Holly Jolly Christmas 2011

We had such a blissful holiday season. A sweet new baby and lots of family graced our home for the festivities and we loved every minute! 

This year I totally skimped on the annual gingerbread house decorating. The kids didn't each get to do their own and we didn't invite anyone to join us. I had just had a baby - what can I say? The still had a great time decorating this one. 

We loved making our Christmas donuts and watching Luke 2 and The Nativity Story. 

The day before everyone arrived at our house our little tree looked like this:

It's not quite CT  but it still brought joy to my heart every time I saw it. Cam and Afton and their cute kiddos rolled in on the Wednesday before Christmas and it was so fun to have them to ourselves for a couple days! Afton and I kept busy getting stuff ready for the big Christmas feast and we even braved the cold wind and took  all the kids to the park! The rest of the family (minus the Gordons *sob*) got in on Friday. I was really pathetic at taking pictures but here are some of the highlights of the visit (with pictures if I took them):

*Playing Quelf on Friday night. We laughed and laughed!

*The guys playing Monopoly Deal over and over.

*Going to "The Stampede" in the rain. 

*Seeing The Muppet Movie

*The Christmas eve feast (We can't forget Brenan's massive meltdown just in time for that!)

*Decorating cookies for Santa.

Beanie looks a little crazy in this one! Haha! 

*Watching the kids act out the nativity. 

*Christmas pj's - the girls were so excited to get footie pjs!

*Stockings

*Christmas morning craziness because we had to get ready for church.
*Present opening
A few favorites were:
Anika - mini sewing machine, a bike, games, books
Keslie - Camera, roller blades, Littlest Pet Shops
Brenan - The Bat Cave, Mater remote control, lots of cars

* Watching Back to the Beach

* Eating lots and lots of snacks! 

* Visiting Dr. Weiner and Hollace for a delicious lunch. 

*Breaking in Nathan's new fire pit.

*More games

*Lots of hanging out and just enjoying each others company! 

An added bonus to having everyone here was that they were all able to be there for Anika's baptism and Sawyer's baby blessing (next post). It was such a wonderful Christmas and we are so happy that we were able to have everyone come stay with us and meet our new baby and see our new digs! I feel very lucky to be a part of the West family. 

My Mom and Dad came for the baptism and blessing too and it was so fun to have them come see us!

My Dad snuggled on SAW-yer. =) 

So did my Mom

Bodess was feeling like she needed a turn!

Grandma and Grandpa with our FOUR (weird!) cuties:

We went on walks to the park almost every day - the weather was BEAUTIFUL! We had such a fun filled week - lots of delicious food (The Keg, Chipotle, Freebirds, Braums), movies - (we loved Mission Impossible 4!), and good conversation.  =) 

Thank you to all of our family that made this past Christmas season so wonderful! We love you!