We had quite the busy week in Utah for Christmas! We always have several birthdays to celebrate, traditions to follow and family to spend time with, and we love every crazy minute of the trip!
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I am SO, SO happy that my whole family is always together this time of year - it just wouldn't be the same if we all weren't there! And we don't even like to talk about the possibility that we won't all be at my parents for every Christmas for the rest of our lives...:)
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Jake and Em were the ultimate troopers this year by taking a 5 a.m. flight Christmas morning to get back to Indy to spend Christmas day with her family. Thanks guys!
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Teag was determined to try skiing, because he has never been allowed to in the past due to sports, then injuries, etc. I was SO worried that I was going to get a phone call from his bro Chad saying he did something to one of his knees and we would have to go thru the surgeries, physical therapy, etc. all over again! But who am I kidding, I am married to a true athlete...his first day he didn't fall once, and he was going down black diamonds by his last run. So he got another day in before we left and loved it just as much! Not to mention, he had to get all the gear, down to his own ski's, so now he can go whenever he wants in Boise (which is just not the same when you grew up skiing in Utah!)
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WILLOW CREEK
We started out with a Christmas buffett at Willow Creek with the Reynolds family
It just wouldn't be Christmas without Santa and Mrs. Clause arriving via helicopter, right?!
poor Dallas wasn't so sure of Santa...
...but he was fine once Jer was holding him and was with the rest of the cousins
cute Reynolds cousins!
cutest Grandma Reynolds with Santa
ANNUAL WHITING CHRISTMAS PARTY
this year was at Blair and Linda's house and it was so, so fun to see everyone!
a lot of Teag's cousins we see maybe once a year and sometimes not even that often!
This year was especially great because of the gift that we were all given by Grandma Whiting (and Linda because of all the love, time and work she put into it). Linda has been working with grandma on her biography and asked that we contribute pictures and a little story, but had NO idea the masterpiece it would become! We were all given a copy of
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF DALE ATWOOD WHITING
hard-bound, with her life-history, stories from her missions (all SEVEN!!) and little remembrances from events of all her grandkids from getting their eagle scouts, to weddings and births. It was absolutely AMAZING! She is such an incredible woman and we are so lucky to have something like this to keep forever and pass down to our kids. We are so grateful that Dallas has been able to know 2 of his sweet great grandma's!
Grandma Whiting, dallas and Teag
I love how grandma always tells me that she's always held a special place in her heart for Teag :)
The Whiting Family
(minus Jonathon who was on his way home from Afghanistan, and Judd, very-pregnant Amberlynn and Valerie in Florida at flight school)
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THE POLAR EXPRESS
one night we got the kids all dressed in their pj's and headed up to Heber to go on 'The Polar Express'! It was SO cute and fun! We took the Heber Valley Railroad to the North Pole, where along the way we read the story, had some of Mrs. Claus' cookies, did some karaoke and dancing with the elves, had a visit from Santa and laughed all the way!
No suprise, the Reynolds family took over the car we were in...the other families were LOVING us I'm sure :)
the younger cousins with the conductor
Dallas with his cute Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds
Dallas LOVED the train ride and looking out the window
me and my sweetest boy!
Dallas and Isaac dancing to Christmas songs - his cousins are so good to him!
Alexa bustin' a move at the front of the train
Josh and Jer were good sports (and reminded Santa how good they had been all year)
It was my dad's birthday so we convinced (or forced?) he and my mom to get up and sing jingle bells. Dallas couldn't resist when he saw them up there and had to go join in
Jake suprised us all when he was the first one to get up and start off the karaoke! What a cute uncle :) He and Em will be the greatest parents (not an announcement)
DALLAS' FIRST DENTIST VISIT
Grandma Whiting works at a dentists office, so we took Dallas in over Christmas to have his first check-up. He wasn't thrilled about the exam, but was very excited about getting a new toothbrush and a little toothpaste
CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER AT GRAM REYNOLDS
Helen, Lisa and Eliza
Helen was missing our favorite Santa hat this year
Jake and Scott carving the turkey
Dallas and the silly O'Neil girls!
Dallas and Eliza were being HILARIOUS together...this is in the midst of one of their screaming contests
Awwwww! Giving loves
my poor dad!
He went to the dentist earlier in the day and had to be completely knocked out, unbeknownst to any of us. My mom got a call at about 3 in the afternoon saying someone needed to come pick him up. They said he could very easily sleep for 24 hrs. so we were all so sad and worried he was going to miss Christmas Eve and Christmas - his FAVORITE time of the year.
But, mom to the rescue - she had him drinking red bull so he would wake up and wouldn't miss out. We just laid him down on the bed, but he kept getting up and coming out to chat and have cookies! He finally came around, but later told us he had no recollection of being at my grandma's at all
Dallas and Ben getting ready for the story.
Every year my mom read's the cutest Christmas Story, then my dad reads from the Bible
we LOVE doing the white elephant exchange! There weren't any frozen trout this year, but Teag was the lucky recipient of a Brighton Bengals t-shirt
HAD to get a pic of Em with her self portrait from 4th grade...we were all crying we were laughing so hard! the white elephants just keep getting better and better!
we were SO happy that Jay felt semi-okay and was able to spend some quality time with everyone! He and Dallie are best buddies :)
CHRISTMAS DAY
Dallie checking out the goods from Santa
wouldn't you know, he goes right for the Diego sippy cup
then it was into Dad's lap to read a book left in his stocking
after we checked out what Santa brought we headed over to the Whiting's for a yummy breakfast and more presents!
Dallas playing with Grandma Whiting
the kid LOVES books!
He got the cutest little penguin book from Hailey, so it was into Dad's lap again to read
sweet Hailey and Grandpa Whiting
JUST PLAYING AROUND!
Dallas and Eliza hanging out on the animals watching a show
Dallas and Eliza - so cute watching Dora together
these two sillies kept running to the front door to do "1, 2, 3, go!" then they would just run around the house like crazy!
Dallas and the O'Neil girls playing in the snow in grandma and grandpa Reynolds backyard
poor guy took a little face plant into the powder!
He was ready to go in and snuggle by the fire with mommy after that :)
HEADING HOME
this little guy thinks nothing is better than 'driving' so at one stop when dad went into the gas station he was DYING to hop into the drivers seat (Diego baba in hand) once his diaper was changed!
BABY COLT - AND HIS BROTHERS
Ethan, Avery and Elliott in the back, Colt and Dallas in the front
we were SO excited that Isaac, Lea and these cute boys stopped in Boise for a sleepover on their way home to Washington!
I just couldn't get enough of Colt! He is so tiny (compared to Dallas), but he is a BIG baby!
He looks like a miniature Isaac! It was so great seeing the proud and happy new parents! Lea definitely has her hands full with 5 boys on her hands, but they couldn't be a cuter little family!
Elliott and Avery were so funny and wanted us to lock them in the kennel with Ruby
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We had a great Holiday and feel so lucky that we have so many great people to spend it with!
In the words of Jake,
PUT IN THE TIME TO BE GREAT IN '09!
Gooooooo Steelers!!!
(photo courtesy of the "unofficial" Brett Keisel website)
