Happy New Year!

Lots of food, lots of games, lots of snort/laughing! Yep, that is the definition of this year's New Year's Eve party. We played games such as, Pictionary cards, Things, Imagine If and Texas Train.

Courtney and Preston were able to join the party and we had a full house. The kids mainly played down stairs or on the Wii while us "Adults" played our games. It always cracks me up when the Smith family gets together! We sure had fun!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was full of toys, candy, good food, lots of playing and laughing and lots and lots of noise!

Mason got a Cowboy town, Brooklyn got a princess castle and Dallas got a farm to play with. All of the cousins were so busy looking at each other's presents, it was a bit of sensory overload at first. :-)

I got Jeremiah back from last year. We agreed to not get each other presents last year and Jer went and gave me a pressure cooker for Christmas last year. This year, I got him a couple movies he liked. :-) It made me laugh. He was so mad at me. He he he.

That afternoon, we went to church for Sacrament Meeting. They had a nice Choir singing and program. I think everyone was so hyped up on sugar that it was impossible to get the kids to settle down. Little Dallas somehow got away from me and snuck up to the pulpit! How embarrassing!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we spent at my in-law's house along with Jeremiah's parents, older sister Amanda with her family and Shayla, his youngest sister.

Santa Claus came to the house riding on a lit up fire truck! The kids were so excited to get to sit on his lap and tell him what they want for Christmas.  He gave them each a box of candy and a little stuffed animal. What a treat!

After Santa left, all 14 of us walked down the street to the nursing home and sang Christmas carols in the hall ways.

After returning home, Grandma Mo read a sweet story about a special Christmas orange.

After her story, all of the kids got dressed up to act out the Christmas story. Ashlyn- as Mary, Mason- as Joseph, Logan- as a Shepherd, and Kennedy and Brooklyn- as Angels. Aunt Shayla read the Christmas story out of Luke and the kids walked in when their part was read. They were so sweet and reverent.

After getting pj's on, the big girls, Brooklyn and Ashlyn worked together to write a Christmas letter to leave out on the table for Santa to read when he ate his fudge and egg nog.

All the big kids slept in the same room Christmas Eve. It took quite a long time for them to fall asleep. Dallas had a hard time sleeping as well. He always does when he isn't in his own bed.

It was  a little crazy and chaotic with all of the kids running around but it was a great Christmas Eve!

Zoo lights

This year we took a trip to the Denver Zoo to see the Christmas lights.

It was so pretty! There were a ton of people there. Poor Mason was lolly gagging and when we found him, he said "I lost myself!" He was so upset. :-)

The kids were a little disappointed that the animals were all sleeping and we tried to explain that we were there to see the lights mostly.

Dallas could only handle half of the night and the rest he screamed and was done.

All in all, I'd like to go again but maybe when the baby is a little older.