Our Christmas!

I'll keep this pretty short. Our Christmas parties started at my Grandparents. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and 2nd cousins. It was a big fun group. The food was good and we played some "Catch Phrase" and enjoyed each other's company. After we (Keldrie) were done behaving our best, we drove the three streets home to open my families sibling gifts to each other. Then it was off to bed to wait for Santa Claus!

We woke up the next morning and Keldrie was amazed to find a "Keldrie" size kitchen it the living room. During this part of the morning I was using my camcorder instead of my camera, and since I haven't figured out how to put it on here yet, you are all spared seeing my in my PJs with the hair I slept on. Matt made it extra special for me by playing Christmas Hymns on his guitar while I made breakfast.
After that I made my salad and we headed to Elaine's house to await the long expected call from Matt's brother, Greg, who is serving a Mission in Tennessee. He called around 11.

We got our turn to talk and Kel even said hello and showed off her animal noises for him. She has never met Greg since he left 3 weeks before she was born. He has three more younger than her to get to know too! 

Once all the brothers and their families had gotten to talk to Greg and we said good-bye to him, we gave Elaine and Steve their Christmas present. A picture of all their Grandkids. I knew they would love it and they did. Especially Elaine! It always feels so good to give someone a present that they love that much. My sister in law, Megan, put it all together. It was awesome! Here are some pictures of Elaine opening it, they aren't very good, but you can see what sort of reaction we got!

Next we hit my parent's house, and again, I used to camcorder and got no pictures. 

We had a fabulous Christmas! 

Here are some fun pictures of Kel playing in the after-Christmas snow storm we got:

Happy New Years Everybody! Can't Wait to see where 2011 takes us!

A very sad gingerbread house and Temple Square with Matt Neves!

Well, I won't get too long winded with the gingerbread story. The pictures speak for themselves. Lets just say I'm pretty sure I didn't whip the icing long enough...

Let's say there was an Earthquake and leave it at that...

Next on the list of things to do by Christmas was going to Temple Square to see the lights. Matt has a mission companion who came with us. His name is Matt Neves and he and Matt served together for only 6 weeks, but Neves calls Matt "his Smithie" so lets just say the bond is strong. (I personally think that they like each other so much because they ONLY lived together for 6 weeks but whatever). We went to Crown Burger for dinner and then drove the few blocks up to Temple Square. Keldrie was terrified of Neves at first but then she warmed up to him and she even kissed his cheek when we said goodbye. 

It was an awesomely fun evening! Matt and Neves talked about some of the other missionaries they served with as well as the members in the area they served in together. They even talked about the "best homemade dinner they have ever had" at a ward family's house on Christmas Eve. (I know Elaine, I was offended too!) We walked around and saw all the good old stuff and some of the good new stuff down there. The coolest new thing is the display of the Salt Lake Temple, but we couldn't get too close because apparently everyone thinks it is the coolest new thing and we had the stroller to maneuver. 

Tonight is family game night and then Christmas Eve will be here! Bring it ON!

"The Equadorian Smith Family" Christmas Party

Last night was our annual family Christmas party over at Gaby and Spencer's house. And it was tons of fun! Gaby made the turkey, veggies, hot chocolate, and potatoes. Us other sisters-in-laws each brought something to add. As we were all talking and waiting for the last people to arrive, Steve and Elaine, we got a call from Steve saying the Elaine was pretty sick and wouldn't be coming. Jenny and Gaby got to "carve" the turkey. None of us really knew what to do without Elaine, so they just winged it.

Once that was all finished, Gaby was making sure everything was ready to go and she touched the casserole dish the potatoes were in and it just exploded, sending glass everywhere. It was insane! So, after we cleaned that up, Matt and Eric went off to find some sort of potato replacement at a grocery store. After that, Steve showed up with some cinnamon rolls that Elaine had made before she got sick and a table for the kids to sit at. So dinner wasn't served exactly on time, but the kids kept themselves entertained:

Andrew was such a good baby, all night!

Katelynn looked adorable and gave me some great smiles. Something about having a baby smile at you makes you feel so special! 

Josh and Jacob both showed off for Grandpa. 

Keldrie loves the babies! 

Then Matt and Eric came back victorious with some potato wedges from Wal-Mart. So it was time to eat!

And when you are a baby who isn't really eating solid food yet, you get to observe the chaos from below.

Aren't those shoes adorable! Katelynn and Jacob were both showing off their crawling skills last night. Poor Andrew just had to sit and watch his older two cousins cruise around. 

After dinner we played a gave similar to Minute-to-win-it. The point was to stack 8 nut bolts on top of each other and hold it still for as long as possible.

It's harder than it sounds. The only one who even managed to stack them all (on their sides, by the way) was Ryan. He also held it for 21 seconds. The clear winner. 

After that, it was time for the real important part: Presents. We started what I think will become a tradition last year. Each family gets assigned another family for presents. The next year you take the brother just younger than the one you had the year before. So last year we had Eric, so this year we had Spencer. The kids loved it. 

After presents were opened, we got to enjoy some of the delicious hot chocolate that Gaby makes. Hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls for desert, what could be better? It was such a great evening. Thanks Gaby for hosting and everyone else for making it such a great evening. I am loving this tradition! 

Jazz Game!

Well, I don't have any pictures because I thought you couldn't take cameras into the arena and I wasn't taking my purse anyway. Apparently they have signs that you can't bring your cameras but from what I saw as I looked around, no one really follows that one.
So on Sunday night, Matt's dad asked us if we could use some Jazz tickets on Monday. Heck yes we can! Around 5:30, after we had a frozen pizza for dinner, Matt, Kel, and I packed up and headed to Grandma Keller's house. We dropped Kel off for her first "sleep over" at Grandma's house and then ran to Wal-Mart in Layton. Matt had a present to pick up for me and I talked him into letting me pick it out. I have a really really hard time waiting for Christmas when it comes to my presents. The suspense is just too much for me! AH! So we got in line and Matt said he was going to grab a soda. He went to get a bottled soda out of those little fridges right by the check-out stands. He looks at the price and then says "Nevermind. $1.97" So instead we both got drinks at McDonalds. It was $2.15 for both of us to get big drinks.
Then it was on to the freeway! We had a good time talking and laughing and Matt got a big kick out of me singing and dancing to the radio on the drive down. We parked about 10 minutes away and enjoyed the walk in. We missed tip-off, but we were sat down with 10 minutes still left in the first quarter.
The game was great! The first three quarters were close but then the Jazz pulled away during the second half of the last quarter. The rookies got to come in at the end and get a few minutes of glory. One new guy named Evans had an awesome game. He made to awesome shots back to back. Anyway, if you watch the Jazz, you probably saw it, if you don't then you probably don't want my play by play.
We were glad for our parking spot after the game because although we had to walk for a minute, we were way out of the way of the traffic. We didn't really have to sit in any. We loved it.
We got to my Mom's house and Kel was asleep on the floor in the spare bedroom. She always sleeps on the floor. I don't know why. She was such a sweet girl when I woke her up. We came home and went to bed. It was a fantastic date night! It is the first time in a long time we have gone out without Kel. I'm thinking I will ask for one night a month at least without Kel. Not that I don't love her, but it was so nice to not have to keep her from misbehaving. I didn't have to share my ice-cream with her. We didn't have to listen to Lion King on the way home. But when I got home, I was so happy to see her and hold her as she sat in that place between asleep and awake. So I guess time away is good, just not too much time away.
More fun pictures to come!

O Christmas Tree....

I love Christmas trees. Each is a little unique and says a lot about the family (okay, the wife). Matt and I bought our tree and the decorations that are on it our first Christmas. I was 6 months pregnant, but you would have to eat your socks if you think I didn't put the lights on myself and most of the decorations. Not because Matt wouldn't, but because I want it to look a certain (perfect) way, and expecting someone else to do that is just silly! That has is how it went last year and this year as well. This year I had Keldrie to complicate the process, but Matt was there to keep the ornaments on the tree (mostly) and to help me untangle the lights.
To begin our Tree Project, you must start with the mood. The radio was tuned to 106.5 of course and one of my favorite stores, Bath and Body Works provided the rest:

So the scene was set. Next came digging the Christmas stuff out of the basement, which really wasn't that hard since I moved it in and so I knew where it was.

Now we are ready to get this Tree decorated!

As you might be able to tell from the ladder behind me, we are still doing some work on the house.

Look Mom! There is a tree in our living room!

Matt wondered out-loud why he was even putting the ornaments up since I will move them all around anyway. Too many blue here, too many of the same shape there, and oh my goodness, do you see that gap? He actually is much better now than 2 years ago. (Or is it that I'm not pregnant anymore?)

Caught red handed! And where do you think you are taking that, young lady?

Oh, to the hoard you've hidden under the pillows on the couch. Of course!

Family Picture! And yes, I have learned how to work the timer on the camera now!

Besides the tree going up this weekend, we had the pleasure of my sister coming up. She lives in Arizona and it had been a long time since I had seen her. 

My mom had a special family dinner to celebrate. My Grandparents came too. My mom made Chicken Noodle soup and it was amazing. She also made corn bread and salad. I love soup and corn bread so much when it is cold outside. Something about it just warms my toes and my tummy.

Who else has these soup bowls from Tai Pan?

The table all set and ready to go!

Here is Nicole and Tyler (making a ridiculous face)

This is my Dad, Grandpa and Grandma Nicholas.

Keldrie with "Bampa" Keller. She is getting to such a fun age where she can interact and play with everyone. She loves to tease, be chased and be tickled. She is just such a playful child. We sure love her.

Also while Nicole was here, we both got out hair cut. Here is what my new do looks like!

My sweet wonderful husband. I think he has to put up with me more this time of year than any other. I just have so many things I want to do, most of which he doesn't share my enthusiasm over. But he always just grins and bears it. What would my life be without him? Pretty dull, I'll tell you that!

Here comes Christmas Everybody! I love it!