Holiday festivities

Despite a frenetic week fraught with illness, our family has managed a few Christmas celebrations worth documenting.

The first took place Friday. Tyler came home from school Thursday with the stomach flu (making him Sick Kid #3 in this house this week), and since he threw up for the last time around 4:00 that afternoon, I kept him home on Friday, too. He was pretty bummed to miss the holiday party in his class, so we had one of our own at home.

First, we rolled out and baked sugar cookies. I had to take two dozen to the ward party that night, so the kids helped. Wow....that was a workout! I never thought baking was an aerobic activity, but managing this effort was pretty taxing. Lexi and Gavin filled their bellies with tons of dough, but we did end up baking a few cookies. My friend Annie spent the afternoon with Tyler and they baked the rest.




Other winter party activities: coloring wooden masks and making paper snowflakes. I probably should have consulted an online tutorial, since my memory failed me when I put scissors to paper. But we had fun anyway. Tyler felt special, and we didn't have the TV on all morning, which made me feel good.



The second celebration was the Cordera Ward Christmas Party. I attended that with the three boys while Garry stayed home with Lexi. [Sidebar: At 4:30 Friday afternoon, Garry completed a 32-hour marathon at work. Basically he went to work Thursday morning and didn't come home until Friday afternoon. Around 2:30 a.m. Friday, he started throwing up, but that didn't deter him from his important deadline. He pressed on through the day, eating nothing and drinking little. He and Lexi went to bed at 6:30 p.m. Friday, and Garry slept until 8:30 a.m. Saturday. He also took a four-hour nap Saturday and is feeling much better now.]

So, back to the party....it was probably the best ward party we have ever attended. I was very impressed with the execution! It was super kid-friendly but fun for adults, too. Gavin only got lost once, so I count the evening a success! Here is the only picture I have from last night.



We all enjoyed frosting sugar cookies, singing carols, and eating a scrumptious dinner with friends. Gavin was especially excited when he was chosen to stand on stage and jingle some bells during the carols. We just missed part of our family!

This morning we continued to party, though, and went to a Breakfast with Santa activity at church. And look who joined us: Daddy! We were also happy to see our friends, Annie, Danny, and Gavin at the breakfast.




Zachary is officially too old to sit on Santa's lap (or even stand by him, or wear pajamas in public), so I don't have any pictures of him. But I am elated that the younger kids were willing to pose with the jolly old soul. Lexi was a sticky mess between the candy cane and the pancake syrup, but we sure had a fun morning.

Ho ho ho!