Well. Christmas has come and gone. It was maybe that craziest we've had in a long time. But it was definitely fun being home in Utah for all the festivities...
tuesday night:
we drove down to lehi to my sister's house for our second annual gingerbread housing decorating extravaganza (not pictured, still waiting for the pics). i don't think emily, zach and i won the competition, but we did have some awesome roof shingles to show for it.
thursday night:
each year on the 23rd of december, it's the frandsen family christmas party with all of my dad's siblings and always a good time. we always do a sub for santa for a family in the neighborhood of the aunt/uncle who hosts that year. then at dinner, there is always a lively discussion about politics, sports (namely utah vs. byu banter), or movies, and this year wasn't any different. at the end of the night, grandpa frandsen likes to tell stories, bear testimony, and finish up with a cat vs dog fight for all the kids that he's been doing probably since i was will's age or before. will got to see the fight super up-close this year. i'm not sure he really knew what he was getting himself into.
friday:
this year since we would be sleeping at my mom's house on christmas eve, we figured we should stretch out the present opening activities as long as possible. so we started on wednesday or thursday night, and then finished up most of the presents we were giving to each other on friday morning, leaving the ones from my parents/siblings for christmas day.
emily got me my long coveted obama chia head and apple's magic trackpad, plus some other cool stuff. and i made emily this wooden bike rack from a design she found on one of her craft/design blog months ago. william thought it was necessary to inspect my work to make sure it was good enough for his mother. i made two. one for emily's road bike, and one for my yet-un-purchased road bike...
and will got a million cars/trucks/things with handles, and noise makers. he couldn't have been happier.
friday night:
we have always done christmas eve with the ushio side (my mom's side) and this year wasn't any different. we played the usual games (like a reading of the night before christmas for money), acted out the nativity scene (will was both a sheep and a donkey at various points), put the little ones to bed, and started the real games. boys against girls again like always, and like always, not a very prudent decision.
before we could put the kids to bed we had to sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn to guide the flyers to the right house.
saturday morning:
christmas morning was chaotic and awesome. running down the stairs and into the family room was almost more than william could handle. all the kids loved their toys and santa hooked everyone up.
william got a sweet tool/work bench that was a big hit with the kids of all ages. for some reason, will liked putting the snake light up to his forehead, which made his mother cringe...
plus sometimes he had more fun sitting on his presents fully wrapped, that is until he got them unwrapped...
this is a lap blanket that emily crocheted for my dad when he gets cool sitting in his wheelchair. he and my mom loved it. what a talented little craftster i married...!
we finished the day off by leaving my kind mother stranded to put 6 crazies to bed so the we could all go see True Grit. great flick. thanks mom for watching the little ones...
all in all it was a great christmas. like i said, maybe the wildest we've had in a long time. but i only imagine them getting wilder for the next several years to come...!
