Goodbye 2014!

Christmas break was a wonderful, semi-restful, invigorating event.  I am grateful we could be among so many family members and strengthen those bonds.  I haven't given much thought to 2015 yet, but am still revelling in December 2014.  So here goes:

First stop was the Sanners in Sandy.  It was so great to hang out with this cute family for a couple of days.  The boys were enamoured with Wren, and they enjoyed some light sabre fights with Kent and Leon as well.  It was fun to celebrate Leon's birthday with him.

Next stop--Nana and Grandpa's house.  Many meals were eaten in this room--and many visits were had.

Tommy and the boys had a debate going over which babies were the cutest--no conclusions were ever drawn.

We got to see Grandpa H for a day or so.  It is always a treat to be with him.

One of my favourite sights--two kids at a piano together.

The 2010ers--waiting for Miss Ruby to come and complete the Foursome of Fours.

Mom's birthday was a joyous event.  She and Dad got to enjoy the annual King's College broadcast while we prepared her our traditional "Breakfast in Bed."  

The 6 chefs, doing our thing.

The menu: omelette ala Ryan, sides of pomegranates, fried apples and raisins in spice, tater and sweet-potater hash browns fried to perfection, fruit smoothies and toast with jam.

All the grandkids capable of singing sang "Happy Birthday" to Nana.

Posterity and so forth...

Nana's special Recipe Book we presented to her.

The Nativity always gets put on in the evening of the 24th.  This year we had two Mary's--and no babies had to be cut in half or anything.

A very serious shepherd

Lu created two amazing chocolate cakes--The classic Nana Bday cake with the Santa topper from yesteryear and a non-sugar non-everything cake to boot.  It was sweet to hear Mom tell about the Santa and how Grandma passed it on to her the last birthday before she died.  

Christmas Eve pj opening was quite the event.  There were some matching pjs amongst all the families, which was really fun!

Christmas morning--bright and early!

Someone's excited!

The traditional lineup--youngest to oldest

The crew!  James downloaded an app on his phone that measured the decibel level--and boy was it always high.  Mostly laughing and shouting--not so much crying, which was a blessing.

We had a fun cousin exchange which was a major highlight for our boys. They loved picking out/making gifts for their cousins.

We love to sing!  It was neat to see these teenagers and preteens gather around Nana.

Sanners and Grandma Spencer joined us for Christmas dinner and singing.  So wonderful to have them so nearby!

We didn't have any fun, right?

December 27th was Tommy's big day!  He was so excited and so ready to be baptized. It was really neat to have so much support from family on both sides.  It was very special to have Grandpa be the officiating bishop, and to hear all of Tommy's grandparents bear their testimonies.  It was a wonderful and happy day for us.

Hungry Mungries--we played a game where I pretended to glue their bums to their chairs and they would only come unglued when their plates were empty.  I think it kind of worked...

December 30th we got to visit temple square.  It was really cold outside, so we mostly hung out in the two visitors centers and the mall, but we did get to see some of the beautiful lights--although at a hurried pace.

Massive tree in the City Creek Mall.  We also came just as the water fountain was dancing to "Let it Snow,"  with water and fire mixed.  It was quite amazing!

James and I celebrate 14 years!!

A bunch of us went to the Jazz game.  It was a very exciting game and fun to see them beat the Timberwolves!  I hadn't been to a Jazz game since the days of Stockton and Malone, so I was missing them a bit...but it was still really fun!

 

Last day together--the women took the opportunity to go eat out together.  We missed Kassie who was sick.  Yummy food!!  We went to an amazing healthy restaurant called Abergoine.  MMMMMM

These three crazies entertained some of us on our last night there.  The cousins had all left except for baby Hinckley, and the boys were beyond bored.  We got Will and Ry to join us in playing games and these three decided to put on a magic show.  It was quite hilarious!



All told, we had a marvelous time.  I guess the main highlight for me was just all the great conversations I got to have with some pretty amazing people.  It was so enjoyable catching up with everyone and also going beyond catchup and into some great topics.  I think that's always the best part of any reunion--the people.