Christmas in arizona

this was our first year spending Christmas at home. of course i missed going to utah or california but we were lucky enough to have family here. nanna and papa came from california and we got together for christmas eve at laura and kevin's house. my sister steph and family came over and we had some old friends, the modrells from our california ward there too. that is one of the cool things about marry people from your home stake you always get to keep in touch.

christmas eve we had the traditional christmas dinner that we all contributed to and then the little kids performed the nativity. jack was the star of david and he actually kept his "star" on his head.




after the nativity there was a small talent show, with original songs as well as some of the traditional favorites. jack sang jingle bells all by himself. we were worried that he would get stage fright and not want to do it but he seemed to really relish being in the spot light.

christmas morning was very nice and relaxing. jack didn't want up until 6:30 and we came down to find that santa ate jack's treat that he made him. yes jack actually helped me make santa rice crispie treats, a first and hopefully not the last. opened our stockings and saw what santa left for jack. the presents were opened in about 15 minutes and then it was time to break out jack's ultimate gift. this year we bought jack a bounce house which he loves but also serves therapy purposes. after playing with our presents we went to denny's for breakfast, a newer family tradition that i really quite like.

jack discovering that santa came and ate his treat

in his stocking he got a notebook because he is really into blues clues and he needs a place to write down his clues.

opening his presents

that's right we have the bounce house in our living room!

later that morning nanna and papa came up to spend the weekend with us and we had a second round of presents. jack got a 500 piece marble coaster that john was lucky enough to set up. all in all it was a really wonderful christmas and we got a chance to reflect upon the things that are most important about the christmas season, the Savior, family and friends. we hope you all had a wonderful christmas and have a happy new year.

jack loves his papa

the early stages of setting up the marble coaster. doesn't john look so excited to be doing this?

the finished product and it only took him 4 hours