christmas highlights

Christmas Day at the Plumley's

Kelly and I cooking good comfort food!

Cousins!

Sarah and Bailey and David Archuletta!

Christmas Eve with my sisters!

Grandma was a trooper to go out into the icy, windy tundra to build the first, official, snowman!
Awe....Christmas Morn!!!!!

Noah's favorite stocking stuffer!

And they gave him a binkie, and laid him in a manger...

Jenna's favorite present from Santa was her new 3 pack of Minnie Mouse underwear!

Bailey's favorite present from Santa was her Webkins!

Brighton

Shreddin!

Bowling!

Turned off the Wii!

Dinner at Cucina Toscana with one of my best friends in the whole world! What could be better?

Sledding with the Plumley's and Archie's-one of the funnest winter time activities!

My girls and their dress up fetishes!!!! The ensembles are endless!

Kelly and I before leaving to the Access Developement party!


We have some Christmas traditions that we enjoy every year and then there is just the spontaneous that we love too. I'm lucky that my mom provided a few of these traditions for us as she does every year. We enjoyed our favorite holiday treat which she has made since I guess her marriage to my dad?? She makes a German sweet bread called "Stolen." Have you heard of it? It is a round loaf of light, chewy white bread, with candied fruit, nuts and raisins, then topped with an icing and a candied fruit decoration which looks like holly. We slice it thin, toast it in the oven and spread lots of butter on the top! It is one of my very favorite Christmas indulgences. My mom is German so it is a way for us to remember our heritage. Speaking of German, another tradition is that we all sing Silent Night in English and then German and now we have added Spanish for my bro-in-law who is from Mexico and the 2 bro-in-laws who served missions in South America! We always act out the Nativity and now it is fun to have plenty of young, anxious children to play the parts! This year we had the perfect baby Jesus! Holly's little baby, Owen got the part because he is the BEST baby in the world! He just layed there and looked around. I don't know too many 9 month olds that will do that while laying in hay! Some other fun things that we do: We visit at least one elderly widow and bring her gifts. This is so fun for the kids and we all leave feeling a warmth in our hearts. We always go sledding, skiing and just play in the snow! This year I went snow shoeing! It was more work than I thought but very exhilarating! We always buy new games and books for the kids. We sit around after all the electronics have been played and challenge each other with a nice board game! This year we got Bailey and Noah The Darling Book for Girls and the Dangerous Book for Boys. They are so fun to read and to do activities from! Oh! I read a story to the kids which my mom read to me every year for Christmas. It's called A Candle in the Forest and it's my favorite Christmas story of all time! So, there is another borrowed tradition from my parents. Bailey and Noah listened but Sam and Jenna didn't have the attention span. It is long with no pictures. We did open one present on Christmas eve night-new PJ's! Everyone was very happy with their cozy new pajamas. This year I made Wassail for the first time and we all became addicted! I love it! I also got some great new recipes from a cookie exchange I went to at a neighbor's house. My favorite cookie this year was a chocolate pepper cookie (Martha Stewart). Absolutely wonderful! Kelly's favorite was my sister Erin's Gingersnap cookie with lemon glaze. Seriously the BEST Gingerbread cookie EVER! My mom made homemade marshmallow caramels that were a definite favorite. I don't know how many I ate but tread mill, here I come! I had a few dinner parties at our house and we enjoyed visiting at our friend's homes. We went to an annual ornament exchange at my friend Chaton's house and it was a blast as usual! Also, we had Kelly's Co Christmas party in Salt Lake at the first of the month-very nice! Our church had a Christmas breakfast that we enjoyed and the kids got to participate in the Nativity that they performed with songs, costumes and sweet angelic faces! We had a great gathering with Kelly's family where we exchanged gifts and ate wonderful food. We enjoyed amazing music heard at church and played by our sweet nieces and nephews, including Bailey! I love Christmas for all these reasons! And one more! I love hearing from our dear friends and family who live far and near, to see how their children have grown and to get caught up on their lives! It is always a treat! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday! Happy New Year!