JADE - our pre-Christmas Angel - arrived just in time for the holidays - a perfect present for all of us who prayed for her safe and healthy arrival.
Christmas Celebration with Tyler, Jenny and Jade. Since Tyler and Jenny were spending Christmas down in Yuma with her family, we had a special evening all together. Jacque cooked up one of her amazing dinners, we ate on china (which Tyler had never seen before) and opened our presents to each other. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable evening. Yes, 'Grandpa' held her the most!
We headed up to Pima to exchange presents with family and spent the afternoon with Grandma, Daryl, Eileen and their family. Oh what fun the girls had. Of course, they had to ride the motorcycles and the four of them (Jacque, Darleen, Aly, and Amanda) went on a 3-hour ride. It was cold and these girls were NOT to be deterred. They were prepared for the very coldest of weather....in Arizona that is!! We were a little worried near the end, but they must have known we were headed to Casa Manana for dinner. We sure enjoyed talking to Grandma and our family in Pima. As a family, we decided that spending a day with Grandma was a tradition we wanted to keep!! (The temple there is almost complete. We are so excited about that!)
Christmas Eve is an evening of many traditions. We meet at Grammy and Grampy's home for pizza to start the evening. Try finding an open pizza place Christmas Eve!! Then all the cousins get dressed up and while Grampy reads the Nativity story, it is acted out in full fashion. We sing, we laugh, and best of all, we take the time to remember the reason we celebrate this glorious season!
After the Nativity, each family shares their talents. We have poems that are read, piano pieces are played, songs are sung. It's alot of fun and takes a little bit of bravery to stand in front of family and share a talent. This year, both Aly and Jacque sang for our family. Aly shared one of her vocal recital songs, "One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose A Man" and had everyone laughing.
This Christmas Eve, at our house was a little different. Everyone kept waiting for everyone else to go to bed to put their "surprises" under the tree. I finally threatened the girls and they kept their doors shut for awhile. I think they were still up when I finally went to bed after helping "Santa", but I will never know.
What fun we had trying to surprise each other the next morning. They girls waited patiently while we took pictures and got ready. With just the four of us, it's become so much fun to see the reaction of those we give to. I watched the girls as they shared gifts with each other that each had taken extra effort to purchase. (Poor Jacque! Her original gift was ordered online and ended up being a sham! Yes, she was scammed and lost her money and didn't have the gift she wanted...what a story to tell!!) It is always hard to shop for Brad. The best gifts he receives are the sweet letters from his kids. He treasures each one of them!!
After opening presents at our house, we headed over to Grammy and Grampy's house for a wonderful breakfast of chorizo, pumpkin pancakes and all the trimmings. Our Grampy knows how to cook!! Opening presents with all the cousins is so much fun! We love to watch expressions. Here are some of my favorites:
And after a wonderful morning? We all go home for a long winters nap! Dinner was our traditional turkey and all the trimmings that Grammy and Grampy do the absolute best. We all help to put on a meal that is the best because we are all together....well most of us. All I know is there are alot of pretty girl cousins in this family!!
I did miss our families that are far away (Aaron and Savannah is the deep cold, Tyler and Jenny and the Roberts). But, with all the fun memories I have stored away, I am a happy and blessed person. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect Christmas!
But for me, the family had to work extra hard to keep my gift a surprise. After all, I'm not the best person to hide a gift from. I almost ruined one of their surprises! (This is Jacque inserting a comment...she most definitely DID ruin the best surprise EVER. She invaded the off limits room and "accidently" saw one of the 4x6s flipped right side up under three stacks of papers on my desk. Likely story) HEY...what was that???
My kids worked hard to surprise me with extra settings of my china that had been discontinued almost 12 years ago. My beautiful daughters also surprised me with a photo shoot of both of them together. I think I had grounded Aly on that day....she was "late". But it was a wonderful surprise!
And after a wonderful morning? We all go home for a long winters nap! Dinner was our traditional turkey and all the trimmings that Grammy and Grampy do the absolute best. We all help to put on a meal that is the best because we are all together....well most of us. All I know is there are alot of pretty girl cousins in this family!!
We welcomed our beautiful new grand-daughter into the world today. She weighed in at 7lbs. 8oz. and was 20 inches long. She is beautiful in every way and brought tears of joy to all who saw her. Jenny and Tyler arrived at the hospital at 4:30 this morning, and at 6:15 p.m. Jade made her entrance. Stephanie was working and there to encourage, help, and basically deliver little Jade. I know this was another blessing to Jenny and Tyler.
