A different kind of Christmas

Different it was. It was not very cold and we actually had family come to us! I thought I would miss the snow, just for Christmas time, but to be honest I really didn't. It was chilly enough that we had our fire roaring at nights, so I think that created the Christmas ambiance that I needed. Bring on the 60 degree weather!

We did the 12 days of Christmas for our girls like we do every year. 

Here are a couple of things we did. 

Trav's work Christmas party (although this wasn't apart of the 12 days, so I don't know why I put it here, Oh well)

It was at the Apache Gold casino and I remembered why its not good for me to go into those things. I think I could be a gambling addict. His company gave us a 15 dollar credit to gamble, so of course we couldn't turn it down. We were on the blackjack table and seriously, I could have stayed all night. The feeling is exhilarating! You win, you lose, you feel cool tapping your hand on the table when you want the dealer to hit you. Yeah, I need to stay away from that place. I did win 30 bucks, which went straight into the hands of Grace, our babysitter. Dirty money Grace.

Speaking of Grace, we watched The Elf with Grace and her brothers. 

We put up the Christmas tree

Its always a joy!

We went to the annual Globe light parade. It was awesome!!!

We saw Santa

Brooklyn told Santa that he had a cute mustache. And every time Santa would ask her what she wanted for Christmas, Brooklyn would say, "I want a crocodile, an alligator and a shark."

Closer to Christmas, my parents came and we spent the weekend in Gilbert with them and the Jolley's. 

The older kids and the adults went to see the Forgotten Carols. We will be together forever some day. Ha, you have to experience it do get why I said that. Don't get me wrong, the play is awesome! I could just use a little bit of wine with the cheese! Good ole' Michael McClaine. 

The kids were obsessed with each other all weekend long

On Christmas Eve we went and ate at this place

And seriously, not a bad tradition! No clean up.

After we stuffed ourselves with motlen lava cake, we headed to the Mesa Temple to see the lights.

Brooklyn fell asleep in the car on the way there, so my mom and dad stayed with her. It was just Crocket and us. She LOVED the lights. She was so dang excited!

After that, we headed back to the Jolley's to open up our jammies.

Then we trekked the 1 in a half hour drive home to Globe.

It was so much fun having Christmas in our house. 

And having Sid and Tam around.

That night, the Jolley's came up for Christmas dinner, along with our neighbors, the Bruce's. 

I took no pictures. But have you ever had a fried turkey? Brian fried one up, and I don't think I can go back to normal baked turkeys. Crap.

Travis made some prime rib and we had rolls, layered jello, mashed potatoes, salad, yadda yadda yadda. It was a regular feast.

Then the cousins opened up their gifts to each other

And we had a big sleepover... which meant that the kids all went to bed at 8:30 and the parents all fell asleep on the couch watching a movie. We are partiers.

This Christmas was special. We really pushed the Christ part of Christmas with our kids, but if you ask Avery what her favorite part of Christmas was, she will be honest and say getting presents. Dang it. We are working on them. I think the reason for the season really hits you when you are old like me! We are very grateful for Christ during this season! 

I don't want my kids to ever stop believing in all the Christmas things. It is so much fun to see how excited they are. On Christmas Eve we saw a Santa out wandering the streets. He came up to us to say hi and Avery instantly questioned the poor guy because she could clearly see that his beard was not real. When he left, she said, "that wasn't the real Santa." What a detective. We are going to have our work cut out for us in the future with her.

Here is our Christmas card we sent out

Hope it was a good one!