfortable in his nook.
The table sure looks pretty...
But Talia thinks it's missing something.
Food!
But even more wonderful than the tasty cuisine was a table full of family.
His tummy full, Eli was completely content and ready for bed.
But wait! Uncle Justin reminds us that it's simply not Christmas Eve without acting out the Nativity.
A tired munchkin, Talia weasled her way into Aunt Brianna's lap for the caroling...
...and snuggled into Brianna again first thing on Christmas morning. Reliving the Wheeler family legacy, we all gathered in the upstairs bathroom and flushed the toilet repeatedly to awaken Grandma and Grandpa.
(Just for the record, if Talia will actually let you do her hair, you are much more beloved than her mother...)
Back to Christmas, next came the grand parade into the living room to behold the beautiful tree and goodies from Santa.
What cheer!
Nothing like snuggly jammies and wiggly babies on Christmas morning.
Eli was much more content once he had his trucks and blocks to play with.
Santa brought Uncle Justin some deadly nerf darts.
Jason certainly looks ready to ambush.
Hopefully unsuspecting Uncle Lance won't get caught in the cross-fire!
Far too mature to get caught-up in such adolescent frivolities, Brooklyn and Talia get to work devouring all of their Christmas candy before breakfast instead. Don't let their serious expressions deceive you--they had a marvelous Christmas and made out like bandits. We were simply too busy having fun to take many photos.
Instead of wrestling each other on Boxing Day, we drove up to Rupert, Idaho for cousin Andrew's mission farewell. While there, we also got to visit briefly with Connie and Bob's fun family. For posterity's sake, from left to right, we have...aw, never mind. :)
Best of all, we got to visit with our truly great great-grandparents, Leland and Norma Hansen. Here's Eli with his great-grandpa.
But wait, it looks like someone else wants in the picture!
Here's Brooklyn with Great-grandpa Hansen too.
Four generations!
Nothing better in the world than family!
While the fun didn't end there, I'm afraid that the pictures do. We were having such a great time tearing into all of the new toys and games that we forgot to pull out the camera. If we had, though, you'd see lots of smiles and some of Eli's first steps. Oh, and snow! We pulled out the snowsuits, drove up to Beaver Mountain, and took the kids night skiing! Despite the fact that we waited in line forever to get outfitted, we had a really great time as a family. Brooklyn and I braved the chairlift once together, with me guiding her down the mountain in a giant mother-daughter snowplow. After that, we joined Jason, Talia, and Grandpa Charles on a much more level-appropriate bunny slope with a magic carpet. It was perfect! Meanwhile, Eli went sledding with Aunt Christy while Grandma Susie cheered us all. What a memorable evening!
And not to worry, while Jason and I didn't get much "real" skiing in that night, we went back as a couple the next morning to ski the slopes together. While I can scarcely keep up with my zippy hubby after a four year-hiatus, we had a fantastic time. I'd forgotten how much fun skiing can be--dazzling scenery, a touch of adrenaline, and of course, nothing like a chilly lift up the mountain to give you plenty of opportunities to cuddle. :) The only downer was the discovery on the way back to Hyde Park that we needed to be back in St. George the next morning.
Thus, as quickly as Christmas 2010 came, it vanished just as suddenly. As I count my blessings, I'm grateful to live an era of photos and blogs to help the season live on...even if only in memory.
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*Speaking of photos, if any Wheeler relatives have favorites, feel free to e-mail them. (I'm happy to do the same.) In retrospect, I wish I'd taken a few more of our outings together...
4 comments:
Oh, what a fun time you all had together! I'm so glad you were all able to make it this year. Adorable pictures, great fun, wonderful memories! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for taking the time to write down the memories from Christmas and post the pictures... I know journaling holidays is a bit of work and not always super-exciting, but the memories are certain to last longer this way. You're the best!
I like your skirt - it is very pretty :) Happy New Year
What a lot of people you saw. We saw Christy for a minute before you arrived. At least we're in the same state! Merry Holiday that was. Here's to more to come!
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