ChristmasEVE2012!!!

so....a week before Christmas Seth gets Type A of the flu....then Cordelle gets it, followed by Collin and then I thought Jaq had the tail end of it....but come the Saturday before when all of Krista's kids were coming down, little Jaquelle ended up still having a fever.  SAD!  She spent Christmas coughing and quarantined and feverish.  And I just knew everyone was going to get sick.  But I gave them all fair warning and they all knew we were sick and especially the kids had a pretty good chance that they too would fall victims to our Christmas flu bug.  (And they did- luckily with no symptoms until a few days after they went home....but they all got it.)  But other than that, I would say Christmas was a success and with some pretty relaxed fun!!

Christmas Eve was cold and snowy.  Luckily Uncle Aaron braved the weather with the kids for a couple hours so that the rest of us could find some sanity and Cordelle could spend some one on one time with Jaquelle playing puzzles cause she couldn't really do anything with the other kids.  Anyways the "outsiders" created a wicked cool snow man and a huge snow slide for the kids and some mini forts to accompany them.  :)

THE NATIVITY!!
Most of the angels were too busy taking pictures to be considered herald but someone had to document it all.

Jaq was Mary, Scott was Joseph, Collin was baby Jesus and Cordelle was the manger/bed

Wise men Brett, Aaron, and Mason.  Seth was a donkey I guess.  Cordelle helped him with his "costume"

The kids opening their cousin gifts

We got our kids new SUPER soft blankets and I made them ULTRA soft pillow cases and I know my kids and they loved them just as much as I thought they would!

Neal and Cordelle playing a game

Jaq all cuddled

I got my mom this retro phone receiver that she could plug into her iphone and she just about lost it she was laughing so hard!  To get that reaction was just priceless.  So fun when you find the perfect gift for someone.

Jaquelle and Anna coloring in their LaLaLoopsy books they got from each other

My Christmas Eve Cuddle bugs.  I am mad I didn't get Collin in here for this picture with his blanket too, but he was long gone asleep by this time.

Seth and Mason coloring in their new coloring books

I'll tell you, by the time Santa came, I was exhausted!  No late night games for me.  I went straight to bed leaving my family to whatever it was they were doing all night long.  Only person who beat me to bed was Cordelle who went to bed at 9 with the kids and left me to do everything else alone!!  Lame. Next year Santa's on him! (ok, so he was still not feeling well either, I guess its a good excuse).