More Holiday Fun in Idaho

The Monday following Christmas, the children and I headed to Idaho. We first picked up Mimi and her brand new puppy and joined extended family a the cabin in West Yellowstone. We had a couple of wonderful days there first! Then, we went back to Idaho to be with most of my siblings and their families. Here are most of the grandchildren in the pjs their amazing Mimi made them! Seriously, that's a whole lot of pjs to make--and they were FANCY!!

We were so excited to finally be able to meet the latest King grandbaby, Clara Lorraine (Carli & Blake's first baby). What a doll!

We were also excited to have Lou join us for the New Year (from Thursday-Sunday)! Here we are on New Year's Eve playing games. Lou did a great impression of the Cowardly Lion that won't soon be forgotten! :)Puppies are the best! I wish they didn't have to grow up. This is Mimi's new puppy, Opie. Emma wanted to claim her for her own. She still prays for the tiny little puppy.

Quincy & Emma

My kids are finally old enough to really enjoy sledding (poor Katie's weren't--see Cora in the bottom left picture)!

My four, racing down the hill together.I even enjoyed a couple of crazy rides down the hill with them (giving up the camera & camcorder for a ride).
Gehrig & Damian

That's Mason & Mimi helping us have an excellent time on the sledding hill.

Seriously. . .I can't look at that face and not want to squeeze the stuffings out of him. He's TOO cute!

Lou and Damian started something that was supposed to end up a snowman, but they froze before they could finish it!

Christmas Day 2009

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas together for the first time, just our little family--no travel plans for the day. I took a picture of the room before the children found it.

Santa left a coloring/activity book, crayons/colored pencils, puzzle, breakfast bar and water for each of the children in their rooms. . .

Along with a note. . .

I thought Santa was a genius! As it turned out, he was--but not in exactly the way I thought it would work out. Gratefully, nobody woke us up until about 7:30, so at that point, I didn't really need to be left alone to sleep. While they were enjoying their gifts in their rooms, I was able to get dressed a ready for the day. The best part of my day with them was what happened next. They all came into our bedroom and put their puzzles together with help from their Daddy and each other (snacking on popcorn that we received from a neighbor). Nobody expressed any hurry to get down to see the rest of the "loot."

As usual, Lou was in no big hurry to join us downstairs (:)), but I was anxious to have him with us, so while he took his time getting ready, I fed the kids some pancakes in Emma's room.

We didn't actually go downstairs until after 9AM! Isn't that some kind of record for a family with young children?!? And, although it was somewhat chaotic, everybody took turns opening gifts and giving gifts to each other which made the morning last for a good couple of hours! Just my style! Damian has been the most excited about the family gift from Santa (a keyboard). Surprisingly, I didn't take too many pictures of the morning, but needless to say, everybody had a good time and we all felt blessed with more than we needed! I can't believe I don't have any pictures of Gehrig with his gifts. He was so cute about everything he got, right down to the shirt and tie.
After opening the gifts and cleaning up a bit, we enjoyed a delicious meal of ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, green bean casserole, green salad, jello salad, etc. Wow! We have a lot to be grateful for this year--most importantly each other and the Gospel!

Neighbor Gift

I'm realling posting this for my records more than anything. We sure appreciated all the fun neighbor gifts we received this year. It's nice to be surrounded by so many friends!

Thanks again to my great friend, Annette, I was able to put together this cute card with the season magnets to give to my neighbors and friends here. Isn't it cute?