Amidst the Hustle and Bustle...

If I'm being completely honest the holidays this year were a bit of a blur. Between having a relatively new baby, a lot of family in town and trying to coordinate quite a few events at our home, not to mention three cases of the stomach flu and RSV I struggled to maintain the Christmas spirit all of the time. The day after Christmas I was already taking down the tree. (all of which is highly uncharacteristic of me!) I am so glad to be back in a regular routine and out of survival mood. Bah Humbug, I know!
However, looking back there were some shining moments that made all the chaos very rewarding. My favorite night was Christmas eve at our house. Almost all of Brian's family and all of my family came and we celebrated the birth of the Savior. The children did the nativity, a few of the kids sang, Josh played for us on my new piano (thanks to Gordon and Ruth), and Brian, Marshall and Aubrey also shared a song. It was a wonderful night and my fondest memory of the holidays. Henry was a shoe-in for the Baby Jesus, although his "Nanny" had to step in when he got a little fussy and "Joseph" quickly remarked that we'd better replace him with his baby sister.

I have to quote my sister-in-law for this picture "The menagerie attending the holy birth. Sheep, goats and maybe, a dog too. But I bet you didn't know there was a dinosaur there that night, did you. St. Luke forgot to mention that. But little Lukey made sure that we remembered."

The shepards. It's always hard when the only sought after girl part is Mary.

The angelic hosts.

"We three kings of Orient are.." (sporting a really nice Underdog costume!)

Despite the lack of correct costumes, it was a sweet little pagent.

Another highlight of Christmas was this trampoline. The boys love it! They jump with Brian at night, play "crack the egg" and we have even read stories and looked at the stars. Great call Santa!

After the nativity, shooting off the rocket comes in at a close second for the best thing about the holidays. Aunt Tamee bought one for Jeff and was so kind to track all over to find the best engines. The result: a lot of happy children, Dads and Papa.

If Christmas is about family, then we sure had a great one. Even though the pace was a little much and Ben throwing up while taking family pictures was no picnic, we made a lot of great memories. I am always amazed at how well all of both of our families get along and love each other. My boys are so lucky to have so many cousins, aunt, uncles and both sets of grandparents that are such a big part of their lives. I am so fortunate to have so much help and many great examples to help me be a mom.

On a side note Brian again suprised me with a beautiful ring in a beautiful blue box on Christmas moring, also made the season very fun!