Christmas morning

Christmas morning was as fun as ever. Caitlin got a doll house bigger than her. Andre got that iPad he had been begging for. Peter got all kinds of fun toddler gifts and josh for a drone.


Santa even remembered me! A shiny box with a Bosch mixer.


Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve pageant

Mikes family has reenacted the Christmas story on Christmas Eve since he was a little boy. It is a very solid tradition. It's always silly, a touch sacreligeous, and at times poignant and touching. We love being part of it.


Shepherds and a black sheep



Mary



Joseph



A shepherd



The holy family



The innkeeper and the angel of the lord



The traditional annual photo. Always fuzzy and underexposed.

Ice skating

No one in the family had ever been ice skating at a large rink except for me. So we took the kiddos up to seven peaks ice arena and made a day of it. It was slow going at first, but after a little practice everyone got the hang of it and had a great time. Peter was a little kamikaze about it-- we could hardly keep up with him!
Andrew was our photographer- sorry for blurry pics.

More Christmas prep

Christmas stories are a favorite part of the holiday for us. We also have a goal to read all the dr Suess books, so how the grinch stole Christmas was a no brainer.




Dad and Jan had a nice family party where they told the nativity story




And the handed out presents - so fun!

Happy 14th birthday to Josh

Josh asked for a lobster for his. Roth day, so we took him to red lobster and he enjoyed the delicacy for the first time. It was a fun night. Grandma and grandpa barlow joined us as well celebrating their 52nd anniversary.


Yes, he kissed the live lobster. He surprised us all!


With such a big birthday dinner, the cake got scaled back. We still managed to fit 14 candles.


Happy birthday Joshua!

Christmas recitals

Christmas is a time for music and dancing! The kids all had multiple cancers, recitals, and showcases. I didn't get a pic of josh with his cello this year, but here is Caitlin ready for the dance recital






And Andrew prepped for the piano recital. They did great!

Getting ready for Christmas

Getting ready for Christmas is a big deal at our house! It is tradition to go cut a tree in the mountains and we love to spend the day finding just the right one and sledding and getting stuck. Peter was particularly excited this year.






Santa always visits the ward Christmas party and though the kids have been scared of him in years past, they all put on brave faces and saw it through.







Peter asked for a new Christmas train







Caitlin asked for a dolly that can cry and open and close its eyes






Andrew asked for an iPad mini







Here's Mike trying to give the kids courage as they inched forward in line.