I always get super excited for Christmas to come, and then I always feel like it goes by super fast. This year was the same as always. David and I had a very busy schedule during the holidays but were able to see lots of family. We are so grateful for both our families and were so glad to get to spend time with both of them.
Matt and Michalle and Allie were sooooo nice to make the snowy drive out to Utah for Christmas. They stayed with us at our house for 5 days. We hadn't seen Allie since April. Back then she could hardly crawl and now she was the cute, funny little girl who would not stop pacing around the house. She was constantly go, go, go, but it was really fun to have her around!
This was Matt and Michalle's first night in Utah. Mom and Dad watched Allie and Bradley while we all went to eat at Wingers. It was freezing cold and Matt was wearing shorts.
The next morning we decided to see if Allie would enjoy the snow or not. Definitely not. We stuck her out in the snow and she immediately ran for the one patch of normal dirt. We lasted outside for approximately 3 minutes.
I just really like this picture and wanted to post it. I love how Bradley is smiling at the camera!
Mom and "The Little Girls"
This is the face Allie gives 99% of the time. I thought it was hilarious. She constantly had this look on her face. We never could get her to smile for the camera. I also love her thug hoodie.
Allie LOVED playing the piano. Sorry Angela to let a one year old bang on your piano, but she loved it. She also loved that bottle.
Thursday night before Christmas we hosted a big dinner at our house for my parents, Matt, Michalle, Angela, Scott, my mom's parents, and my aunt Marie and Uncle Dean. David's company gave him a Christmas ham as a gift so we decided to cook that for the dinner. Angela also helped me make the world's largest batch of Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes. I kid you not. Everyone else provided yummy side dishes, too. It was a lot of fun to have everyone over and was the first big dinner we have had at the house. We also did our Dynes tradition of passing the gifts while reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas", but I just wrapped up different candy bars instead of gifts.
After the dinner, Matt, David, and I left to go to the BYU basketball game. David's uncle bought tickets for any Driggs's in the area who wanted to go. It was fun to get out and go to a game. Matt enjoyed getting to see BYU play live since he and Michalle haven't lived in Utah for a while now. Here is a picture of me, Michalle, and Grandma and Grandpa Johnson before I left.
We spent Christmas Eve with David's family this year. We went to his parents house in Provo and spent the night with all his siblings. David's family had a tradition of traveling all through the house doing a journey to Bethlehem like what Mary and Joseph did. We all had to dress up like shepherds. It was actually really fun. David's mom even cooks a traditional Israeli dinner that we eat by candlelight. David and I got to be super authentic - our head scarves were actually from Jerusalem. We even used Baby Christopher lying in his crib as our Baby Jesus in the manger.
David's mom took the rest of the pictures from that night and I have not downloaded them from her yet so above is the only picture I have from Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning we opened our stockings and all our gifts with David's family. I was very surprised that despite David constantly telling me no, he went ahead and surprised me with a Wii! I have been wanting one so that I can play that Just Dance game for about the past 3 months! What a great husband David is! Although, I think he secretly bought it for himself. He got the red one because it came with Super Mario Brothers, and I'm pretty sure he has played that WAY more than I have played.
After we opened presents and got dressed, we headed to David's grandparent's house in Provo for a big Christmas brunch with all of David's extended family. The food was yummy and it is always super fun to hang out with David's aunts, uncles, and cousins. After that we headed back to our house to see my parents and the Lauricellas and Himes.
When we got home, we were able to open our gifts from the Dynes side. Matt and Michalle got us THE CUTEST green kitchen items - spatulas, measuring cups, cutting board, towels. My parents gave us some great gifts, too - best of all they gave me the grill pan I have been dying for since September! Now I can grill my meat on the stove top just like Pioneer Woman! Here is another picture of me and Allie in her adorable Christmas pajamas she inherited from her cousin, Addie.
And to end, our yearly Dynes Christmas photo. We did forget to do the funny shot, though. :( All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas break and were so glad to spend it with so much family on both sides. I hope everyone else had a great Christmas, too!
