Santa Visit

Santa found us at the Dewey family Christmas party this year. 

He was definitely a jolly old soul. 

Thanks Mom!

All the children took a turn sitting on his lap and they each received a present.

Even some of the adults got in on the Santa action. 

I can't remember why mom is pointing here. Hopefully she is pointing out children on the good list and not the naughty list.

And here is a video of Santa, with his jolly laugh and his very corny jokes. And also, Sydney's Christmas wish 2017.

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And who can resist Uncle Geoff with Milo. They are both just the sweetest creature on the earth. 

Also, lets all take a moment to recognize the beauty of this red cake. Especially the frosting. It is no small feat. In fact, it is a source of great concentration and stress. But it turned out and I am very proud of it.

Next year I need to get some holly berries and ivy to decorate.

This cake is always better served as breakfast. And considering how many people were at the family dinner, I may have to start making two!!!

Christmas Eve

To get some of our wiggles out on Christmas Eve, we went ice skating. It was PACKED!

Ster and I wore matching sweatshirt. haha. The kids were only slightly embarrassed.

Lucky for Sydney, one of Sydney's friends was there too.

After ice skating, we returned home and made our first sugar cookies of the year, so that we would have something to leave for Santa.

We finished off Christmas Eve with out usual:

-quick and crazy dinner (can't even remember now what it was)

-Mr. Kruger's Christmas video

-Luke II

-Sibling gifts

-Gift to Jesus.

And this is where I realized we didn't do our traditional service chain. (This link talks about our chain in 2014). It hadn't even crossed my mind that we missed it because we were so engaged in the Light the World campaign. So instead of wrapping our service chain around the tree as our gift to Jesus, we hung our Light the World journals. That seemed to fill the spot perfectly. 

Christmas morning was delightful and I was so busy enjoying it, I didn't take any pictures. I don't know if that's good or bad. Because now, I kind of wish I had more pictures...

We visited my parents later on Christmas Day. Always a highlight for me!

But the real highlight were the gifts they gave Mike and Geoff. Marijuana socks and a tiki statue tissue box. We laughed for a long time over those. Mom thought it was palm tree fronds on the socks.  Bahaha!

One of my favorite gifts was this card from Bryce!

All the kids got nerf guns for Christmas. 

Rachel offered to be target practice for Camille and cousin E. 

Bahaha. They did this for about 45 minutes. 

Dewey family reunion

The long awaited Dewey family reunion...

...began with family photos.

The grandkids

I'm so glad I grew up with these people. They are some of the best people I know!

And the people they married are the best, as well.

My brotha's

My seesters

The beginnings of a beautiful family.

And while various families and photos were being taken, the cousins spent time together, getting reacquainted.

Sydney and Coleman - the oldest and the youngest cousin

Bryce and Carter

The photos were slim pickings for the rest of the reunion. We were so busy having fun, I neglected to take pictures.

After pictures, we went to the Bountiful City park and had lunch. While we were there, mom told us about the ancestor we were named after, including pictures.

And dad also shared a story that I'd read before but this was the first time I heard him read it himself. It was about a time when he was lost in the woods and relied on the Holy Spirit to help him. And I did feel the spirit while he spoke. It was a very touching moment of the reunion.

The kids also played at the park, with Uncle Paul, and then we all spent time at the Bountiful Rec Center, swimming.

We also made time for a sibling dinner and dinner with Dewey cousins, Aunt Nancy's kids, John and David and their respective families. Except I didn't get any pictures until after cousins left. So in the twilight I grabbed a couple of snapshots of whoever was left over. :)

And because Deej and family and Katie and family were here on vacation, we got to tag along when we could. And what is vacation without Waffle Love?

Then we headed to Park City resort and enjoyed a few rides.

This is Katie and family and Geoff.

We rode the Alpine slide. We also did the the Alpine Coaster, which was awesome. Wish we had more time to stay and ride everything over and over but we had to leave for vball (Thank you Syd. :(  JK. We are thrilled she made the high school vball team)

We grabbed lunch from mom, who kindly brought it all up, even though she didn't ride any rides. Because we were in such a hurry, I just trusted my kids to grab what they needed for lunch and eat it in the car.  Bryce grabbed a twinkie and a ding dong!

We also spent time with Gabbott cousins, Geoff and Margo and their family. They are always wonderful hosts, complete with a game of croquet. Always croquet!

And because we just could not get enough of each other, we drove to Bountiful one last time to have lunch before folks had to head to the airport. On the way, we saw a helicopter on a trailer. I've never seen that before!

One last group shot before every departed to Ohio and Texas.

May I just say, I love my family--my siblings--the crazies I grew up with--so much. They helped shape me into who I am. And as far as families and crazies go, I think we are a pretty awesome group. And I love the spouses, the in-laws, that have joined our family as well. My siblings did a great job in choosing their mates, if I may say so. I just love spending time with them and wish we had more time. 

Maybe its time to plan a trip to Ohio and Texas!