Christmas Festivities Part III

The Monday after Christmas my mom, Kraig, and Jacob drove out from Colorado to come visit for a week! I wish they could just move back out here. We missed my little sister Kelsey who wasn't able to come because of work.

my mom was attached to mabel most of the trip :)

mabel loved to stare at uncle jacob

jacob and fritz napping

reading one of mabel's favorite books, "Farm Babies"

mabel looked pretty cute in jacob's hat

ever since mabel was born our catkids have been pretty neglected (sorry boys!)
whenever my mom comes to visit they take advantage of her willingness to cuddle them

jacob and kraig were very happy that
In and Out and Five Guys were both mere minutes away from our house


mumsie and mabel


We had my grandparents, aunt, and cousins over for a dinner get together:


my mom showing off her awesome printed blog book
(i am waiting for a coupon then i am printing mine!)


kraig cooking, grandpa getting warm, and anna feeding baby jack


feasting


please ignore the gang signs


we had three different soups in breadbowls...delicious



Then on Friday we went up to Kamas to have Christmas
with my family and grandparents...


when we were young my grandpa taught all of us how to play rummy...
jacob gave him a run for his money





more presents for me?




I put a few meltaway puffs on the ground for Mabel and she realized she could just roll over and eat them instead of picking them up - that clever little girl!

Christmas Festivities Part II

We had our own little Christmas Sunday morning and unfortunately my cold was at its worst. I had a terrible sinus headache, could barely breathe out of my nose, and just wanted to crawl back into bed. We stayed home from church and Nate watched Mabel so I could rest a little. I was constantly washing my hands and trying not to kiss Mabel as much as usual - I didn't want her to get sick!

Despite feeling pretty under the weather it was great to Skype with family so they could see Mabel open some of her presents. She LOVED the wrapping paper and would start tearing at each present we gave her.



We watched our favorite Luke II video and a few other Christmas messages that Nate found.


The cutest present ever!


Mabel made sure everything tasted okay:
paper, blocks, and books


We love this little person so much!


the catkids liked their mice present and they also got a wet food treat


We ended the day with Christmas Story on repeat and an awesome feast of canned chicken noodle soup. It was the only thing that sounded good to me and I was just too tired to cook.

Christmas Festivities Part I

This year we had a few big events to celebrate: Mabel's 1st Christmas and our 1st Christmas in our new house! Nate hung some lights outside, we got a skinny tree off KSL ($25 yay!), and I put up our decorations.

After some begging and pleading my mother-in-law let me have (for the time being) her cherished aluminum tree that belonged to her grandparents. As a girl she would go over to their house each year and set it up for them. Isn't it darling? I put some of my vintage ornaments on it, several of which belonged to my Great Grandma Eula.



We started the month by having Nate's combined company party at our house. We had almost 40 people in the basement! It was cozy but fun. I was super busy and didn't even get out my camera once that night. Sad. But we had a tasty catered dinner, lots of fun games, and I think everyone had a good time.

Then on the 23rd we had our Christmas celebration with the Tew family...



Mabel and Myah were both pretty mesmerized by the ceiling fan:

Group shot of all the grandkids:

My poor baby! She was DONE with picture time.

Georgia and Rick always have a fun evening planned complete with lots of food, treats and all sorts of games. We played all our annual favorites - picture matching, bingo, candy bar circle, and our white elephant gift exchange.

Nate and I were very pleased with the white elephant gifts we received!

awesome creepy maid thing

and who doesn't want a hamburger pillow?

sweet cousin Myah just chillin'


We had a great time, as usual! We decided to spend the night and in the morning Mabel got to open her present from Rick & Georgia.



But mid present she had to take a break to poo:


Grandma also had a fun new toy for Mabel - a saucer!


Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Tew!

Go BANANAS!

somebody thoroughly enjoys eating
bananas out of their mesh feeder...

check out the slime on those hands!