Our Christmas break was an eventful one. We really didn't know if we would be going to Utah to visit until a few weeks before. Nate had progressed in his research enough to take a week off at Christmas so we decided to make the drive. Luckily it's not horrible and pretty doable if you wake up early and do most of the drive while the kiddos are still asleep. I was excited to spend time with family and make the trip to Utah!
First off we headed for my grandparents house in Aurora Utah for the annual Forsyth family Christmas party. It was the first year that all families were in attendance in at least 5 years! It was great to see everyone and my grandma was grinning from ear to ear. It was the sweetest! My grandma always pulls strings and get's Santa to come for a visit. It was priceless to see my children's reactions! Mostly it was so funny because they were so opposite...
When is was Lexi's turn she ran right up to him and gave him a big hug! She wasn't shy and told him she wanted lip gloss for Christmas!
This picture was pretty great as well...what's better than 1 child screaming on Santa's lap? 2 children screaming on Santa's lap!
Mixed emotions for Santa. Lexi loved him and Nixon did not!
Look how many little cousins we have on my side...SO FUN!
Santa's little gift to Nixon were these cars. This boy is for sure a boy...he made car noises and banged these little cars on everything!
Next up was gingerbread building...
So proud of her gingerbread house. About 3 min after this picture her house caved in and all of the candy fell into a little pile... :(
I am obsessed with the cheeks on my niece. She is the cutest!
We hit the perfect weekend to come to Utah. The following day we had another family party on my mom's side. I was so glad we could make it!
We had the party at my grandpa's house. It has been a while since I had seen him and I am so glad I had the chance. He is not feeling very good and shared with me that he want's to go see my grandma in heaven :( it was a pretty rough conversation and I shed a lot of tears. He is such a great man and I will always look up to him. I'm so glad my kids had the chance to talk with him and climb up in his lap and give him hugs. He is the sweetest!
My best attempt at Christmas Sunday...
I only have a picture of Nixon. Lexi was off twirling and spinning in her dress.
We attended church at my grandparents ward. My grandma was part of a big Christmas musical program. It was beautiful and we felt the spirit so strong. I love Christmas Sunday's.
After church we drove to Springville were we spent a few days with Nate's family. We had a great time and the kids were spoiled with attention. We always have a great time and we spent the few days playing games, going to movies, eating delicious food and laughing a lot.
Christmas Eve-
Nate's mom is so cute and had us read the nativity story. She had us all play parts and dress up. I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time. It was so fun!
Lexi was Mary (although she really wanted to be princess Elsa from frozen because of her blue dress)
Nixon was Joseph...I laughed at the sheep they handed him :)
I love the tradition of reading the nativity story from the scriptures. I think that will be something we always do!
Christmas jammies from nanny and putting out cookies and carrot's for Santa and his reindeer!
Nixon got some Buzz Lightyear jammies so we had to compare him to the real buzz :)
Papa and Nanny always read the kids stories before bedtime. It was the sweetest!
The BIG kids...
CHRISTMAS MORNING!
Lexi woke up with a runny nose and cough...and not the most pleasant attitude but it was great all the same!
The kids were spoiled and Santa did his job at leaving them gifts!
Nixon loved chewing on the chap stick from our stocking.
This girl was in heaven with her lipstick and dress ups. Such a girly girl!
Lexi also got Woody. He has become a favorite at our house. He gets special treatment and has to sit in the highchair almost every meal time!
Ray showing off his new work bag!
Nate surprised me with an I pad Mini. I love it!
Another fun highlight of our Christmas Day was talking to Cam. It was a surprise that he would be face timing us so that made it even more special. He is doing great and seemed to be loving it!
Later that afternoon we drove up to Brigham City and spent the last part of Christmas Day with my parents. We opened more gifts, ate a delicious dinner and just relaxed! It was a wonderful day!
Nix got these cute sports balls that he loves. He mostly chews on them :) but they have turned out to be a favorite!
Lexi got a Rapunzel doll with a horse she rides on! She spends at least an hour every morning styling, brushing, combing and applying hair ties to their hair! So cute!
This boy melts me. His chubby cheeks and new little teeth are the sweetest. He is very kissable and I'm loving him so much lately. He will be one in just a short month! How did that happen?
Nanny Forsyth got Nixon a music table. He spent most of the evening pushing it around the room like a walker.
I can always count on these two to have fun together... They rode these little bikes that the twins got all around the house. I'm not sure where Lexi's shirt is in these pics but they were having a blast!
The day after Christmas Nate got super sick. He spent 2 days in my parents basement with a fever, chills, horrible cough and vomiting. When I couldn't get his 105 degree fever to go down I finally decided it was time to take him to the ER. The poor guy ended up having Pneumonia in his right lung and bronchitis. He got some strong antibiotics and few other meds to help out...the morning after Nate's ER visit I started to feel sick. I ended up in the ER the following day with the same illnesses. It was HORRIBLE!!! I don't ever remember being that sick. We spent 2 days in Springville at Nate's parents house trying to recover so we could make the drive back to AZ. After a lot of rest and some strong drugs we finally made the drive home to Arizona. I had never been happier to see my bed.
Other than the illness at the end Christmas was great and so much fun! I loved spending time with both families and watching my children light up with excitement. I also love the true meaning of Christmas and all of the wonderful symbols. It truly is a special time of year!
2013 was good to us. We welcomed Nixon into our family, and Nate advanced well into his master's degree. We made a lot of memories and had a lot of changes and experiences happen to us! We are looking forward to 2014! Happy New Year everyone!!
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