Christmas Vacation 2013

We were really blessed to get to spend Christmas in California with my entire family. It was the first Christmas that all of my siblings and all of our kids, and my parents were together since 2009, and boy has our family changed since then!

We had originally planned to meet up in Utah and spend the holiday there, but after lots of stress (and definitely with the guidance of Heavenly Father) we ended up in California at my parent's home. I am especially grateful for dear family friends that have rented their home to my parents for this past year, which was large enough for us to all be there. My sister-in-law Eliana's parents were also there with us, visiting from Brazil.

Brek and I flew out about a week early, which gave us more time with Grandma, Papa, and Uncle David. Joe flew in over the weekend, which is also when my sister Tracy and her family arrived. Cousins slept over almost every single night, and they all played together really well. It was fun to see the 3 three-year-olds learn to be compliant, but also to be individuals and leaders among each other.

I didn't grab pictures of my visits with friends, but I felt very blessed to be able to see most of them during my visit. I got to see my childhood friend Betsy, catch up with my "twin" Sara, and see my "little sister" Jessica, along with her mom, and my dear friend Kay.

Brek & I got to go up and see Cody and Colby's Christmas band concert and spent the night at their home. We got to eat In N Out a couple times too. :) A few days after Christmas, all 20 of us went and saw the movie Frozen. I LOVED it! We were able to have family pictures taken too, (which I'll post later.) I'm very grateful for all my parents did to make it a wonderful holiday season, and especially for everything they did to get our little family out there.

Now for the pictures:

Colby being silly and "sleeping" with the giraffe.

My mom planned for all the kids to decorate Christmas trees. I thought this was simple, fun, and tasty. The kids seemed to enjoy it too.

And now the finished projects:

Colby

Anna

Cody made a smiley face.

Adelynne

Heather

Brek

Katie

Amy

Aurora

She gets 2 pictures because she's just so darn cute, and was so dang proud of herself!

The mommys made them too.

My beautiful sister Tracy

Christmas Eve was patterned much like the ones of my childhood. My dad, my brother Mark, my brother-in-law Dustin, and Joe all took turns reading portions of the scripture story of the Savior's birth. Cody was Joseph. Adelynne was Mary. Amy and Katie were angels. Colby and Heather were shepherds. Anna, Brek, and Aurora were wise men. We sang Christmas carols. It really was a beautiful experience. I had been having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit, but this part of the night brought tears to my eyes and really touched my heart.

We also did a talent show, just like when I was a kid. It was fun to hear my nieces and nephews sing, play instruments, including the piano, and dance. My sister played violin (this is when all our babies danced.) Mark, my eldest brother, sang, and also played trombone with his sons.

Then we did presents, one by one. I'd say Brek takes after the Jensen genes and is a natural "gift appreciator." And that was fun, and kept him busy while older cousins opened their gifts. He got legos from Grandma and Papa, and Uncle David too.

Here's all his Santa presents ready for being opened on Christmas morning.

3

Pretty sure he's ready to be awake.

His most beloved gift was a game from Aunt Tracy's family - Looping Louie. Here he's playing with Adelynne, Colby, and Heather.

 

Playing legos with Daddy with on-looking Katie 

The 3 "babies" watching the ipad

After a wonderful *almost* 2 weeks, we headed to Utah to spend time with Joe's family. We made it in time for the Jensen family holiday dinner/party, tho we were a little late. It was fun to see everyone in one large gathering. The following evening, Brek & I hung out with all the other women in the family for a "tea party." Joe hung out with the guys.

With getting to spend a whole week in Utah, we decided we wanted to spend a few hours with each of his siblings' families, one-on-one. Now that we live far away and only get to visit twice a year, we wanted Brek to get to interact with his cousins and get to know them better, which is hard to do at a huge family gathering (tho we love those too).

The first individual family we spent time with was Peter and Marisa, and their 5 children. While dinner finished making, Brek enlisted Jonathan and James in playing "marching band."

After dinner, we got all of the kids to play "Looping Louie" with us. The older girls didn't think it would be fun, but we ended up all taking turns playing for over 30 minutes.

Playing with James, Sara, and Jonathan

Joe, Peter, and Marisa on the couch

I didn't get any pictures of New Year's Eve at Dan & Michelle's house. Brek had tons of fun playing with Madison and little James, who are his cousins closest to him in age. And since they were all little kids, we could make it an early night.

On New Year's Day, we went up to Dave and Carol's house. These are Brek's oldest cousins, but I loved that they were still willing to play Looping Louie with him.

Andrew, Nick, and Ryan

They had several gingerbread houses on the counter, and were sweet enough to let Brek decorate his own. So this is Brek's:

He is like his mommy, and enjoyed eating it almost as quickly as he ate it. (Daddy is of the opinion that gingerbread houses are not for eating.)

Dave and Joe playing laser chess.

After dinner, we played their African drums. Brek was in heaven

 Mike and Janelle were able to come over to Joe's mom's house one evening, and Brek had fun playing with their 3 girls-Kate, Lizzie, and Sabrina. Once again, we pulled out Looping Louie. (I told you it was his favorite Christmas gift. He played it with EVERYONE!)

Love his "cheesy" face!

We had a wonderful visit in Utah with Joe's family, and loved the time with each person and family. We really appreciate Joe's mom for hosting and all that she did for us. Brek loved his time with her, and even got a few special outings just with Grandma Jensen.

We had a wonderful holiday season, especially with the blessing of being with family!

Hope yours was great too!