This Christmas was an exciting time for our family. Since we planned on going to Virginia for the holidays, we decided to skip the real tree tradition this year. This was a bit of a stretch for Colin, worked at a tree farm in high-school and developed a bit of real-tree snobbery--especially in the area of smell. But it was practical, and if we're out of town over the holidays again, it will be nice to have the option.
It's no Rockefeller Center, but we quite liked it. This year I put all non-breakable ornaments on the tree so I didn't feel like I had to guard it from the baby. She took things on and off and had o grand ol' time of it and that's just what I like. I have many crafty schemes for increasing our ornament supply for next year.
This is a giant tree at the Draper City Park that all the locals appropriately refer to as "The Tree of Life." It seemed a bit odd running around it this year with no snow. We went with some friends this year and I have to say, all the kids got a kick out of it.
This is one of my craft Christmas schemes. This poor baby is so beloved, but the PJs she came with were just torn to shreds. She's just a little thing, so the whole kit and caboodle fits into the sleeping bag and snaps shut (Velcro under the pillow). Figured it might work well as a church toy.
This is at a local sing along night. Don't let her expression fool you. The cookies were a hit!
This was a very special gift from Phoebe's Ricks Grandparents. Nana LaRee put a lot of love and time into this quiet book and it was an instant hit!
The next few pictures are from our visit to my side of the family. This year my mom had visions of decorating the tree in these lovely German stars. With a few youtube videos and some help from her affectionately named "Little Mormon Sweat-Shop" (her children). We were able to pull a bunch off. We made these ones out of wrapping paper, but I think if I had it to do over again I'd use some kind of paper-like ribbon. The wrapping paper likes to catch and tear if it's not perfectly smooth.
What paper tree is complete without a paper airplane?
The next few pictures are from Christmas day. Below is Phoebe with her newly discovered play silks.
Snuggling the aforementioned baby.
All the siblings did a t-shirt exchange this year. Mom happened to be in possession of a heavy duty t-shirt press and so many of us designed our own themes and pressed them on. Here's Colin in his gift from Kelly and Ty.
This was another home-y DIY project that I worked on with the family. It's hard to find a table cloth that will cover a table big enough for a family of eleven plus friends, spouses, kids, and, uncles and aunts, and grandma. So we sewed this one out of curtain panels from Hobby Lobby. Not too shabby if I do say so myself!
Just needed evidence. This is Colin, with a cat snuggled up to him. I dare say it was not as heinous an experience as he thought it might be.
I've written in posts before about how our invented game of "fris-beret" seems to have caught on in the family. I made a few of these this year in our gift exchange. It's a challenge for adults to catch a frisbee with their heads an a soft way for little kids to learn. I think I'd like to try one of these sometime in the future with crochet thread to see if it flies differently, but for now, I know these work.
Here's Dad playing a game with my little cousin, who was peeled over in laughter the whole time.
All in all. it was a great holiday season. I was so glad to be able to have time to ourselves and to be able to visit family. I'm definitely counting my blessings!
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