Roadtrip

On December 28th we decided to take a quick trip to Utah.  My sister Jill needed some help, so I went to her house for a few days, while Drew and the kids went to his parents house for some Country R & R. Mia took these amazing photos of their trip to the ranch.   

 I guess this works.

 Jacob Sheep Family Picture

 This sheep had horns growing into her head, so they had to cut them.

 The new Ram.

 This shot is my favorite.

 Little miss Ella is an animal fanatic.  So I hear that she spent a lot of her time sneaking out the front door to play with all the animals.  She kept Grandma and Daddy on their toes.

Christmas 2011

This year the kids had a great Christmas.  

 The first one awake (if you don't count Mia getting up at 1am and going back to bed) was Cole.  He had to wait for all the other kids to wake up before he could open his presents.  Mia didn't wake up until 7:30am, which is unheard of for her.  When Mia woke up we let them open their presents from Santa, even though Ella slept until 8:30.

 Mia got a camera, roller skates, and a sewing machine.  Cole got roller blades, a ripstick, and lots of Bey Blades.  Luke got two Playmobil sets, BeyBlades and a new scooter.  And Ella got a baby doll and a new toy kitchen.

 I took this picture just before we opened the rest of the presents under the tree.

It was an incredible Christmas.  The kids love this time of year and we were lucky enough to all be together.

Mia took these pictures later in the day with her new camera.

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve 2011 was an adventure.  Instead of the traditional dinner at a friends house, we decided to hit the town and enjoy the sights and sounds of christmas in the big city.  The part of the tradition that doesn't change, is spending time with the Stuarts.  We love them.  And we were lucky enough to enjoy the Hathaway's and Oldham's company as well.

Drew was called into work, about 30 minutes before dinner, so unfortunately he missed all the fun.  But I was pleasantly surprised at how well our kids did during dinner.  A group of 22 people is crazy, but everyone managed to have a wonderful time.

Dinner at Grand Lux.  I wasn't about to haul my big camera downtown, so the pictures aren't the best (hello red eye).  But you get the idea.

 The Hathaways

 The Stuarts

 The Oldhams

 Swasey's minus Drew

 After dinner we went to the Bellagio for about 5 minutes because it was completely packed, so we won't be doing that again.  Then we headed to the Stuarts for the rest of the party.

 The kids decorated cookies to leave for Santa.

 Then we acted out the nativity and played Silent Night on the pipe chimes.  At 8pm we came home and the kids opened their christmas eve presents.  Pajamas, of course.