Christmas 2007

Christmas morning dawned cold and snowy - the perfect start to a Christmas day (of course by the time the sun rose, we had be awake for 2 hours).
We had a couple of inches of fresh snow on Christmas Eve - just enough that Daddy had to shovel. And at 22 degrees that morning, it was still not cold enough to need a coat and gloves when he shoveled (his body must still be used to living in Siberia, although he's been in Utah for 9 years).
Christmas for us comes in 3 rounds: our house, G'ma Debbie and G'ma Mary's house. Round 1 started bright and early - at 5:25 am. Lucky for Daddy, I kept the girls in G's room for an hour before they could no longer be contained, and Daddy got to "sleep in" unti. 6:15 am. Santa brought the girls a box full of dress-up items. Bryn immediately had to try on some of the items - the dress-ups were a big hit (which made Santa very happy, as he had been collecting items for months).
Mommy also gave the girls baby dolls, who appear to be well-loved . . .
Complete with their own strollers, which are incredibly fun to push around on the wood floors.

Round 2 began at 9am at G'ma D's house. The drive there was incredibly fun. My parents live in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, and they get lots more snow than we do. On some of the roads, we were the first car to have driven in the freshly fallen (and unplowed snow). It was amazingly fun. And our car did great - even when we tried to spin out, the car stayed in control. Shortly after arriving at G'ma's house, the present frenzy began again.
This is my brother wearing a new shirt. He loves shirts with funny sayings - especially the ones about the states (like "its all relative in West Virginia"). We also have a family joke that comes from driving I-15 through the state. Central Utah is very unpopulated, and 2 of the biggest towns along I-15 are Beaver and Fillmore. We always makes jokes about driving through the "Fillmore/Beaver" area of the state. This shirt came from my sister and her hubby, who stopped at the rest stop in Beaver a few weeks ago coming home from Vegas. Just in case you can't read what this shirt says, it has a basic map of the state, and reads "I found Beaver in Utah". Its very appropriate for my newly divorced, party-boy brother. And pretty freakin' hilarious.
I couldn't get a serious picture of G all day.
M and G (being silly again)
Daddy and Bryn

Round 3 began at 1:30 at G'ma Mary's house. Bryn fell asleep on the way there, and crashed for 2 hours in the play room. Notice how she is surrounded by toys?
Daddy and G - I love this picture.
My in-laws lived in Switzerland for many years, and brought home a love for European cheeses. We had the yummiest cheese bar, and I ate waaaay too much. But it was good. I think I ate about 20 apples and gouda.
Bryn finally woke up, and had a blast with her cousins.
Oh - and did I mention that we got MORE presents here?

It was a wonderful day. We are so blessed and grateful to have such an amazing family.