Twas the WEEK before Christmas...

We were lucky enough to have lots of family around for Christmas!  My brother Clint and his wife Keila stayed with us for a week, brother Glenden and his wife Patty was nearby in Brentwood for the same amount of time, and also were able to spend time with Jason's family that lives locally.  We kept busy over the holidays, but it was pretty non-stress and mellow, which was nice.

Friday

Clint and Keila arrived on Friday night, the week before Christmas.  It was fun having them in our house and getting to know Keila better.  Her English is getting very good and we were able to communicate much more than we were able to in he past.  The kids really loved the attention they gave to them as well.

Saturday

Saturday we went out to see the newest Narnia movie, The Dawn Treasurer.  I love the Narnia series and this movie was great! 

That evening we also went to see the "Nutcracker" in the stake center building located next to the temple. 

 None of us had seen it before.  It wasn't quite what I was expecting and a little long, but it was ok.  We didn't know the story behind the dance and were confused what the dance was supposed to mean, but after we read the Nutcracker story at intermission it made more sense.  By that time I think everyone was ready to leave, but Sadie really wanted to see the rest of the dance so her and I stayed.  Everyone else left to see temple lights and walk around temple square.

Sunday

On Sunday Glenden and Patty blessed their new baby, Camilla, in Patty's sister's ward in Oakley.

The blessing was very nice and Camilla looked beautiful.

Tuesday

On Tuesday we went with Clint and Keila to the Jelly Belly Factory.  The kids were all upset because they couldn't ride next to Clint and Keila...

We went on the tour to see how the Jelly Belly's are made and enjoyed our free Jelly Belly Samples of Reindeer food and jelly beans.





Me, Sadie, Clint, and Mackenzie posing with Mr. Jelly Belly :)

Keila, Sadie, Mr. Jelly Belly, Braden, Clint, Mackenzie

 
Afterward we took them to our favorite Pizza place:  Zachary's Pizza!  Soooo yummy!

Yum!

Wednesday

Wednesday we joined up with Glenden and Patty and the kids were able to have some jump time at Pump it Up with Aubrey and Naomi.  When we got there we were surprised to see cousins from the other side of the family as well!  Madison, Noah and Chase were also jumping that day!




Mackenzie and Braden on the slide.  Madison and I at the top.



Sadie & Braden



Glenden, Aubrey and Naomi

 Thursday

Thursday we went out with both of my siblings and their families for some miniature golf, go-carts and games.  At first the miniature golf was very frustrating because I had it in my head that each kid would take a turn and we would keep score.  Apparently they are too little to do this and kept wanting continue hitting the ball, move their ball and everyone else's ball, they just didn't get the game.  So, I gave up on that idea and let them play it they way they wanted to.  It was a lot more fun for them and for me!




Clint and Keila




Sadie





Glenden



Mackenzie



The Weather was nice, but not nice enough to want to get wet so we all agreed not so spray each other on these little motorized boats.  Jason stood out with baby Camilla.  Sadie rode with Keila, Glenden with one of the twins, Patty with the other, and Clint rode solo.  I rode with Braden, who was trigger happy, and barely managed to keep him from spraying anyone.  I didn't want any retaliation!

Next we tried out the go-carts.  All the kids were too small to ride alone so they each had an adult to ride with.  Mackenzie and I sat this out (not a pregnancy safe activity!) and Patty also didn't participate because she had to feed the baby.



Glenden and Naomi




Aubrey and Keila





Clint and Sadie

 I guess Jason and Braden were going too fast to get a good picture of them!  (Typical from the guy that gets a ticket once a month practically!)


Friday

 On Christmas Eve Jason took the boat out for the morning along with Clint, Keila, Glenden, Caleb, Kelly, and Dave.  I was happy to stay home in the warmth of our house!   The kids stayed home with me and helped me bake cookies for Santa and some food for our Christmas Eve Dinner at Nana and Papa's.  It wouldn't have been a good place for kids anyway since the guys all took guns to practice skeet shooting off the boat.  This has been become Christmas Eve tradition for Jason. 

Note:  Jason shaved his head this week!  He  is getting a bald spot on the back of his head as he grows older and thought this may be the best solution.  He wanted to see if the shaved look would look good on him on a weekend where he wouldn't be working the whole week in case he didn't like it and he would have time to grow it back out before going back to work.  He kept it this way for about 2 weeks, but decided he didn't like it. 

Christmas Dinner was at Jason's parent's house along with Todd and Jen's family.  This year we decided to keep it simple and do a Mexican themed dinner.  One of my favorite!  As always we all ate too much but had a good time together.  After dinner, the kids all opened presents from Nana and Papa.  Christmas gifts could have ended there and they would have been happy.  They loved their presents (Barbies and cars!)

Saturday

Christmas day I took absolutely no pictures because I was using the video recorder.  We did enjoy opening presents Christmas morning (highlights:  Skates, Art supplies, and movies from Santa; games and clothes from Jason and I; clothes, crafts, puzzles, bathtub supplies from Glenden & Patty and Clint and Keila; Christmas Dresses and Suit from Grandma and Grandpa)

We had an amazing breakfast over at Todd and Jen's house and exchanged a couple presents between our families.  We presented Jason's parents their family album that all 5 of their kids (and/or spouses) made for them.  It was nice that everyone could come together to do something for them and it turned out really nice.

Keila made a Brazilian dinner for us on Christmas.  It was fun to taste some REAL Brazilian food and play games that night with them and Glenden and Patty.  We had planned on getting pictures of all the Webb cousins together but Naomi was feeling sick and that prevented us from taking pictures of them in their new dress clothes from Grandma and Grandpa.  Maybe we will each have to take pictures on a white background and photoshop them together to make up for it!  :)