Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year

I've got so much to catch up on, that I'm avoiding writing altogether. I'll just do a little now, and then get Jonah to bed.

I don't think I even wrote about Thanksgiving. We went to Cedar City and spent a few days with my sister-in-law, Clara's, family. We stayed in my mother and father-in-law's home while they are on their mission. I can't tell you what a sad feeling that was - particularly at first. We walked in and saw all of their things around, as if they were just about to come out of the bedroom and greet us. I had to fight back tears multiple times. (My parents are done at the MTC and we're saying goodbye today, so I'm feeling that again.) Anyway, Jessie and her family came, and we had a wonderful meal and a great time. We miss our more frequent visits to Cedar City! But we're very happy have missionaries to write.

We did some fun Christmas things all through December, as I've chronicled already, but I didn't mention Eli's Christmas concert at the elementary school. The big downside there was that I sent John home for the video camera, and he missed the cutest number with Eli in it. Sorry, John! (But we went to Krispy Kreme after, and had a good evening overall.)

Let's see. Greg and Rhonda (my brother and his wife) came to town for Christmas and we went to the children's museum with them and with my sister Kimberly and kids. There was almost no one there, so we got to visit and watch the kids in a more leisurely manner than we've experienced there before or since. We spent Christmas Eve with my family, where we played Christmas bingo, ate our traditional pizza, drank cider and acted out the Christmas story from the Bible, while my Dad read. It was wonderful. Rebecca and Mike's families were also there. Here are a few pictures:

Christmas morning, Greg and Rhonda, and their adorable little Ruby came over and joined us in opening presents. It was so fun to have them. The kids loved their presents, although it took a while for some of them to gain their appropriate place among the favorites. We've particularly enjoyed Eli's Creepy Crawler bug oven - and Tori's Easy Bake Oven was a hit until the brownie dripped all over the inside, and we haven't yet gotten what we need to get it opened and cleaned. I got some really great deals on many of the gifts, and I would brag about my steals here, but someday the kids will read it and think I'm cheap. :)
We had a fun day out at my parents Christmas day as well, even though we were horribly tired. The next day, my parents and Grandma rented a roller skating rink for a big extended family party. I am just realizing what a lousy job I've done lately at taking pictures. I'll go online soon and steal some from Rhonda.

On New Year's Eve, we had my sister, Lisa, and her family over. We had great food and watched a fun movie. Oh, before they came, we met my sister Kimberly and her kids and saw some great kid-friendly Christmas lights at a local city park. In this first picture, my brother noted that Eli looks like he's ready to pass out, and he questioned our festivities. I swear, it was all good, clean fun.