Christmas Visitors

 We had a wonderful two weeks with my parent as we celebrated Christmas. They came a week before the girl's were out of school so that they could watch Paige in a gymnastics meet. Grandma and Poppy arrived Monday evening and then Tuesday the adventures began. While Paige and Baylor were at school, I took my parents and McCall and we went and wrapped presents for the Forgotten Children's Fund. This was my third time going this year and it's always a great experience. It's fun to "shop" for kids in need and think about what they would love and then wrapping the presents and imagining the joy they will have on Christmas. 

Then that evening after dinner, we drove around with some hot chocolate to enjoy and looked at Christmas lights close to us. We found some pretty amazing ones!

Wednesday we spent the day at home and I made different kinds of cookies to take to our youth activity tonight. Then we got to go to Paige's gymnastics meet. She did amazing! She was so close to landing her cartwheel on the beam and then she did the floor routine for the very first time and was incredible. She is so graceful and I love watching her compete!

Thursday my parents had another day at our house. I prepared for art and then went and taught Baylor's class art in the afternoon. McCall had an early morning and ended up falling asleep early during the day. She is still adjusting to no naps and she randomly falls asleep on occassion and it really is the cutest thing even though it means she will be up late that night. After dinner, we watched the Survivor finale to end our day.

Friday, while the girls were at school, my parents, McCall, and I spent the day at the church helping set up for the ward Christmas party. Anna did amazing with the paintings and it all turned out so good. It was fun to help and gave us something to do for the day.

We enjoyed the party that evening. We had an excellent dinner and the Grinch even showed up and was so entertaining. Nate took Baylor and McCall home a little early before picture time since they were tired and ready to be home.

Saturday, Nate and I went to the temple while my parents took the girls to the Family History Discovery Center. They had a wonderful time until the very end and McCall fell from a chair and they couldn't really comfort her or get her to stop crying. They were waiting in the waiting room when we got out of the temple. McCall was still crying and I knew this was a different cry than normal. I asked where her owie was and she pointed to her shoulder. I took her outside to try and calm her and my immediate thoughts were that she broke her collarbone. We went to Desert Book and she kept crying. We already bought tickets to see the lights at Bellevue Botanical Gardens and so we were trying to decide what to do. We were in two cars which was a blessing so Nate took McCall so he could take her to the ER back home and I drove the other car and the rest of us got some dinner and saw the amazing light display.

I got dropped off the ER after two hours and Nate was still waiting in the waiting room. They went through triage and I guess it was pretty traumatic for McCall. She cuddled with me the rest of the evening while we waited to get called back. It was so busy that we didn't even get put in a room but just on a bed in the hallway. The doctor looked at her and checked all her arm and by her reactions thought it was her shoulder or collarbone. We did the X-ray which she did amazing with and then she fell asleep soon after while we waited some more. The doctor confirmed what I thought and she fractured her right collarbone. We got a cute, tiny sling for her to wear and she was a trooper through it all.

Sunday was our Christmas service. Sacrament meeting was wonderful and Baylor even got to sing with the primary. McCall fell asleep pretty much as soon as we sat down. The long night and emotions from the day before got to her. She has done so well with dealing with the sling! We watched the Seahawks game in the evening to end our day.

Monday's adventure was going to the movie theater to see Moana 2. Nate stayed home with McCall but the rest of us went and enjoyed a great movie. We haven't gone to a movie since 2021 so it was a fun treat.

Merry Christmas Eve! I love Christmas Eve just as much or maybe even a little more than Christmas Day. There is so much joy and anticipation in this day and I love the fun traditions we do on Christmas Eve.

This year, the rain took a break so we enjoyed a family walk in the forest across the street from us. We took a few gnome ornaments and Paige and Baylor hung them along the trail.

Then I took my parents and we went and saw the wreaths on the graves at Tahoma National Cemetery.

Next was making some cookies for Santa and I had some great helpers.

McCall fell asleep right before we were going to Nona and Pop's house and so she had a nap right under the Christmas tree. Her little angelic face got so many kisses as she snoozed away.

Sandwich time!

And lighting our annual Santa candle.

Then it was present time. Some favorite moments from the night were McCall loving herself in the mirror that she got from Nona and Baylor's excitement when opening presents.

Eggnog toast!

Then it was back home for Christmas jammies, getting everything ready for Santa, and then off to bed with such excitment for tomorrow!

Christmas morning was filled with excitment and fun! Christmas is so joyous with kids especially with Baylor who is truly the best person to watch open presents because she shows how she feels on her face when she opens a gift.

Paige was so happy with her gifts and she is truly the best gift giver!

McCall got this candy in her stocking and she was content. She opened maybe two presents and then was done. She had no interest in opening presents and didn't really understand that toys and fun things were under all that wrapping paper. Eventually Paige convinced to try and open some more to get toys and then she picked a gift that had clothes and when she opened it exclaimed, "No! I want toys!" and threw the clothes to the side. :)

It was a fun morning filled with happiness and some delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

I got a gift that has been on my wish list for a few years- a paddle board! I told the girls we are going to the lake every day this summer. :)

The girls were loved so much this year and got some many fun things!

Oh how I love these sweet faces!

Nate and I's haul this year!

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner with my parents and Nate's parents which was a special treat. It was a great way to end our Christmas. Here's our Santa candle at the end of the day.

Thursday was kind of a catch up day. We did some grocery shopping in the morning and then we were going to go to the Kent Historical Museum but it was closed so we all went to the Goodwill Outlet. The rest of the day was spent playing with Christmas gifts and lego building.

Friday we borrowed Nona and Pop's van and took an adventure up to Seattle.

We went to the Sheraton Grand Hotel to see their gingerbread display. It is a free event and even though there aren't very many to look at, they are INCREDIBLE! The details were amazing and the theme this year was around the world.

We walked around the streets of Seattle a bit as we wandered back to our car.

Then we went to Alderwood Mall and had some lunch at Shake Shack which was so good. Then we wandered through the mall and bought some things at the Giving Machine.

We ended our day spending lots of quality time with the Smith side and cousins. We hade lots of eggrolls for dinner and Nate and I did donuts for dessert.

Our last day with Grandma and Poppy, we went swimming at the aquatic center. Carly joined us for this outing. We enjoyed a wonderful family dinner before we all went to the airport to drop them off.

It was a wonderful visit even with not the greatest weather and our car situation wasn't the best case scenario. We made the most of it and enjoyed time with them and loved this wonderful Christmas season!