It's Beginning to Look Like A LOT of Christmas...

Is this my third Christmas post? Dearest family - it is for you :)

After opening gifts, eating breakfast, getting ready, and possibly taking naps on Christmas morning we always go to my Grandma & Grandpa Wood's house for brunch. It is a great time to be with the whole extended family. Then, the past few years we have gone to a movie in the evening. We were nervous about going to Les Miserables with Molly and decided not to go. Luckily Jack and my parents decided they'd rather not go so we all went back to the house and played games, sat by the fire, and when everyone got home we watched a movie together. 

Here are some pictures of Molly in her Christmas outfit. Isn't that awesome?!

On the 26th we headed to Burley for a week of fun with the Wardles. The whole family got to be together for a few days, including New Years'. As usual there was lots of food, lots of games, lots of kids playing Wii and watching movies, lots of sleeping in, and lots of fun catching up. Molly got held almost all the time and loved showing off her new skill...

SMILING!

Isn't she adorable. We sure think so.

Bret (and a bunch of the family) was hooked on this maze-ball thing. You have to guide a small metal ball through this really intricate maze. I got stuck at the same place every time and didn't have the patience to keep trying, but Bret beat the whole thing. 

This is Molly in the tutu that her aunt Zenna made for her. Cute! 

Jay and Millie's 40th anniversary was on the 29th and all the siblings had been planning a big surprise (we were a little out of the loop for the planning, but loved seeing it come together). They have a big, empty white wall next to the stair case that was just crying out for some love, so...

Kristi found the awesome clock. Marisa made the flower thing out of toilet paper rolls. Zenna and Kurt built the big black frame and edited the temple picture to have Jay and Millie's marriage date in the corner. Karina and Craig built the shelf. Rachel cut and painted the "W"and made blocks that spelled "family" (not pictured) that hang from the hooks on the shelf. And I'm sure others were involved in ways I don't know about. All we did was cheerlead :) but we're so happy that we could be there to see it all come together. Jay and Millie were really touched and I know they'll love it.

And finally, on New Year's day I took pictures of all the grandkids playing with balloons. Why? Good question. I'm not exactly sure, but it turned out really fun. 

Christmas Morning

It was so fun to have Molly at Christmas this year! I can't wait for two more years when she will be able to open her own gifts and know what is going on. But this year it was fun to snuggle her as we sat around opening presents and enjoying being together. 

Our family does something really cool at Christmas time. We draw names within the family, but you have to MAKE a gift for that person. There have been some really creative gifts over the years, and no matter what you get, you feel super special because you know how much time and thought has gone into it. I guess to me it seems like this is what Christmas is supposed to be. There is no returning unwanted, non-fitting, unappreciated items. Each gift is perfect because it was created with kindness. I love it. 

Drew sewed (yes, sewed - he is awesome) pillows with pictures of Molly on them. They match the new quilt I made for our bed. He thought it would be funny to wrap a box inside another wrapped box inside another wrapped box...

Bret made a ladder golf set for Drew. He put so much time and detail into this. I loved watching him work to make it just right. I hope Drew will use it with his buddies when the weather warms up.

Abby made a puzzle with a picture of Molly and Bret (well, she ordered one - she didn't actually hand craft a puzzle!) and made a puzzle-roller that allows you to roll up an unfinished puzzle so that you can pick up where you left off. Perfect for Bret because when he does a puzzle it takes up either our small kitchen table or the coffee table.

Megan made a really pretty necklace for Abby and a cool jewelry hanger with these really unique knobs that she searched all over to find.

I made a book for my dad with his pictures from the trip he and my mom took to Italy and Switzerland this fall. I had a lot of fun making it and I hope it will help them remember how much fun they had together.

My dad made Megan a ridiculously impressive picture board. It has a gorgeous picture from one of their adventures together, but he also made these plastic covers so that she can put other pictures on top. I can't explain it very well, but it obviously took a lot of work and creativity.

Side note: Megan got engaged last week to Alex Crawford (yay! we're so excited!) and this will be such a beautiful thing to hang in their home!

I don't know why we didn't end up with any pictures of Jack, Carly or my Mom's gifts, but they did some awesome things too! 

Jack made a wreath for my mom. It was made of lima beans spray painted purple. Really cool!

My mom made a jewelry hanger for Carly with chicken wire, a frame, and some cute fabric. It was a really cool idea.

And Carly made a fabric pouch for Jack that hangs off the side of his bunk bed with pockets for his Kindle, an iPod, books, etc. He was so excited!

Here are some more pictures of our Christmas:

Drew and Abby have been sharing a car. He goes to school at the University of Utah. Abby is in high school. They made it work alright, but I think there was quite a bit of drama so Drew was planning to buy his own car. He and my parents had worked out a deal regarding payment and had even browsed at a few cars, but they totally surprised him by getting the car (he'll still have pay for it) and having in the garage on Christmas morning. My dad was pretty excited about the surprise... and so was Drew!

Christmas Eve

We always have Christmas Eve at my house with all my grandparents. As usual, dinner and the company were both fabulous.

Tub at Grandma's House

Richards' Family Christmas Party

At the annual Richards' Family Christmas party we had a special visit from none other than Buddy the Elf and SANTA!!! Of course they had a couple cute elves to help as well. So Molly had her first Santa's lap experience! :)

Dad's Visit

The weekend after Jay and Millie's visit, my dad came to see us. He signed up for a dental conference in Dallas, but I think he really just wanted an excuse to see baby Molly. As it turns out, his flight to Dallas was canceled so he ended up not going to the conference but getting to San Angelo a little earlier in the day. 

 

The day he flew in was our ward Christmas party - and I was in charge of it. I have never done anything like this before so I was a little bit stressed out, but it was really great to have my dad's help ti finish getting everything ready. 

These are some of the pictures we took at the party. The theme was "A Picture-Perfect Christmas" and this photo-booth was just one of the things we had set up for families to do. It was a big hit.

Check out Molly's face!

Other than the Christmas party, we just hung out! We gave my dad the tour of San Angelo, saw the lights on the Concho River, ate at "The Grill" and took some naps.

My dad was only in San Angelo for a couple days, but we felt really lucky to have him come see Molly and our little town. Love you dad.