December in WA

I flew home with the kids on Dec 12th. Jake met up with us on the 19th. Lots of family in and out for the whole month including Carly and Paige from UT. Dan Amanda and James, Britt Josh and Madi from ID. Matt, Nicole, Aubree, Olivia and Sydnee from UT.  We were missing Mike, Kayla and Mason for sure this year :( Needless to say, Christmas was grand! Lots of activities, lots of food, lots of movies and games. My kids sure love their cousins. They just played and played and played. Come to think of it I don't think any adults ever had to really jump in solve any problems between the kids while they were playing. The only time I remember intervening was when the kids were in a bed together playing "family". So we told them to play something different and they said, "How about doctor?!"

Ummmmm.......

I'm pretty sure that won't be the end of it either. Those will be some embarrassing stories one day. They had a great time together. We're hoping to make a big road trip this summer while Jake is busy with an internship (Fingers crossed!!!!) and stay for a few days in Utah with the cousins. (Is that cool Nicole? :)

Can you believe that I didn't take any pictures of our trip?! I've always been bad about that but for real. I really didn't take hardly any other than the ones I got on my phone.

Christmas really was great though. Of course we're on a limited budget being in school and all so we kept it nice and simple for everyone and felt blessed to be able to give so much with the money we spent. We were also given some pretty awesome gifts from a lot of people. Plus our parents all pitched in to fly us home. They let us invade their homes for a month and they kept us fat and happy. I cherished this Christmas so much because I know it won't happen this way forever. There simply is not enough room for a family growing as fast as ours! I mean, look at all the kids in the picture above. Mason is missing from it and that makes 9 kids ages 5 and under from one side of the family. It will only get crazier! I love it! Plus it makes for some crazy good card games with that many sleep deprived sugar frenzied adults.

SO thankful for time spent with each other. I love our big crazy family. I love the Pacific Northwest because it is home. I love going to Seattle and eating till I think I might burst. I love the Christmas season to spend time together, to celebrate the birth of our Savior, to serve people around us and spread a little Christmas cheer. I LOVE walking through the front door at mine and Jake's parents house and feeling like I'll belong there forever and I love sharing that with each other.