Christmas

Cecily "reading" the story of Jesus' birth on Christmas Eve.



















The three kids on Christmas morning.














Elliot opens his DS, Audrey gets jeans, Cecily has a mouse family.














Audrey gave Cecily this Dora couch.














And.....this is what Elliot looked like for the rest of the vacation. This is his starter game system, so he actually knows that he needs to be really really good about not abusing the DS.














Audrey playing her electronic Sudoku game in one of her new outfits.














The day after Christmas was the perfect day to go sledding at Lundstrom Park. Cec headed up the hill.



















All three kids heading down the hill.














Elliot, in the middle on the red sled, just a he was wiping out.



















Cecily really wanted to help bring the tubes and sleds back up the hill.














Jacob plays the piano while everyone sings Christmas carols. I think they sang Jingle Bells six times. Mary and Jacob kept suggesting other songs, but....., no. Jingle Bells.



















I love this picture of Audrey painting her nails with her new nail pens and Caroline having a tea party at her feet.



















Cec and Elliot in Cec's new dragon tent.














Anna, Harriet, and Cecily helped Grandpa feed the chickens.














And the cows.














Cecily actually took this picture of her cousin Hailey.














Elliot playing DS again, with Jacob and Nathan. Audrey showing Elise and Hailey some of her music.














Elliot and Nathan playing foosball. I tried to take a picture of Jacob and Audrey, but they're more publicity-shy.

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

I was really excited for Santa to come. There were a couple of times that I went potty just because I knew Santa was coming. On Christmas Eve we played with the nativity set and read the Christmas story. Then I unwrapped my jammies, and they're cute pink jammies with flowers on them. And then I went to sleep in my moon bed. On Christmas I was so excited about my presents. I got a Dora couch, a backpack, and a little family of mice. I also got some books and movies. I've really been enjoying the movie "Madeline" lately. I like Madeline. We went sledding at the park. Except I call it "skidding" because I've heard the kids talk about sledding and skiing and I figure they're about the same thing. I liked it when we went on the tube and we slid all the way to the tree. We drove down to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Jacob played with us on the slides and swings and we were laughing and laughing. We got to help feed the chickens and cows. And I got a dragon tent from Grandma and Grandpa. It was really fun to have tea parties in it. We slept at Anna and Caroline's house and spent the morning running running running. Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Willmore's house. I played with my cousins there, too. Jacob and Nathan came back home with us. They stayed at our house and Collin came to play with them. I love Collin. I pay a lot of attention to him. I went to nursery for the last time. Next week I'm going to big Primary and I'm going to get to sit on the little chairs. It was the first time that I wore my panties to church, too. Before church started I told Mommy I wanted to go and say hi to my teacher, Sister Ernstrom, and I went over to her and told her I needed to go potty. She started to take me before Mommy realized what I was doing and sent Audrey after me. I didn't have a very fun New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, because both days I missed my nap. At least today I got to go down and play with Paige. That was fun. Now I'm in a really really bad mood and I need to go to sleep.

Cecily

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

On Christmas Eve I got some Transformer pajamas. They were really cool and they're really kind of soft. And we read the story of how Jesus was born and one part we came to it said, "Jesus Christ" and right after that, Ceci said "amen!" It was really funny. I got to help do stockings. Christmas morning me and Audrey and Cecily watched some TV and then Ceci decided to open presents before eating. So we opened some presents and Audrey got a cell phone. I gave Audrey a new Sudoku game. Ceci got some mittens and a hat. And a Dora couch. And I gave her the Playdough rolling pin. I got my dad some socks because all his socks were either worn out or had holes in them. And all together we got him a GPS. And then I got my mom a internet wireless router so that she could use her laptop anywhere in the house that she wanted to and also so that she could have two computers running at once. And then I got a DS from Santa and I got a basketball from Ceci, and I got Piranha Panic from Audrey. I played with my DS. The next day I went sledding, and then I went to Austin's house and showed him my DS and we watched some TV and played some inside basketball. He got a new game for Christmas for his Gameboy. He got hunting. And then we went down to Grandpa and Grandma's and we slept at Mary and Nate's house and I slept in the recliner, but my dad had to kick me out because he had to rock Ceci, and then my mom woke me up to go to the bathroom, and I went back to sleep in the recliner and then Dad had to kick me out again. And then the next night Audrey came with us to sleep at Mary and Nate's house and she was going to sleep on the couch upstairs but I didn't want to be alone and so she went and slept on the recliner, and it's not fair because Dad never kicked her out. Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's house was really fun. I got some money and then I got a piggy bank and it counts how much money you have in your bank and so far I have $27.48. I also got the "Dark is Rising" books. I watched some football. And then we played "Apples to APples" at Nate and Mary's house with Jacob and Kara. It was really fun. The next day we went to Grandma and Grandpa Willmore's house and they gave me a gift card for $25 to Walmart. And then they gave me a $2 bill, which is really rare. I played on my DS and I played with Jacob and Audrey and Nate and we ate some food and with Nate I played wall ball. And then they came home with us. It was really squishy in the car. Me and Nate sat in the back. Nate went to my class with me on Sunday and we had a review test and he got six questions right, but they were like, who are the present twelve apostles. Then after church we had Collin come up and we played this game where we had to try to keep the ball and not give it to the other team and Audrey stuck her hand out when I was running toward her and her hand hit my face and I hit my forehead on the wall and I started crying. And then I went down again and Audrey and Jacob said that we had to make the bed, which, we didn't really mess it up, so that wasn't really fair. Then the next day we got up early and we went skiing. I almost forgot my mittens. I had one really good wipeout. It was when there was a flat part and I was going as fast as I could down the hill to keep going on the flat part so I wouldn't have to hike up, but I hit a clump of snow and I just face planted right in the snow. We went down about 14 or 15 times. We got there when it opened and we left when it closed. That's the longest we've ever been skiing. It was really cold. And after we went skiing, I kept walking around the house and after a few hours my legs started hurting really bad. I had my pajamas plus one shirt and two sweatshirts and then my snowsuit and then my coat. And then I had my pajamas and then two pairs of sweats on and then my snowsuit. That part of my body wasn't cold. But my hands only got cold twice and then my feet got cold every time. But mostly my cheeks and chin and toes were cold. Then we took Nate and Jake to meet their parents. Today, for New Year, I played my DS and I watched football and Iron Chef. And I didn't want to practice the bass because I didn't really have any pieces. Happy New Year!

Elliot

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,

Christmas Eve me and Elliot helped with the stockings and we put the stuff together and stayed up late. Cecily's probably mad at us that we got to stay up late. I got new pajamas that I could use as underwear to go skiing with too. The top was black and gray striped and it had sequins and the bottoms were like lockets and bracelets and other stuff. Christmas morning we opened up presents. I got Elliot a game called Piranha Panic and he liked it really very much. I got Cecily a Dora couch and she sat in it and watched movies and she loves it and goes crazy over it. I think it's one of her favorite presents. I got my mom new cups and bowls. She likes them a lot. We've been using them a lot. And they're plastic but they don't look like plastic. Dad loved my socks I got him. I got some clothes and a pair of boots from Santa. And a new cell phone. A new pair of skis. Sudoku from my brother and a CD from my sister. The next day we went sledding with Cecily and she had a ball. Her favorite one was the plastic sled. She liked the tube because it would go all the way down to the tree. But the sled wouldn't. Then we left for Grandma and Grandpa's and we said hi to them and the other cousins and then I stayed there with Emma and Gracie together in a bed up in the green room. It was kind of hard sleeping with three people in one bed. We still made it. The next day we woke up and got ready and I played some piano pieces for my grandparents and I opened presents and I got nail polish and nail polish paints. I just barely painted Cecily's fingernails with them and she likes them very much. Then we went to Mary and Nate's house, because I stayed there that night, and we played "Apples to APples". I was going to sleep on the couch and I put my glasses down by it, and my brother was downstairs, and I went and slept in the recliner, and when we left I realized that I left my glasses at Mary and Nate's house and they called a few minutes later and they mailed them to me and it was a Saturday and they got to me on Monday. They were fast. So I sent them a thank you email. NOw I think I've learned my lesson not to put my glasses where I think I might remember them. At Grandma and Grandpa's house I watched a movie with my cousins for a bit, and then Nate and Jake came and I played with them most of the time and then Jake and Nate came with us back to our house so they could go snowboarding and skiing with us on Monday. It was a squishy ride up but it was fun. Sunday Jacob came to both of my classes because it was combined YM/YW. He was pretty shy. Then we had Collin come up and we played games and stuff. WHich probably some of them weren't very Sundayish, but oh well. MOnday we got up early and got ready to go skiing/snowboarding. We got there before nine. We got our stuff, which was a good thing, because the lines got longer and longer. And then we were off skiing. We found Collin and his dad and some people in our ward. It was COLD. My dad said outside it was minus ten degrees. I think it went colder. We came home after going skiing and we were all cold and sore and I got to go babysitting. They came home at eleven. I didn't have to stay and watch the baby long. THen today I cleaned and practiced my instruments, played computer, watched TV, made muffins, watched Cecily, did Cecily's nails, and played with Emma and Grace. And now I'm going to bed. Happy New Year. I didn't make a New Year's resolution because I always forget mine.

Audrey