Best Christmas Yet!!

Here's a brief (not really) re-cap of the best Christmas we've had yet, and I imagine they will only get better from here. It all began on December 18, when Jayme got here. Cassidy had to work a couple more days, so Jayme came up by herself. I actually managed to be sort of on top of things this year, so we had some time to play. The decorations were up, I finished Cassidy's stocking, and all of the gifts were purchased and mostly wrapped.


We did some final preparations, grocery shopping and such. Tuesday, we went to a wrestling match to watch Ammon, and everyone was able to be there. On Wednesday, we had a Paparazzi party for Jayme, so we stayed home all day. The party was a bit of a bust, but we still had a fun day, and got some baking done. The girls made sugar cookies, and had a blast. The plan was to be semi-mess free, but that didn't quite work out. Oh well, they had fun, and I didn't have to clean it up. While they were doing that, I made peanut brittle, fudge, caramel, chex mix, almond roca and brownies. YUM!!


Finally, the big day arrived, Christmas Eve! We spent most of the day cleaning and cooking. Thank goodness for my helpers, I couldn't have done it alone. It all went smoothly, and we had a great day. My dad, Scott, his kids, and Rick came over for dinner. It was very nearly perfect.

Martinelli's

Enough food to last for days!

More great food!!

After dinner, we visited and played a pretty intense game of Catch Phrase, it was great fun!

Then we took lots of pictures, here is Grandpa with the grandkids. We had such a fun time with everyone together, it was great!


After the Johnson's left, it was jammie time!! Of course we all had to get new pj's and model them in front of the tree. This year, everyone wanted USC jammies, so we were all matchy, but dang cute!

Jordyn still wanted princess pajamas, Tinkerbell was the closest I could find.

Ammon's sassy "fight on"

Jayme and Cass get in the spirit

Matthew, looking good!

Jenn and Adam too!

Finally everyone went to bed, and it was time to wait for Santa to come!! Jordyn came bouncing in at 6:00 am, to tell us that it was Christmas, and time to wake up! After opening gifts, we had breakfast of cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole, oj, chocolate milk and egg nog, then I went back to bed! Jayme and Cassidy left to go up to his mom's house, and I got up to get us all ready for church. It was a really nice program, and made Christmas day even a little more special.

After church, we were able to skype with our favorite missionary, Michael. It was great to see and talk to him. He is doing great, and loves what he is doing, but is also counting down until he comes home. We are so glad he is doing well, but most importantly that he is being obedient and is where he is supposed to be at this time in his life. It's a blessing for our family to have a son serving a mission.

The rest of the day was pretty lazy, we napped, played games, watched movies, ate, and basically just enjoyed being together. Jennifer and Adam went to have dinner with his family for a while, but they were here for most of the day.


The rest of the week was spent playing, eating, going to the movies, and helping Jenn and Adam get ready for their move to Massachusetts. Because their apartment was in various stages of packing, remodeling, and cleaning, they mostly slept here. There were a few tears as they left on their big adventure this morning, but I know they will have a great time. I'm so happy for them to have such a wonderful opportunity, but with everyone gone, the house is awfully quiet.
All good things must come to an end, now we can start planning the next one, right?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!