December 23 - Marsh Family Christmas

Seasons Greetings...

and a little Christmas Craziness!

The 23rd is always the date of my family's Christmas party.  My parents set it up that way years ago so there would never be conflicts with other family parties on Christmas Eve or Christmas.  So far, it has worked out.

First, we start with a big dinner.  There are far too many of us to actually sit at one table, so there are multiple tables.  Here are the 4 big kids.

The little girls got to sit at the bar.

And all of the big people (and Peter) got to sit at the big table.

Then we move on to present opening, followed by reading the Christmas story and singing carols.  We finish up with my Dad sharing his thoughts and then a family prayer.  I love the spirit we feel at the end of the night.

This photo cracks me up because it is just so typical.  Both Robbie and Jonas find a book and totally disappear.  I love how they are sitting at opposite ends of the couch here.

The kids could hardly stand the wait, but they were very patient.

Since Peter was the youngest in attendance, he got to open his present first.  Ainsley was there to help him out.

He was so excited when he saw what it was.  If you remember here, he was very upset that I wouldn't get him Slinky that day, so this was pretty awesome. (If people ask him what he got for Christmas, Slinky is almost always the first thing he mentions.  Yeah, I'm posting this way past Christmas, so that's why I know that.)

Ainsley is always so fun to watch.  Just look how excited she is about her Little Mismatched socks.

Duffy was pretty happy, too.  Anything to add to her wardrobe ensembles that will make her look "fancy."

Lots of playing with Slinky.

Jake was pretty excited about the Keith VanHorn figurines that Shawn got for him.

Jonas was really happy to get something other than underwear.  For the last couple of months I have literally begged him for gift ideas.  I finally threatened him that if he wouldn't give me any ideas he would only get underwear...

...and I followed through.  Believe me, by the end of Christmas, he was so tired of opening pairs of underwear that I hope next time I ask him what he would like, he'll give me some actual ideas.

Rob trying out his Christmas gift.

It is always nice to spend time with family for the holidays.  Although, it sometimes seems like a lot of work and effort, I am grateful for our traditions and grateful for our connections with our families.

Amelia's Christmas Recital

Saturday morning, we went to Amelia's piano recital.  Our cute neighbor, Emily, lives just around the corner from us and has been teaching her for a while.  She's getting ready to leave on her mission to Korea, though, so Amelia will have to find a new teacher soon.

Amelia announcing her pieces.

She played a duet with Emily.  (I played with her last year, but was a total slacker this year and didn't get my part learned.  You win some, you lose some, I guess.)

Then she played a piece on her own.

These hands look far too grown up to belong to my little 8 year old.

Her good friend, Caroline played, too.

It was very nice, and best of all, during this busy season, very short.  Always fun to watch your kids perform and see how they have grown and progressed.

Christmas Celebrations Begin...

The girls and I got to go to the Nutcracker with Doug and Cathy on the 15th.  This is always an exciting event that the kids look forward to.  They skipped last year and I decided to join them this time around.  Thanks Cathy and Doug!

The very next night, Grandpa Quincy and Fran flew into town for a couple of days to celebrate with us as well.  Monday night, we went out to dinner and then downtown to see the lights.  (I should remember to take an actual camera when we do these sorts of things, but the phone had to do - again.  Plus it was a little rainy and who would want to worry about a camera in the rain?)

A rare family photo.  Everyone is fairly happy and we have 5 out of 7 looking at the camera.  Not bad.

We also went to see the candy windows .  They weren't quite as amazing as I remember the ZCMI windows being, but they were still fun to see.

The next night we had dinner at our house and opened presents.  This little magnet board that Peter got was a big hit and everyone was waiting for a turn.

Everyone was pretty happy to get to open presents a full week before Christmas.

A few pictures of the gang.  One angry face, but 6 out of 7 looking at the camera.

Everyone happyish, but down to 5 out of 7 looking...

This may be the best of the group.

And of course, silly faces by all.

This has kept everyone entertained!

The "smencils" were also a big hit with everyone wanting to smell all the different flavors.

Quincy and Fran were able to come to the Christmas sing-a-long at the girls school the next morning, before having to head back to Chicago that afternoon.  We all had fun celebrating while they were here, though.

Best Part of My Day...

This morning as I was lying in bed berating myself for not getting up to run like I was supposed to, I heard Peter's door open and then the pitter patter of his little feet coming in to my room.  He was rubbing his sleepy eyes, carrying his blankie.  He climbed into bed next to me, threw his arm around me and said, "Mom, you're the best."  (Seriously, this kid knows how to earn points.)  I told him that he's the best, too. 

I am totally getting him some extra presents for Christmas! (I can't wait to hear my other kids freak out about that when they read this.)

This boy just makes my days happier.

12/12/12

Since it's going to be a while before a date like this rolls around again, it makes sense to see what we were doing.  Technically, these first photos are from the 11th.  Shawn went to Houston for work.  As you can see, he worked really hard - finding awesome tickets for a Rockets game.

I think he could just about reach out and touch the players' hair.

Of course, since he was in Houston, Shawn missed out on the band concert and singing by the 6th graders.  I know, poor quality, but I needed to capture one of Samantha's last grade school performances... I can't believe she's headed to junior high next year.

So, that was the 11th.  And now for 12/12/12.  Apparently Shawn wanted to document this little episode.  I think he was just so glad that he wasn't the one getting the speeding ticket.  He's racked up a few in various states, but managed to avoid it in Texas.

And here is photo documentation of 12:12:12 on 12/12/12.  How he caught this photo, I don't know, but still, pretty cool.

Once again, he worked really hard - eating tremendous amounts of really good food.  I think this restaurant was worth the trip for him.  One of his favorites.

As you can see, he was really suffering, being away from all of us at home.

He was really sad to miss out on our friend Chad's birthday party, though.  Because if your birthday falls on 12/12/12, you pretty much have to have a party.  It was 80's themed, which the girls were all excited about.  

I wish I had taken a few more pictures of how everyone was dressed.  Oh well.  At least some of the exciting day was documented!