. . . and all through our home, we were so crazy with plans and activities we didn't have time to moan.
Day 12 (Saturday, December 13)
Magical Christmas ForestAfter Clark's basketball game in the morning and Katelyn's friend's birthday party in the afternoon, we bundled up (and I mean, bundled) and headed out for some dinner and a trip to the Magical Christmas Forest. It had been really windy all day long and very cold but we decided to brave the wind and go anyway since it was our last chance this year. We met the Swaseys and Aikeles for dinner at Sammy's Woodfired Pizza, which was delicious, and drove to the forest. After getting all snuggly in our heavy coats, hats, and gloves, discussing whether we should bag the forest and the wind and go bowling instead, running back to the cars for more blankets, scarves, and towels to wrap up in, re-discussing our indoor options, and finally deciding that "we were here so let's just do it!" we walked into the Magical Christmas Forest. And magical, it was! There was hot chocolate, a carousel, gunny-sack slide, Christmas train, Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, a Teddy Bear, and a village to walk through. It was all lit up and there were little houses and animated figures to see. The best part for the kids was the gunny sack slide. Because it was so cold and windy, it wasn't very busy so we got right on the rides and activities. Towards the end of the night, the wind died down and the weather was perfect--cold enough for hot cocoa but warm enough that we couldn't complain too much. It was a great evening and I'm so glad that we didn't chicken out because of the wind.
Day 11 (Sunday, December 14)
Speaking in Sacrament MeetingJoe and I were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting the week earlier. Our topics were Gratitude and Charity. I chose Charity and Joe, Gratitude. Luckily for us, and especially Joe, there were 2 other speakers and the primary's musical number. I cut a little bit out of my talk but when it was our turn to speak, there was only about 15 minutes left in the meeting. I spoke for about 10 and turned the time to Joe who only had time to say a few words about Gratitude and bear his testimony so that we could end the meeting on time. It was the quickest talk he's ever given. Lucky! At least we got that under our belt for a year or so. Whew!
Day 10 (Monday, December 15)
Piano RecitalWhen we moved to Las Vegas, Clark continued taking piano lessons and Katelyn started. They take from a gal in our ward and are loving it. Clark proclaims to just tolerate it, but secretly he really enjoys it and Katelyn has really taken off and loves it too. Tonight was their Christmas recital. Clark played "Bouree and Musette" and "The First Noel". Katelyn played "Jolly Juggler" and "Up On The Housetop". They did a great job and we were very proud.
Day 9 (Tuesday, December 16)
Basketball, Dance, Choir PerformancesTuesday is our busiest day of the week due to early morning choir practice for Clark and Kate, Jake's afternoon preschool, Clark's basketball practice, Katelyn's dance class, and my dance class. Today was no exception but added to the chaos was 2 choir performances and parent observation at dance. I couldn't make it to the choir performances today but luckily they had another one scheduled for Thursday morning. That was the one I would go to. The other activities went off without a hitch and we got through another Tuesday.
Day 8 (Wednesday, December 17)
Orthopaedic Department Christmas Party, Parent-Teacher ConferenceToday the kids were out of school for Parent-Teacher Conferences so they spent the day playing while I cooked for our dinner tonight and went to the school for conferences. The kids are doing well and enjoying school. Great grades and great teachers. We are really happy. We also got snow today! It was even sticking to the ground and was all over the mountains. So exciting. Who knew that sunny Las Vegas got snow? We certainly didn't and the weather report was that we would get about 4 more inches overnight. Crazy! I got a little excited when it was actual snowflakes so I took some pictures when it first started coming down. Little did I know that the ground would have soon been covered. Unfortunately I didn't get any of the mountains either but they are definitely covered in white!
Our party was nice as well. Dinner was delicious and everyone enjoyed getting to know each other and visiting. It was a great evening.
Day 7 (Thursday, December 18)
Snow Day!, Jake's Preschool Christmas Party, and Dance RecitalToday was a Snow Day! There was so much snow overnight that Thursday's school was cancelled via the news on Wednesday night. Unfortunately, we woke up to sunshine and the roads were clear, so school was cancelled for no reason and I missed the final performance of Clark and Kate's choir. But Jake's preschool still held their Christmas party and Clark and Kate got to go. Special visitors came and all the kids got to sit on his lap and receive a gift. There were crafts and cookies galore. It was great.
That evening was our dance recital. Katelyn has been taking dance for the last few years and I started taking a dance class with a few of my friends back in September and it has been so much fun. I am definitely not as flexible as I used to be but it is so fun to "get my groove on", re-live the glory days, get a workout, and have a girl's night out each week. The recital was held at the Summerlin Performing Arts Center and it was packed. There were not enough seats and people had to line up to get in to see their daughter perform. There were 2 shows. I was in the first one and Katelyn was in the second one. Because it was so crowded with very few seats, Joe took the kids home after the first show and I stayed to videotape Katelyn. I performed a contemporary routine to "On a Winter's Night" and Katelyn performed a tap routine to "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus". We then went out for ice cream to Baskin Robbins with Melissa and Mia.
Day 6 (Friday, December 19)
Polar Express Day, Drive to UtahToday was party day at the school. Clark had a Polar Express Pajama Party and Katelyn had a holiday party in her class. Joe spent the day finishing up work and deployment stuff and I finished cleaning the house and packed for our weekend up in Utah. We left about 5:00, grabbed dinner and gas in St. George, hit a snowstorm between Beaver and Nephi, drove on snow-packed roads and arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Holt's house at about midnight. Let the Christmas festivities begin!
Day 5 (Saturday, December 20)
Holt Family Christmas PartyToday was spent relaxing and playing with siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. We prepared dinner in the morning, played in the snow in the afternoon, decorated gingerbread houses, ate dinner, and opened gifts. The kids had a great time playing together. The adults had a great time with the gingerbread houses. There was arguing over how to decorate it (Jim and Steph!), laughing wickedly about theirs being the best (Kyle and Jenn!), telling their kids to decorate the cookies instead of the house (Cath!), quietly decorating with creative ideas (Geoff and Alanna), and allowing the kids to decorate how they saw fit (Joe and Kris!). Grandma and Grandpa just enjoyed all the noise and chaos. The gift exchange was fun and everyone received great gifts. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa for spoiling our children and us, but especially for giving Clark the best gift ever! Thank you , Cath and Jay, for the wonderful books, CD's, and cookware.
Day 4 (Sunday, December 21)
Grandma and Grandpa Stuart's House, Texas Cousins Arrival
We drove up to Brigham City last night to stay at Grandma and Grandpa Stuart's house. We went to church and then relaxed and played all day long. After dinner, Charlie and JaNay arrived from Texas and the kids were so excited to see each other. Matt and Carrie came over earlier that evening and were waiting for their arrival too. In fact, they all wanted to be together so much that all of the cousins had a sleepover at Grandma's house. It was pretty chaotic getting 14 cousins to settle down and go to sleep because they were so excited but finally they did.
Day 3 (Monday, December 22)
Playing in the Snow, Stuart Christmas Party
The first thing the boys (Tommy, Tyler, Andrew, Mathew, Clark, John and Zach) wanted to do this morning was play in the snow. They were up extremely early trying to sneak out before being sent back to bed TWICE! Around 6:30 they were up for the final time and ready to don the snow gear and head out to the field behind Grandma and Grandpa's. They played in the snow in and out all day long. They took turns driving the four-wheeler while pulling 2 sleds with the others piled on top. If they fell off the sleds, they would run and try to jump back on even if there was already a cousin on it. The girls (Katelyn, Sarah, Amelia, and McKell), Jake and Joseph also went out to play but they did a lot more playing indoors than the older boys.
That evening the entire family got together for the traditional German dinner, family talent show, nativity play, and exchanging of gifts. Everyone piled into the living room for the party. McKell played the violin and John played the guitar. The piano was played by Tom, Andrew, Mathew, Clark, Nathan, Alyssa, and Katelyn. Sarah played the bell pipes and the rest of the crew sang Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer. Grandma and Grandpa then did a white elephant gift exchange among the grandchildren along with the rest of the gifts. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa for the generous gifts!
I took some cute pictures of the youngest Stuart grandchildren. Carlee and Owen are 2 weeks apart and best buddies. They are so cute together and they have the same cute chubby cheeks. Megan is 8 months old and new little Eli is 2 weeks old and completely loved by Carlee.
Day 2 (Tuesday, December 23)
Sleigh Rides, Snow Tubing, Temple SquareTuesday morning was spent out in the snow again. Grandpa hooked the sleigh up to the pony and took the kids for rides back and forth down the street to the church. Charlie also bought 4 inner tubes to hook to the four-wheeler so all the boys could sled together. Again, they had a blast flying around the field on the tubes and sleds.
That afternoon we headed to Ogden to watch John play his indoor ultimate soccer game. Then we did our Christmas tradition (when we are in Utah at Christmastime) by going to Salt Lake to see Temple Square and grab some dinner at Crown Burger. It was a cold night and very busy but so fun to see the lights and nativity.
Day 1 (Wednesday, December 24)
Christmas EveAfter breakfast, we loaded up and headed home for our own Christmas in Vegas. We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa Holt's for a box of Christmas gifts, ate some quick sandwiches, and continued the drive. Luckily we were between snow storms so it was smooth driving until we got into St. George where it was raining. Clark decided that we should eat at Mongolian BBQ Grill so Steph and Jim met us there for dinner. The kids loved it and the servers were so great. There was a cute lady that crushed up crackers for the kids and showed them how to eat with chopsticks. She was even helping Carlee hold them and put the crackers into her mouth. She kept coming over to our table telling the kids to eat their dinner so she could give them a treat. She also reminded them of Santa coming tonight so they better eat until they were full. She was so funny and good with the kids. We then grabbed some stuff for Joe at Steph's house, filled up with gas, and continued home.
About five minutes before we got home, Jake and Carlee started to fall asleep. We tried to wake them up so we could do our Christmas Eve traditions but they were so groggy. When we pulled up to our house, we noticed that the Christmas trees were all lit. I didn't remember leaving them on so I was wondering what was up. When we walked in, there was soft Christmas music playing, the smell of pine trees and some goodies and cards on our counter. When I opened the fridge to get the kids a drink, it was full of a yummy Christmas dinner complete with ham, potatoes, green beans, salad, pie, cake, juice, and egg nog. Some sweet little elves had let themselves into our house to welcome us home. Thanks, dear friends, for being so sweet. That was so thoughtful and generous. We really love and appreciate good friends like you. Those little things mean so much and it was wonderful.
We quickly unpacked our suitcases and started our evening. We read the Christmas story out of the Bible and The Night Before Christmas. Then we opened our traditional Christmas pajamas and ornaments. We started watching Polar Express while I made hot chocolate and got out the sugar cookies for the kids to decorate for Santa. When the movie was over, the kids went straight to bed without argument. It was amazing. I think they were finally exhausted from our quick Utah trip. Carlee and Katelyn snuggled up with Clark and Jake slept in his own bed and they were sound asleep in about 5 minutes. When we put them to bed, we told them that they couldn't come out of their rooms in the morning. We have an open hallway that looks down into the family room so we said that they had to just call for us at 7:00 and we would come up to get them. We'll see if they actually follow orders in the morning . . .
