Thistle Hair The Christmas Bear

So ya, the only thing the title of this post has in common with this post is that it's a Christmas song and this is my Christmas post. It's actually one of my favorite Christmas songs. It's done by Alabama. I love their whole Christmas album.

What a wonderful Christmas it was. Our holiday started with me driving our 4 girls along with Rocky to Koosharem. What an adventure that was. (Jim had to work and was flying to SLC on Christmas Eve). The girls actually did really well. We ended up stopping in Ely to stay the night. Word of advice....Don't try to go to a fast food restaurant for dinner in Ely. We tried three different places and were very frustrated with the service. We settled for going to the grocery store and finding some food. Lucky for us the motel room had a microwave. I was so worried about someone stealing our luggage carriers off the roof of my car though that I didn't get much sleep. We made it to Koosharem on the 21st.

It was so good to be home for a few days. It was cold and snowy and wonderful! Dad always had a fire going in the fireplace. Mom made yummy food and candy. The girls played with cousins and even got to see Santa at the elementary school program. Mom had some things planned for the girls. One was building a gingerbread house. Each girl did a side then disappeared leaving Mom and I to do the roof. Good thing Dad was around to help out!

Here is Mom showing the girls the Raggedy Ann doll she had made. She is making them each one. They all fell in love with her and are excited to have one.

Lexie enjoying part of her Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Norman

We left Koosharem in plenty of time on Christmas Eve to get to the airport on time for Jim. We got to Jim's parents' late evening and right away started preparing for Santa to come. Karissa and I had made cookie dough in Koosharem, so I hurried and baked it for Santa. We wrapped a few family gifts which included the jammies I made for the girls. Jim shared the Christmas story of Baby Jesus then we let the girls open their jammies and head to bed. It was so fun seeing the excitement the girls had knowing Santa was coming. They were tracking him on the computer and knew just where he was. Karissa was especially excited. She struggled sleeping the whole night and said she had heard bells and had seen Santa in the night. Sure enough, Christmas morning we found that Santa had been there! I didn't get any pictures Christmas morning...we did video instead. It was very magical. I even heard one of my girls say, "This is the best Christmas ever! I got just what I wanted!"

----------------------------------

Lexie admiring the jewelery box Grandma Norman gave her. She played the music over and over. I had put it back in the box while Lexie was asleep. Lexie woke up to go the bathroom then went on a hunt for her jewelery box. When she found it she cuddled up on the couch and went back to sleep with it.

One of the hardest parts about visiting family is Samantha being a "Mommies Girl". They all want to see her and hug her, but she is not a happy girl when mommy hands her off. Well, here is a moment we tried to enjoy. She actually hung with Uncle Rich for about 20 minutes! She did play with Grandma Norman for a few minutes before we left Koosharem and also fell asleep while Grandma Rowley was holding her before we left Logan.

Jim's family did their Christmas party the day after Christmas. Boyd and Connie went down to SLC that morning and picked up Grandma Perry so she could spend a few days. It was fun having her there with us. And I can't leave out the yummy food! Homemade Taco Time crisp meat burritos! Sweet Pork! Thanks Ron!

The kids making music.

Opening presents from Grandma and Grandpa Rowley.

I love this little girl. She has blessed our lives so much.

Brindley, Karissa and Lexie all got to play with their friends in Hyrum for a few hours also. I think I miss their friends as much as they do. It was so good to be back home for a few days. We miss Utah so much, but we have truly been blessed this last year. We have such wonderful friends and family back home and we are making wonderful friends here in Carson City. We love you all and hope your Christmas was wonderful! Thanks for being a part of our lives. May God bless you in the New Year!