Christmas in Colorado

Collin and I made it to Thornton just in time to catch the tail end of the festivities at Grandma Shirley's house. We missed the program of songs being played and sung, Santa's visit and Grandma reading the Nativity story while the grand and great grandchildren act out the parts. Apparently, it was chaos as usual. Grandma and Grandpa are so generous and give everyone more than necessary. I love watching them open gifts at the very end.

We went home to my parents house afterwards and just relaxed before going to bed. Jen and Dustin hung out for a while before going home for the night. Another great part of the night, was to talk to Collin's parents on Skype. For those of you who don't know, they are in Uganda, Africa on a mission. They are so sweet and it was great to talk to them for a while. Even though we can talk to them whenever we want, it was special to talk to them on their Christmas morning.

My parents gave us girls matching pj's which is a fun tradition. Gotta love the red w/ white polka dots! All my syblings were in town for Christmas this year, which made it so fun to have all the kids there together. We first watched "O Holy Night." It is such a great little video (only about 4 minutes), with paintings of Christ's life set to the songs.

We got started with opening gifts, and the best gift of the day was from Jen and Dustin to my parents. They gave them a brick that said "TRAIL" on it. Ever since they were engaged, they joked around how they were going to name their first baby Brick. (Jen is entirely opposed to the name, but likes to entertain Dustin's thoughts.) Anyway, my mom picked up on it immediately, as you can see in the video.

Next year, Emily will have her twins and Jen will also have a baby! 3 additions to our growing family. And although it would be fun, no, we are not feeling any pressure to add another to the crew. Sorry! :)

After the baby surprise, we made breakfast and hung out until it was time to go to Grandmas house again for dinner. Collin and Dustin thought it was a great idea to shovel the sport court in the backyard so they could play Horse. They crack me up. It was freezing, but that had fun anyway.

I helped my mom make the Apple Pie she's perfected over the years. I didn't slice my finger with the peeler this time, so it was a success. We finished up and took the potatoes, pies, and the tenderloing. Dinner was delish, of course, and hanging out with everyone was so fun too. I love being home with family. We had prayed that the time there would feel longer than it really was, and that it'd go by slow enough to take it all in, and that's exactly what happened. I loved it!

After Grandma's house: Part 2, the Denney's came over and played Catch Phrase with us (My parents, Jen/Dustin, Collin/Me). We played girls vs. boys. It was so fun to have so many of us playing together. I love the Denney's. They are my favorite 2nd family, and I love the relationship we all have together. My mom/Sheri. My dad/Craig. Us/Brett, Kristy, Kim. It's so fun to have such great friends. We're so blessed. YAY!!!! :)