Break

Whew! A crazy Christmas break. And not a single picture because I'd only remember that I'd left the camera behind after I'd been driving for half an hour and I wasn't about to turn around and go get it, either. I love you guys too much to ditch spending time with you just so I can get pictures of you.

So, Elena got out of school on the 16th and we had a day and a half before launching into my family's Christmas Extravaganza. Everyone was here, this year, the first time since Joseph was a wee tiny thing. We're up to 32, now--my parents, six siblings and six spouses, and 18 grandkids. It was so good to see everyone together, again.

We started with my nephew's Eagle Court of Honor. He's worked really hard getting everything done, and it was so good to see him in a new neckerchief and the eagle on his chest. Congratulations, Michael!

The next morning, most of us went to church with Mima and Popa (the two families with infants went to later services at home before joining us in the afternoon) and took up what seemed like half the chapel. The kids all have cousins the same age as them, so everyone had someone they knew to go to Primary and Sunday School with. After church was an enormous lunch, cookie baking and gingerbread house making, Wii games and general merriment. A few of the moms made really cute hair bows for pictures the next morning. Jonathan needed to sleep, so he went to church at home and sang in the choir, but caught up just in time for everyone to go see the Christmas lights down by the river.

After days warmth, picture day was surprisingly chilly and windy, but everyone was generally cooperative and I think the pictures all came out looking really good. One can hope, at least. I had a few more things to finish up, that afternoon, but we all got together again for Family Night. Nate made these fantastic applewood smoked pecan chicken enchiladas for dinner (they taste like bacon!!!), we read the Christmas story while various family members acted it out, everyone (including James) got to play in the White Elephant game, and we opened presents. Poor Joseph had his choice for the white elephant picked out from the very beginning, jealously guarding it each time someone picked, and it turned out to be a picture frame. He was so upset that his precious box had betrayed him like that, especially since the other kids were unwrapping toys and puzzles. Uncle Rick took pity on him and traded gifts (thank you!), saving the day. Later in the evening, Joseph was playing Duck, Duck, Goose with... Tess and Paige, maybe? I told him it was time to go and that he'd see his cousins in the morning, so he popped up, tapped himself on the head, shouted "Goose!" and ran out the door.

Tuesday brought Gattiland--we'll have to bring Jonathan, sometime--and all the adults got to go out for dinner together at Rudy's. Wednesday, our last before people had to start heading off, was a PJ Birthday Party for Paige, who turned 6.

We had a couple quiet days to ourselves before Christmas. Christmas morning, Jonathan stayed up after work so he could open presents and dig through stockings with the kids. In the evening we visited his parents.

Joseph got a workbook to get him used to Pre-K work, and Elena had homework to do over the break, so they spent the next week working on those . Elena re-read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and a couple Magic Tree House books.

Jonathan had New Year's Eve off--maybe to make up for having to work Christmas Eve, maybe so there wouldn't be anyone using the machines as they cycled over to the new year--so we headed downtown to the celebrations there. We got to see the Biscuit Brothers, and then had 4 hours to kill before fireworks. We hula hooped, we watched the fire dancers, we rode the butterfly bike and the rattlesnake bike, we stopped at Whatabuger to warm up. The fireworks were fabulous and I liked the lower array. They haven't really done low-altitude/ground displays before, but it was nice to mix it up, high and low, like that. The boys fell asleep before we got home--James slept through the fireworks, even--so they went to bed and Elena begged to watch Harry Potter, since she'd finished the book again. The three of us watched the neighbors' antics, at midnight.

Tomorrow the school year starts again, and we'll all have to remember to write 2011 on things.

James' First Real Christmas

Since we spent last year in quarantine, this was James' first year having Christmas with cousins and Santa.

This was before we got the stockings hung on the banister, but all five (good gravy! there's five of us?!?) are there. Also, the lights are red and white, a la candy canes, and I really really like the effect--not as plain as just white, but not as busy as multi.


One of our nativity sets. We've also got a white ceramic set (still packed up) and a vinyl cling set (on the window to the immediate left).


Here we are at the ward party, hanging out with one of our favorite families. The pageant was very sweet, too.



Mike and Jeri hosted the extended family at their house again, though a week early, and it was so good to see everyone. Elena was sooooo excited at the very thought of seeing Bridget and Paige.


James is very into phones, right now, and everything he touches turns into one. This phone used to be a computer mouse.


Ha hasn't quite figured out wrapping paper, either.


Christmas morning was simple but cozy. We made a lot of the kids' gifts and I think they've come to appreciate the effort that goes into them. Certainly, they were excited to see them when they got unwrapped.




We spent the afternoon with Jonathan's dad and sister (his mom is in Georgia with our brand new baby niece) eating delicious catfish and watching movies.

Christmas Pictures

Christmas got split a couple different ways, so here are pictures of all the various segments.

Christmas Eve was at home, since everyone was sick. I made a pound cake (let me tell you, creaming butter and sugar for 20 minutes with a handmixer is not fun, but it was worth it), snickerdoodles and gingersnaps. We watched Frosty, Rudolph, and the Church video Joy to the World. We read the Christmas story for scriptures. We watched the tree, with the lights off. Joseph fell asleep in front of the stockings.


Elena and Joseph got to raid their stockings while James and I got set up at Dell Children's.



We opened family presents all together on Christmas night. Joseph got a dinosaur. The dinosaur immediately went on a rampage around the room. Elena got a spelling game "just like at Mackay's house." James was thrilled to watch the mayhem around him. He missed his siblings while he was at the hospital.




Once everyone was back home, we opened presents from cousins, friends, aunts and uncles. Books and the ice cream ball were the hits of the day.

It was a good Christmas, though we missed you all and hope to see you soon.

'Christmas On the Closed Ward'

James' temperature was at 100.2 yesterday evening and topped out at 100.9 at 2am, but after a blessing from Daddy it was back down to a "normal" low-grade fever in the next hour. He was fussy and coughing worse than ever this morning, though, and it being Christmas morning the only thing open was the emergency room at the hospital across the street. Elena wanted to come with me and I let her, with the strict instructions that she obey my every request. She actually did a very good job sitting still and the nurses gave her a picture to color and some crayons. She also let me know when James threw up all over himself and the car seat, just as we were pulling into the hospital parking lot, and fetched me anything I needed from the diaper bag. I'm really glad she was there with me just so that I couldn't be obsessing over James' squeaky cries and raspy coughs. James was having trouble keeping his oxygen levels up, so we got a hose of humidified oxygen blowing on his face and a transfer to Dell Children's Hospital. Jonathan and one of the guys from the ward came just before the transfer to give James a blessing and take Elena home.

The children's hospital is really nice. I'm amused that the mirrors in the bathroom are tilted so the patients can still see themselves. We also have Tarzan stickers on the window of our door and pictures of ladybugs and butterflies on our wall. I honestly can't tell you what any of his nurses look like, though, because they're all wearing respiratory masks. Elena, Joseph and Jonathan brought a paper Christmas tree for our wall and presents for us to open so that we could have at least some Christmas stuff today. Jonathan brought his computer, too, so I can entertain myself. Now, we wait. They're going to start checking his lungs and trying him out with out the oxygen line tonight. He needs at least four hours of keeping his numbers up before we can go home.

Not-So-Silent Night

Jonathan and Elena are just fine. My cold is almost gone, and Joseph's is starting to clear. James has RSV. I got worried when James started throwing up, yesterday. We took him to the doctor and she asked for a follow-up, today. He was coughing worse, today, and quieter than usual. He took his morning naps by himself instead of insisting on being held. I'm not sure if I should be worried about that or not. Anyway, he got a thorough looking-over at the follow-up and that's when we got the unhappy news. No fever, but he squeaks a bit when he cries. I took him to get x-rays to make sure it hasn't progressed to pneumonia. We'll hear back about the results sometime this evening. The doctor said we were not allowed to be anywhere near the kids' cousin, Grant, though, because Grant is the same age as James and would be just as vulnerable. There went our plans for the evening. Ah, well. We're going to settle in with Rudolph, Frosty and Scrooge, instead, while baking gingersnaps and "stickernoodles." We have to make sure Santa has cookies. That is very, very important.

Christmas at Home

Back home, we had to set out some reindeer food there, too. Elena enjoyed sprinkling it on the sidewalk and bushes, Joseph wanted to taste it.


We put out cookies and a carrot, and Elena poured some milk.


Christmas morning, the cookies were gone, the milk drunk, and the carrot nothing more than a gnawed end.


We made a special gift for each of the kids. This is Elena's doll. She said it was Elena, but I'm sure she'll acquire a proper name soon.


This is Joseph's map. It's still not quite done, but most of it's there. Thanks for the pictures, they'll help a lot.

Christmas Eve with Cousins

My family gets together on Christmas Eve every year for soups, snacks, and a few presents.


Mike's kids got a trampoline, and Michael decided to model the bow that was on the box.


Elena got invited to help put out reindeer food. Dutifully, she dropped a handful at the feet of each of the reindeer in the front yard.


Joseph was more interested in Uncle Rick's dog, Baxter.


Paige got a giant CandyLand as one of her first presents, and vanished for the rest of the night. I think she likes it. For this round, it was Elena, Tanner, Michael, Paige and Christopher playing.

Early Christmas with Cousins

Jonathan's family does presents a few days early, since his sister and her family drive to El Paso. Aunt Christina got a gingerbread house kit for the cousins to decorate, and the girls, at least, had a fun time with it.


Behold the glory of their creation.


All eight of the cousins.


Joseph and his new tools. He immediately hopped into one of the chairs and took the screwdriver to his new soccer ball.


Elena always plays with Keely's Polly Pockets when she goes to visit, and now she has some of her own--Cinderella style.

Christmas Favorites

Favorite Christmas song: I've always liked lullabyes or the children's songs from church (When Joseph Went to Bethlehem, Stars Were Gleaming), though it's hard to beat some of the medieval quasi-pagan carols out there--nothing like frozen cabbages, boars' heads or starving, snowbound sheep to get you in the Christmas spirit.

Favorite Christmas treat: mincemeat cake!

What does your Christmas tree look like: (taking Marin's easy way out...)You can see most of the big ornaments, but there's a couple dozen snowflakes and bells nestled in there, too.

When do you start shopping for presents, on black Friday or the day before Christmas? Shopping on Christmas Eve is forbidden, in this household--get it done by the 23rd, or wait 'til the 26th--but Black Friday's a bit too hectic so I'm a middle-of-the-month person.

Favorite Christmas tradition: the Christmas pageant before presents--alas! it is no more.

Best holiday memory: Orange rolls at 5am, or possibly Charlotte scaring the snot out of me when I went for my annual 3am stocking browse.

Fake or real tree: Fake--it doesn't have the smell but it won't melt or shed (I saw a really cool one with fluffy needles, pine cones, and a frosting of snow, thus the melt) .

Favorite Christmas movie: The Santa Clause, Charlie Brown

What do you want for Christmas this year? ... ...knitting stuff? macaroni necklaces from the kids? Jonathan to get his shopping done before the 23rd? I don't know...

Favorite Christmas story: Luke 2, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas in Texas

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

tags to all my sisters-in-law: what was Christmas like in your neck of the woods?