for christmas we headed out to sunny las vegas to spend the holidays with my family. the weekend before we left i sang in our ward's christmas devotional and the next morning woke up with laryngitis... i always lose my voice this time of year... usually closer to january, i was way bummed to have no voice and not be able to sing the whole christmas week!! anyway,,, i didn't feel too sick at all, but eventually we all got really sick while in vegas.
the airplane trip there was perfect! daniel slept for most of the flight and when he was awake he was happy and playing nicely. when getting off the plane the guy sitting behind us said he was impressed with our little traveler. especially since 4 rows behind us a little kid was screaming for half the flight. we got to vegas thursday afternoon and our first stop was to in-n-out. yum!!! you just miss it so much when its not in your town. we spent the next couple days hanging with family and just having a good time. grandma susan came down from reno on saturday and spent the weekend with us.
saturday night was my family's dinner and white elephant exchange. dinner was soups and they were good, plus a plethora of goodies my sister had received from her students in the high school... she had quite the array of treats to share. the gist exchange was fun as always... started off with sam opening a beautiful scarf and modeling it for us... i forgot to take pics the whole time but here are a few..
it was a really fun night with my whole family together. sunday we went to church and then after spent the afternoon at my moms and eating dinner... by this time poor daniel was really sick and started to run a fever which then stayed off and on for the rest of the trip. christmas eve was quite the day. we started by opening a few gifts with grandma susan before she headed off to reno... she gave us a cute recorded book of goodnight moon and david gave daniel a super cute little people helicopter.
his face doesnt' show it but he really does like them! the rest of the day i worked with my mom organizing games for the christensen extravaganza minute to win it games.... so hilarious. chris went with grandpa and jack to buy some toys... for the big boys cause grandpa was bored. they bought remote control helicopters, mustangs, cars... etc. grandpa kept getting mad at jack for putting the helicopter so close to his head. will loved the mustang and had a lot of fun running and screaming from it... hahaha
christmas eve took place at aunt joans and we had uncle david's family, my moms family, and aunt joans... there were crazy kids everywhere!! ahhh!! but it was really fun and the games were so silly. meesha the soccer player kicked everyones trash in walk to bethlehem.... by kicking her feet faster than anyone else.
sam kept emptying his kleenex box onto julias and she couldn't see her box at all.. haha
jingle butt was the favorite and kids wanted to have a try as well... i got all my bells out of the box first... i know how to shake it... haha!
so many cute kids at the party including my cousin katie's twins.... so pretty!!
the party ended with the traditional family march.... always a hoot.
i took these pics of daniel before heading off to bed in front of my moms tree... he's just so cute!
he's very excited for christmas!
that night we got ok sleep, but poor daniel was getting worse and worse. christmas morning we were up bright and early... still being mostly on eastern time zone... and headed over to my moms. i helped her make christmas crepes and eggs and whatever else for breakfast. all my siblings came over and we ate breakfast and opened presents... the kids were funny.... daniel didn't feel good or have any interest in ripping paper... so gigi helped him... she LOVES opening presents... will opened one present and wanted to just play with it and was mad at his parents for opening more... amanda was just cute. she's getting so big and smart. daniel did enjoy playing his new drum. emily enjoyed dressing up in amandas new dr. mcstuffins outfit...
gigi was also very cute playing with her doctor stuff... she sat right down and started writing on her notepad
we then headed out to my dads to eat sandwiches and open a few present with him.. amanda had so much fun showing everyone her room in grandpa's apartment as she spends a lot of afternoons there since grandpa picks her up from school. we had a good time just chatting and enjoying capriotis sandwiches.. including the bobby... my favorite.
we headed back to my moms and daniel was just burning up so we got him all undressed and he just laid on my chest and cuddled for a while.
the rest of the day we just hung out and had a good time. i did manage to find one cvs open so we could get some dimatap for daniel who was so congested and runny nose he could hardly breathe. we all slept better that night as chris and i took nyquil... never again! i was soooo groggy in the morning it took me forever to wake up. during the week a few other fun things took place... daniel got a haircut from grandma.. much needed as his hair was in his eyes.
lots of fun bathtimes... with will having a good time and daniel ending up in tears... he's so sensitive... haha
we also had lots of opportunities for photo ops in my moms beautiful backyard and fun things to play on...
daniel also had a great time playing with papa... who loves this cute little guy. it was so fun to hang out with my grandpa again. we miss living with him and seeing him all the time.
the trip ended thursday morning early... we headed off to the airport. daniel fell asleep before the plane took off and slept for all but 30 min!!! of the long flight! and then did the same when we got on our second shorter flight... he even slept getting off the plane and waiting for our bags! amazing! made for a truly easy travel day.
so glad we got to spend the holidays in vegas. sad we couldn't stay longer but chris had to check in for work friday morning and then we were back on liberty the next day...
new years eve we spent with our friends the hassels. it was so fun! we had fondue and games and lots of talking and eating and laughing... daniel was awake for half of it... he had a hard time adjusting back to eastern time zone... the only disappointment was watching the new york ball drop... vegas fireworks are so much better!!!
happy new year! we had a great year and look forward to having another one this year!!
