Christmas eve!

For Christmas eve we made the rounds to family. We started off with Christmas Eve dinner at Matt's house and opened sibling exchange gifts there. Then we headed over to grandma Bromley's house for games and red velvet cake (a Bromley family Christmas Eve tradition!). 

I curled this girly's hair for the parties. I couldn't get enough of her cute face with curly hair!

It was 70 degrees and sunny on Christmas Eve... so we spent the majority of the time at Matt's house outside.

Nora hanging out in the hammock with Jason and Lindsay.

Matt's dad slacklining with help from Jason and Jon.

Matt's mom even took a turn!

Michelle and Jenny watch the proceedings.

Nora got up...

...and so did Owen!

Sibling gift exchange! Matt and I had Jenny and Jason, respectively. We made Jason a Fruit Ninja kit - complete with costume, machete, and fruit to slice!

The whole family went in the backyard to watch Jason slice fruit.

Nora thought it was hilarious!

Love this little face. :)

Joseph and Mary!

All the grandkids acting out the nativity - Ellie, Emma, Matthew, Nora, Owen, and baby Alyssa as baby Jesus!

Opening grandma/grandpa presents before we go home.

Nora checking out the little town at grandma Bromley's.

Getting ready to act out the nativity.

Nora was the youngest one there, so she got to be baby Jesus. She LOVED that little bed, and laid in it for the rest of the night. 

Cousin gift exchange.

Owen got a Ninja Turtles mask, and Nora got a Hungry Hungry Hippos game.

Christmas family!

My favorite people in the whole world.

Crazy baby. ;)

Auman Christmas and Farrell Polar Express party

We only had one day when my entire family would be in town, so we got to have Christmas at grandma Auman's house a couple days early this year. Usually we go there Christmas evening, which makes for a pretty long day after trying to stop at all the family houses in the area. We had a delicious and leisurely brunch and got to just hang out together. It was awesome. 

Owen got a create-a-puppet... it's kind of creepy in concept, but it was totally fun to play with. :)

Nora attacking Karen.

These little cousins are so cute together!

Katelyn!

Tetherball is always on the agenda at grandma Auman's house.

We got grandma a new tetherball for Christmas that ended up being considerably harder than the one she had before. Nora loves trying to play tetherball with Owen and Matt, but it wasn't long before she got it straight in the face. Poor baby.

Grandma has lots of books for the kiddies to read!

Owen trying out his new science kit.

He was so excited when the vinegar/baking soda mix filled up his balloon!

Hoola-hooping!

Matt's family does a themed Christmas party every year. This year it was the Polar Express. We all came in our pajamas, had a hot chocolate bar, and watched The Polar Express.

Jason, Nora, Emma, and Owen waiting outside for the conductor to let them in.

Grandpa/conductor punching Nora's ticket.

The grandkids waiting patiently with their tickets.

Our family with the conductor!

Gingerbread houses!

Cutie boys adding all the candy they can to their houses. :)

The finished products!

Grandkids with their houses.

The boys watching the movie.

Getting ready for Christmas

We had a very busy Christmas season between all my music commitments, our church commitments, and extended family plans. We made sure to plan time for just our family, though, and were able to do some fun things before Christmas!

Decorating the tree! Nora's first time (that she remembers....).

The kids LOVED the tree... we kept the lights on pretty much any time we were home. Both Owen and Nora loved to sit and look at it. 

Everyone came to see me play in the orchestra for Nutcracker at Temple Hill.

We made a point to go to some of the best Christmas light houses around us. This one was called Widmer World.

The whole yard - front and back - was full of lights and displays. Owen and Nora especially loved the trains.

We also loved the cool K'nex rollercoasters!

The best part about this place? They take and print professional-quality Santa pictures for you - totally free! This will definitely be on our list of places to come to every year. 

The primary kids acting out the nativity at our ward Christmas party.

Nora wasn't quite sure what was going on (she was supposed to be a sheep - hence the furry vest :) ). 

My sheep and my angel!

The town next to ours does a living Bethlehem, complete with live camels, sheep, donkeys, etc. It was awesome!

Signing the census in Bethlehem!

The Roman guards made sure that we followed all the rules.

Matt's family came with us.

Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem!

There were lots of displays set up - we tasted olive oil, learned how to write in Greek and Hebrew, smelled frankincense and myrrh, and Owen even got to make a mud/straw brick and use it to help build a wall!

We had a great time. It was really fun for the kids to see the story of Christ's birth acted out - we read about it a lot, obviously, but I think this really helped them realize that it actually happened.