Christmas Vacation

Kolby's shrewd planning landed him with 12 whole days off for Christmas vacation.  It was a Christmas miracle!  We headed to Genola for some R&R.  We made a quick stop on our way through Salt Lake at Temple Square to look at the lights with Auntie Audra, Aunt Darby and Cousin Beka.  I'm pretty sure half the state of Utah had the same idea.  We moved through like sardines in a can.  But the kids still enjoyed it.  Yay for family time!

 

 Couldn't pass up a stop by the candy windows either.  These girls were dreaming of finding one of these big balls in their stockings on Christmas morning!

 The 6 inches of snow on the ground was just begging for some ranger time!

 Ready to hit the trails in Grandpa Kyle's ice fishing sled.

 Klive made and excellent driver.

 We did a little last-minute holiday shopping at Target.  Who couldn't use a pepto-pink, silk-lined wolf hat for Christmas? 

 Uncle Kory let the kids tag along for some barnyard fun - they got a real kick out of feeding baby calves with bottles.

 The cats and kittens were lining up to catch the calves' milky dribble.  Klive thought it was hilarious!

 We've never been to a Hansen Christmas party before, but I hope it becomes a new tradition.  The chili was scrumptious, the activities kept the kids occupied so we could do some grown-up chatting, we played a few games of pool and the company was the best!

 It's tough these days to get all these guys together.

 Grandpa Fred squeezed in a quick game of pool.

 Here's the whole crew.

We also enjoyed our annual Johnson family Christmas party, but again, I was too busy eating to pull my camera out of my purse.  The highlights included loads of tasty morsels, gingerbread house building, a rousing game of gift exchange, lessons in how to speak Australian, and busting a gut over Grandma Sara trying to pick up Klive's rolling water-weenie.  

 Christmas Eve = Taco night!!!  The Christmas countdown was on!  Yaya's super techy these days.  She had an app that would track Santa as he visited all the countries around the world.  That guy really cruises!  June kept a close eye on it all afternoon and decided it would be best to hit the hay at about 6:30 p.m. just to be safe.   That is, until the Bott boys showed up to play at 8:00.  I think they got back to bed just in the nick of time!

 Santa came!!!  And so did Grandma Sara and Grandpa Kyle well before the kids rolled out of bed.  The kids got down to business at about 7:00 and tore through their gifts from Santa.  He was so good this year.  He brought legos, castles, and marble tracks. 

 Santa left a few treats for the pups too . . .

 but I don't think he left anything for the grumpy old men.

 Best buddies

 Daddy finally got a new ipad!  Now maybe he won't be the pathetic loser of his residency. 

 These girls scored!

 After all the Santa excitement, there's nothing like settling in on Grandma's lap with a little stinky corner.

 We ate a lovely brunch and then headed to Logan to visit Nana and Papa's.  We all took a power nap on the way.

 These lovely ladies prepared a fantastic enchilada Christmas dinner for us and we followed it up with some Christmas bingo.

 Auntie Audra came too with her naughty new baby.  But Papa Lee gave him "the look" and he straightened up quick.

 Me and my Nan.  See, I was a part of this vacation too.

 We headed home the day after Christmas.  Sad.  Vacation's over.  Wait!  What's that waiting under our tree?  Christmas #2!  Let's open all the presents we couldn't fit in our car!

 June got Daddy some new PJ's.

 Winnie got Daddy a special comb for his balding situation.  She was beyond excited about this sweet find.

 June transformed into Harry Potter.

 Klive couldn't get enough of his new cash register.  He only plays it in Spanish mode.

 

 Winnie couldn't decide what to play with first!  Good thing she had a week and a half off of school to try it all out.

 Klive hulked out.

 He hulk-smashed and smashed all week long.

There's nothing like a vacation after your vacation to curl up on your new bean-bag with your new blanket and watch all 12 of your new Christmas movies over and over.  If I never see another Scooby-Doo movie again, it will be too soon.  Happy holidays!