Christmas!

 I'll tell the story of Christmas in pictures :)

We put up the tree, the one that we didn't give back to Kathy and Alan because A) it was in our basement all year, and B) we had lots of company coming and this was their Thanksgiving year for their kids.  We did ask, but probably persuasively:)  Anyway, we needed the ladder to reach the top, and the boys wanted to help, and help they did:

 

Made it to the top, and each put up quite a few ornaments

 Right before all the company started to arrive Nathan and Jonathan matched at church

 This was Nathan's outfit when he was a little boy!

Cute little buddies

On December 18th Grammies and Grandma Kitty came for a nice long visit!

Grandma Kitty, Mommy, and Jonathan

We made gingerbread houses one day.

Gingerbread house making with Grammies and Grandma Kitty

Kirstin came up to stay on Dec 24th, and Boompa came that day too from Colorado.

Beautiful Kirstin

Playing with Jack and the light up snowballs!

Mom and Grams watching and enjoying the energy my boys bring to life!

Kirstin brought up her friend Taylor to meet us on Christmas day, and he ended up staying 4 days!

He was great with the kids too! A really great guy and we were glad to have him.

The Nativity Family Home Evening lesson before Christmas

Grandpa and Grandma came also came on Christmas Eve 

to have dinner, and of course some wrestling ensued :)

 Boompa supervising his three little buddies in the bath on Christmas Eve

A tradition that we've kept up for 30years now!  My Dad reading

T'was The Night Before Christmas

 Jonathan and Mommy on Christmas Eve

Singing on Christmas Eve

Jack likes to help play the piano!

Christmas Eve it snowed, a lot!  Yeah for a white Christmas!

And Santa came that night!

I love the glow of the Christmas tree.

 Mommy and her boys on Christmas morning

Alan and Kathy came Christmas morning as well as our full house.

 It was a fun morning for sure!

 Mommy snuggling her youngest as the other two are just waiting to come downstairs to see what Santa had brought. He did not disappoint, and our boys were good and got a few things on their list, like both the movies they each wanted, remote control cars, and money to go ice skating as a family.

 Getting ready to open up presents.  This is always my favorite part, where everything is all wrapped still and it looks beautiful.

 After we opened presents on Christmas

Chewing on his new frog during breakfast

We had to go play in the snow after breakfast!  I love how the boys just tackled Kirstin. Jack is wearing his new Toothless dragon hat that Santa brought. 

Later that afternoon Boompa, the boys, Nathan and I headed to Grandma Hiller's house in Salt Lake for her annual Christmas Day open house.

Boompa and baby Jonathan holding hands on the way

This picture makes my heart melt

 The matriarch of the great Hiller clan, Annie.

So I don't even know how many are in her family, she is our great-grandma, and Grandma Haworth's stepmom.  Grandma Haworth was the second of six kids, and she had 7 daughters, and there are now (I think) about 100 give or take five from the Haworth line alone.  And Grandma Haworth has 5 other siblings!  Grandma Hiller is so generous though, and loves, loves, loves the babies:)

I loved living with her when we were first married and we got to know her for about five months. 

 Some favorite times with family

 The day after Christmas we went sledding on the back way 

Our boys love the snow and sledding.

Kirstin and Taylor came too and they were great fun.

Grandma Kitty and Jonathan waiting for dinner one night

She was getting good at feeding him a bottle.

Jonathan went through a stage where he didn't want anyone but his mommy to feed him, so we were working on other people giving him food as well.

Boompa got a rocket making kit, and so James and Jack helped him to make some rockets to fly

Cutie pie Jack

When he's sweet and happy he is one cute kid, but he is certainly my hardest yet.  He's not always so happy, and those are the times that are putting gray hairs on my head.

Blastoff, and Mommy is poised to catch it

Jonathan and Kirstie Kat

A new trick we can do

Grammies and Boompa with the three boys

Ready for church on the Sunday that the choir preformed

The Kutterer's came over on Sunday after Christmas to have dinner with us all.  That was quite a full table!  It was so good to see them.  I know they are busy, but I wish that we could see them more often with how close we live.

Grandma getting now pretty good at feeding Jonathan, and Jonathan liking his great-grandma Kitty to feed him.  This generational picture is so sweet. 

Kirstin and Taylor had to go back to their homes the Sunday after Christmas as well.  All the boys here are giving hugs and kisses goodbye.

Probably one of my favorite times I got to watch, and get on video, was when Jack and James helped Grandma Kitty make peanut butter ball treats.  I can remember for forever having these tasty treats from my Grandma, and she helped the boys make them this year!

Getting out a spoonful

Roll it in your hands

How grateful we are that we could have so many share Christmas with us!  The boys got to have BOTH sets of their Grandparents for Christmas, that is a special treat.  And see their great-grandmas.

Grammies and Grandma Kitty headed back to Colorado on the 30th, and from there we went home, packed our bags and left to go spend a few days with Grandpa and Grandma, and more Manwaring family.  This was a non-stop Christmas break.