A Holly Jolly Christmas

This is a little belated, but we had a great Christmas this year. We kicked off our Christmas Eve hanging out with friends and going to lunch. Then it was off to our annual Christmas Eve party with the Pulsiphers, Fongs & Jexes (long time family friends from GH ward) that was hosted by the Pulsiphers this year. I think we had our biggest crowd yet. It was a super windy night and right before we were going to eat dinner, the power went out. Luckily, there were plenty of candles and lanterns on hand, so it made for a fun and memorable night (despite the fact that I had made - ok Gabrielle made - an ice cream pie that turned out to be a little melted). Here is a pic of all the kids and grandkids. This is the best picture we could get of the group in the dark.

Christmas morning was spent at my parents' house. Although I did not buy much for Chase, there were still way too many presents for his little 10 month old mind to comprehend. But he was actually pretty excited for his new toys. Here he is opening up and playing with his present from us that I have been letting him play with in the box for the last few weeks - and like I promised Matt - he was still excited to open it and it was a completely new toy out of the box.

Christmas afternoon we were off to Matt's sister's house in Yucaipa where it is always a little chaotic with 14 grandchildren ripping through presents simultaneously. Here is Chase, pretty pleased with the present he got from Grandma and Grandpa.

Christmas comes and goes so fast, and I can't believe 2008 is here already. I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.