Christmas in Camelot

Ryan's dad has been calling Angel's Camp "Camelot" since they first started staying up there (before they owned a house there).  So here is our Christmas stay in "Camelot"!  Everyone was up at Gammi's house by 1:00 and we started our festivities.  First on the list - presents!

Kyson loved Grandma Reese's present to him.....a new bike!

And in case you're wondering, he also loves his new muscle shirt. And he's been working out so he can show off his muscles.  He flexes often to check and make sure they are hardening up.  Although the first time he gave his biceps a little squeeze, he proclaimed them "a little squishy."  He was not deterred.  He gave a few more squeezes until made contact with some that were "weely hard."  His elbow.  I didn't have the heart to tell him the difference between muscle and bone.  I just told him he must be super strong.

And Gammi did her Christmas shopping at the American Girl Doll store.  Shayli and her baby now have matching jammies!  Actually, all the girls have pajamas that match their dolls pajama's.  It's really quite cute.

New books!  Kendri loves to read so this was perfect for her.  She has 140 AR points for reading in school.  She's leading her class with points.  I'm pretty sure the 2nd place person has 50.  What can I say, she takes after her mother!

Kaitlyn and Kyson were Ipad buddies during our little vacation.  It's so fun to have cousins that like each other!

Kyson also requested this shaving set for Christmas.  Is it just me, does he seem eager to grow up??  At any rate I don't think I've seen anything cuter than when I sneak in and catch him "shaving".  He was doing it all by himself where no one would seem him.  In fact, I didn't even know he had used it until he told me he'd been "shaving".  I asked him where (meaning location) and he told me his tummy.  Evidently his tummy is hairier than his chin.

 And here is Gammi's new nursery.  This has been talked about for years and it's finally here!  It was the attic before and now it's a Peter Pan nursery. (Don't mind the mess.  Or the sleeping form in the background.)  We love it.

And on a side note, while presents and parties are fun during Christmas, I tried really hard to get our little family to think of why we had Christmas.  One of the things we did through the month of December was try to think of things we could do for others.  We called this our "presents for Jesus".  I sent an alarm on my phone for every night at 6:00 so we could talk about what we did for the day and what we had done for others.  And while it was mostly small little things, it was a great reminder of what Christmas is all about. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

We woke up bright and early Christmas morning!  Actually Kendri came into our bedroom around 6:30 and we sent her back to bed to wait until some of the other kids woke up.  (I'm pretty sure they had some help waking up.)  By 7 we were up and headed downstairs to see what Christmas goodies awaited! 

Santa came! (Barely.  I may or may not have cancelled Christmas the week before. The kids spent Christmas Eve cleaning the house hoping Santa was still taking notes.)

At our house, we are planning on having to defend ourselves with nerf guns.  Hence the reason there are about 10 of them lying around. Actually, we have had some pretty serious enemy lines drawn around here. And a few snipers in training. Kendri got her first nerf gun this year and she's ready for action!

And Ryan likes to match the Christmas tree.....

And what is Christmas without something Giants??

We opened our presents and then packed our bags and headed up to Angels Camp for a few days with family.  Stay tuned!

Sharks Game

 This last month Ryan was able to score 4 tickets to the Sharks vs Avalanche hockey game.  Originally he was going to take 2 of the kids and me.  But then we were in the dilemma of which 2 kids got to go. In the end I sacrificed my ticket and sent the three oldest.  Shayli and I did some last minute Christmas shopping (it was Dec 23).  Shayli cried and cried about getting left out but I fixed that with a big bag of Reese's peanut butter cups.  It soothed both of us. ;)

Everyone really enjoyed the fights game they watched.  Lexi was lucky enough to get a puck handed to her.  And then Kyson took it upon himself to get the attention of the "ice cleaner".  (I have no idea what they are called, but the guy who cleans the ice during time outs or half time.  I didn't go to the game so I don't even know how often he shows up?)  Anywhoo, Kyson called the "ice cleaner" guy over and managed to get a puck out of him so they both came home with a souvenir.  When I asked Kendri where hers was, she told me she really wanted one but thought it would be rude to ask for one.  Little Miss Manners.  So if you think all we did was party in December, you would be right!

Nativity

We have a friend in our ward that takes it upon herself to do a little nativity video every Christmas.  She invites the primary and any friends to participate.  This was our first year of doing it.  Kyson was a shephard, Shayli was a lamb, Kendri was THE angel, and Lexi was a wiseman (much to her dismay.  She really wanted to be Mary.  Of course she did. But too bad so sad.)

The video turned out beautifully and we had a great time making it.

And if you look close in the picture below you can find my little (or big) wiseman.  (She's on the right side wearing the red.)

And it wouldn't feel like Christmas unless we had our annual sugar cookie party. Man, those cookies our good.  I dare say I'm salivating just looking at them!

Nutcracker

 Ryan took the girls to the Nutcracker this year......and boy, was it exciting! From what I gather, the fact that it was on Friday the 13th seemed to really shake things up bit.  They went with a group of friends and family and started the night off by getting separated at the Bart station.  A few of the kids and one adult managed to get on the train before the doors closed......and then it was adios.  (Thank goodness at least one adult scooted on!) The others watched the train pull away without them!  Kendri was one of the 3 kids that got on and she said she was a little worried (I think there may have been some sniffles involved).  But then they started to play a game and she was fine after that.

They managed to regroup in San Francisco and it was off to the ballet!  During the first half of the show, the fire alarm went off and everyone had to evacuate.  After hanging around outside for 30 minutes or so, they let them come back in.  I think someone was playing a prank.

But even with the added excitement, the kids all had a great time! It's a fun tradition.

There was obviously some time to kill during the evacuation........great time for picture taking!