Christmas Catch-up (a.k.a. photo extravaganza)

Before the year ends I thought I'd post a bunch of pictures from the week before Christmas.

I drove the little ones down to Idaho and Utah by myself. I thought it was going to be scary, but all went well. The kids did great in the car and we made it safely to our destinations. Mike had a company Christmas party he had to attend in Portland, so he flew from there to Salt Lake and we met up at his parents house. Here are some pictures of our week.

Every time we go to Utah, we eat out way more than we ever do at home and that's because there aren't any good restaurants where we live! We went to a new Indian Buffet called The Kathmandu and it was delicious. Mike ate more than anyone. Indian food is his favorite, so it was no surprise he could barely walk out the door of the place. All of Mike's siblings (minus Jeremy) were in town for the holiday so we got to hang out with all of them.

Vessel and I looking at the jewelry at the restaurant. (courtesy of Karen)

Later that day, after some shopping at Whole Foods (I really wish we had that store here in G-Funk) and Barnes & Noble for some raw food cookbooks, we stopped off at Iceberg drive-in for a shake. Iceberg was a couple of blocks away from our old apartment, and I remember many walks down there with Mike back in the day. This, apparently, is only a "regular" size shake.

The 'rents.

Here I am with one of my favorite kids.

Mike with one of his favorite kids.

Aw, presh....

Some family pictures. Big smiles from the whole crew.

Here is Dave demonstrating his "taking things apart and then putting them back together" skills. The Duck Hunt gun was broken, but guess what? Dave fixed it! Way to go. We spent many hours playing old school Nintendo that week. And when I say "we" I mean "I."

Kat held up the stockings she brought for her and Aiden, but Mike and I couldn't help but think the carrots slightly resembled the cone bra from Madonna's earlier days.

Vessel and his cousin have a love-hate relationship, but had a great time playing together for the most part. (courtesy of Mom Bates)

Kat, Jenny, and my little Jakey. (courtesy of Jenny)

Beautiful sisters.

Jenny was on leave from the Air Force to spend a couple of weeks with the family so she was getting lots of pictures with everyone.

On Christmas Eve, we helped the boys make and frost sugar cookies for Santa. It was my first time making sugar cookies, believe it or not.

After the boys were in bed, it didn't take long for the cookies to disappear.

Even the celery was devoured....by the reindeer of course.

Christmas morning.

The kiddos' stockings.

Karen!

Vessel couldn't wait to open presents.

Jakey with Gramma.

Loving the cute smile. He got his first tooth that day!

First time opening gifts. Obviously, he didn't know what to do.

This picture just makes me laugh because it looks like Karen is applausing so politely and Dave looks like he's giving her a confused look.

Jenny got a puzzle for Christmas. And a box of Special K. Actually, two boxes of Special K. She sure hit the jackpot this year. :)

More gift opening by the lil'un.

And some gift opening by the big'un.

Christmas couldn't be complete without a family pyramid shot.

Jakey wanted to go sledding.

Brothers!

Danny served his mission in Guatemala, so his desire was to make us some authentic Guatemalan tamales. Here they are in all their glory.

And here I am feeding my face whilst giving the peace sign.

More sibling shots.

THE END