This Christmas Season was the busiest it's ever been for us. That being said, SO much fun was had this December. Here's a summary in pictures of the many Christmas parties we attended:
Gardner Family Party:
The kids all got to draw names and give gifts to each other. I love how easy they are to shop for right now. Give them a necklace and they are golden!
And there's always some fun games for each age (let's not forget pizza & treats for food addicts like myself!):
Simon Says:
It's always fun getting together with the adults in the evening as well, until Travis tries to embarrass me in front of his entire family. Let's just say payback is in order!
Christmas Tree Lane
I got to help with Brielle's Preschool Field Trip which took everyone to Christmas Tree Lane. Such a fun tradition that Richfield participates in. We played "I spy" and the girls of course loved it!
Except for maybe Kya. She wasn't so in love with this activity:
That night, Brielle's dance class had their first recital at Christmas Tree Lane! It was nothing short of adorable!
And this little poser ate it right up!
So of course this girl wanted in on the action as well:
She was a little nervous right before. I had no idea if she'd actually make it on the stage or not to be honest, but she did awesome and even knew all of the steps right on cue!
My manly man of a husband did a great job too. He sat through the entire thing and didn't complain even once! I'd say that counts as a success:)
Ward Christmas Party
Kya was not too sure:
Taylee was not too sure:
I think Brielle is barely getting the hang of this Santa thing:
Primary Program:
Kyhl Family Christmas Party:
Started off at the cemetery to decorate a tree for Grandma. We sure miss her!
Best buds:
Game Time!
Pin the hat on the polar bear:
Priorities though:
Bingo:
"Snowball" Fight:
Hoops:
Our beautiful cousin Aniela trying to encourage Miss Kya to walk:
Both of my older girls asked for Barbie's with wings from Santa. Guess what they got in their bag? Barbie's with Wings! Yay! Santa didn't even need to come on Christmas Eve. Trav and I laughed pretty hard over that, then we set up a time to go on a shopping trip!
Cousin Jackson is getting ready to be a big brother to a little girl so we thought we'd give him some practice!
The girls told me their favorite part was doing nonstop performances on the stage for everyone. Of course!
Light Parade!
I'm not going to lie though, it was dang cold. The older girls didn't last long before they wanted to get in the truck. We ended up leaving early because none of us could feel our toes.
Granny Bev's Christmas Luncheon:
I can't believe I didn't get pictures of this party. The whole family went to Chinese Gourmet, which was delicious, and we played some great white elephant games where my family totally scored big! Kya had a great time and here's the proof of that! She was COVERED from head to toe in sugar. Good times:
Rhodes Family Party:
My parent's (as always) did a great job on coming up with activities to keep all of us entertained.
The competition was on!
Except for Brielle who just wanted to pose at every turn:
Minute to Win It:
We had SO much fun playing all of the games. Of course, Trav and I ended up winning (ha ha) pretty much everything but the one game I wanted to win most - the money game! It came down to Randy and myself, and I'm not going to lie my pulse was racing, but Randy ended up taking the winnings the last few very intense seconds. Lucky dog.
On a random note, I sure love my girls.
I also love Christmas. Mix the two of them and it's just perfect!
Gary and Margaret were kind enough to have us over for Christmas Eve dinner and games.
Poor Kya. I don't even notice anymore but I spend so many of my seconds kissing that girl. I just can't get enough!
Gingerbread Man Decorating:
And Kya had to show off the fact that the day before Christmas Eve she finally started walking! Yahoo!
She pretty much ate half of Grandpa Jack's pie. She just kept going back for more. He couldn't resist!
The girls opened their traditional jammie's!
Christmas Morning!!
We got to give and get presents to and from lots of fun visitors:
We made the traditional and very delicious sticky buns:
Between the new karaoke machine, the lipsticks, dress ups, ballet shoes and books about all things fancy, I was kind of thinking Trav would be completely out of the loop this Christmas but don't worry, he still managed to wow them with a pink BB gun!
And I made them picture books. They didn't care too much about those, but maybe someday they will.
Christmas threw up on our floor:
No one seemed to mind though. Such a great day!
I surprised Travis this year with a new Go Pro Camera. And he surprised me with a silhouette cutting machine and a shower speaker. We were all spoiled and felt very loved!
My parents came that afternoon for even more spoiling:
We had fun singing karaoke that night. I even caught Travis for a split second enjoying our new toy!
Ha ha!
Christmas truly was wonderful this year though and we especially loved talking to our kids about the true meaning of Christmas. It's a really neat experience to be able to hear our children remember to thank Heavenly Father in their prayers for Jesus and for his Birthday!
Today:
Today is a perfect day for playing dress ups with friends. I love that I can see how happy they are just in the way they skip away!
