Gessel Christmas

We recovered from Christmas on Saturday and got ready to go to Provo.  We left on Sunday so that Cody and Jason would be able to be at the family party because they had to work late the rest of the week.  We packed up and headed out Sunday morning.  While we were packing the truck Kyle found the sidewalk chalk and proceeded to practically roll in it.  I had to change his pants and wash his hands and face before we could leave.  Cayden rode up with Cody and Smokey so we would have a little more room in the truck because Connor came with us to Provo on condition that we would only be there until Wednesday and then we would come home. 

 Kyle and Ella were thrilled to see each other and they were rolling around and kicking their arms and legs in unison.  When we got there we had our dinner and our family party.  The kids drew names this year of their cousins and they were each excited to see the reactions of each other as they opened their gifts.

 All the Gessel grandkids except Brady and Jessica and Cody-he stayed for dinner and presents but because Smokey was locked up in his cage in the basement and howled most of the evening he wanted to get home.

 Mawmaw did good on the gifts this year.  The men got ties and tie tacks and the girls got a really lovely statue of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus and the big boys got $20 in rolled quarters.  For some reason they thought it was quite funny but I thought it was a great gift and it is amazing that Mawmaw remembers and is able to buy Christmas for 12 of her grandkids and 10 of their spouses and 29 great grandchildren.

 This is the Owen necklace.

 Calley and Jason were in charge of Jeopardy.  They did a good job and our family won Gnomeholio.  Laurel and Jim's family could not come up so Don decided that we would send them Gnomeholio for them missing out.  Grandma Penny will take it down to them when they go to Texas in a few weeks.

 On Monday we went out to Aunt Suzanna's house so the kids could play and of course that meant play in the snow.

 Before the kids got in the snow her backyard was pristine so I definitely needed a picture.

 The little kids played Candyland and made a mess in the downstairs and Suzanna, Ryan, Anne and I and Abby and Owie a little played some bigger games like Ticket to Ride, Cover Your Assets, Qwarkle.  Don and Chris are poos and won't play games but we had fun anyway.  Ryan had a really hard puzzle out that we worked on too.  We took JCW's over for lunch and then since we stayed until dinner time we ordered Costa Vida.  The kids had a great time playing and we enjoyed chatting and playing games.

 Miss Henley wanted the See's candy.

 Connor and Caleb stayed up at Grandma's.  Caleb because he wouldn't get out of bed and Connor because he wanted to shovel snow and help Grandma put away her Christmas decorations.

When it was snowing the flakes were falling lightly on to the widnshield and they were all in such beautiful different intricate shapes that I wanted to get a picture of them but I all I got was the wet window.  

We babysat Miss Henley so Chris and Anne could go see Star Wars late Tuesday night.  The little stinker woke up 10 minutes after her parents left and stayed awake until 15 minutes before the got back.  It took the whole family to keep  her happy because she sure loves her momma!  Before we left on Wednesday we had to snap a classic pose with the groovy Cousin Eddie hat.  It was a quick trip but always fun.  We came home a little earlier than we normally would because the boys wanted to celebrate New ears Eve with their friends this year.