On December 19th, Scott and Amy and their family traveled to Utah to spend a week with us. They were on their way to Kansas, where Scott will start a new job and they will be in a new home (for them) and start new schools. Changing schools in the middle of the year is difficult, and we are praying that things will go well for the children. They are, however, living in the same town as they were four and a half years ago, as well as going to the same ward, and attending the same elementary. That will be helpful.
On December 21st, Scott was kind enough to drive us (Jenny, Spencer, Sam and Evie) to Las Vegas to see BYU play in the Las Vegas Bowl. (I really went down to see Matt's children, Jacob and Owen, and to tend Owen with his other grandmother, Chris, while the others went to the game). Matt and Stacie went to Phoenix for Christmas and drove up with the Packards to see the Las Vegan Bowl and to see us also. I will say this a hundred times: Scott is a good sport. Thanks, Scott, for being willing to go with us. Amy stayed home to get her Christmas shopping done and other projects. She and Dad spent some quality time together, along with Ashlynn, Elle (Amy's girls) and Ali, Zack and Milly (Jenny's girls). Thanks, Amy, for taking care of things while we were gone. Ryan pitched in and helped also. Thanks Ryan.
We stayed at the Golden Nugget Hotel, and Spencer and Sam had a great time with Jacob.
There was more than one dog pile (kids and adults piling on top of each other) in the hotel room.
Sam and Jacob
Spencer and Jacob
Stacie, Owen, Scott and Evie at the restaurant in the hotel.
Jenny and Owen. Aren't they both cute!
Spencer, Sam and Jacob at McDonalds
Stacie, Chris (grandma) holding Owen, Evie (grandma) holding Jacob, and Matt by a huge Christmas tree on Freemont Street in Las Vegas.
Cute picture of Matt and Stacie
On December 23rd, we headed back home so that Jenny could help her kids in a couple of programs where they performed for people in two care centers. They sang, clogged and played the piano. It was a sweet performance.
Christmas Eve came rapidly. All of Jenny's and Ryan's family and Amy's and Scott's family were here, as well as Keshia Lai, Grandpa Dalebout, and Dick and Evie--15 in all. Zack came ready to have Grandpa Dick pull out his top front tooth. He didn't want anyone else to pull it out. Dick LOVES to get the pliers and pull out baby teeth. I'm convinced that down deep inside, he really wanted to be a dentist and pull people's teeth. He was successful and Zack was very brave.
We always manage to have a talent show after we eat dinner on Christmas Eve. We were very proud of our grandchildren. Four of them (Ashlynn, Elle, Spencer and Ali) played piano solos and did a great job. Milly sang a song with Spencer. Sam finally consented to play the saxophone for us, only if Grandpa Dick would play the trumpet, which he hasn't played for a couple of years. Sam did great, and we could tell what Grandpa Dick was playing. So, that was good.
Keshia sang "Oh Holy Night," while Jenny played.
And, the crowning star of the night was the Nativity. Here are our participants. Zack was Joseph (on Keshia's lap), Elle was Mary, Spencer and Ashlynn were shepherds, Ali and Milly were angels, Scott and Amy were wisemen, Ryan was the innkeeper, and Sam was the donkey.Keshia was the director, and Grandpa Dalebout was the reader. We love this tradition of recreating the nativity each year. There was a special feeling this Christmas as we played our parts.
Another tradition our family has had is to open one gift on Christmas Eve. The gift is usually pajamas, and so it was this Christmas Eve for the Kimball family's children. Here they are in their pajamas.
Christmas morning dawned, and our last tradition came to pass. We have always lined up our children and grandchildren in order of age. In the past, we have had them come downstairs, but the last few Christmas's, they have come upstairs from the basement into our new room. Here they are in order of age. Elle (7) holding Sequoia (2), Sam (10), Ashlynn, (13), Keshia (23), Scott and Amy. You can guess their ages.
Another tradition our family has had is to open one gift on Christmas Eve. The gift is usually pajamas, and so it was this Christmas Eve for the Kimball family's children. Here they are in their pajamas.
Christmas morning dawned, and our last tradition came to pass. We have always lined up our children and grandchildren in order of age. In the past, we have had them come downstairs, but the last few Christmas's, they have come upstairs from the basement into our new room. Here they are in order of age. Elle (7) holding Sequoia (2), Sam (10), Ashlynn, (13), Keshia (23), Scott and Amy. You can guess their ages.
We had a very special Christmas this year, thanks to the efforts of our children. They were willing to sacrifice and contribute to some special charities. They made us a DVD and book of their experiences. This will be a Christmas we will never forget, and, hopefully, they won't.
I couldn't resist taking this picture of the Scott wearing a shirt he got for Christmas.
5 comments:
Great post of your Christmas activities, Evie. Wasn't Las Vegas fun? And aren't we glad we stayed out of the cold and wind with Owen? We loved getting to spend part of our holiday with you. Those days fly past faster and faster every year, don't they? Thanks for sharing.
Love the post--all of it was so much fun!
It was all fun until Christmas ended and then reality set in! We all had such a great time and appreciated the great food which we did little to help prepare and the use of your computer which we did a great deal to help mess up with viruses. Sorry. We weren't very good guests, but we sure had a great time. Thanks, Mom.
It all looks and sounds wonderful. What a great family you have.
Happy times! I love the picture of Scott in his Christmas shirt. Is there a story that goes with it?
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