Newport at Christmas

We didn't get to do most of our Christmas Break plans because we had too many sickies but we finally made it out of the house a few days after Christmas to do our traditional Newport Beach day.

It felt so good to be out in the fresh air away from the house. We ate lunch on the pier and met up with family from Long Beach.

So much to look at on the colorful pier.

We took the ferry over to Balboa Island as per usual.

Nash's aunt Bree bought him the new release of a book in one of his favorite series at the quaint island bookstore. She was definitely the favorite person of the day.

Even after I bought him a Balboa Bar.

I have so many photos of the boys lined up eating their Balboa Bars on this bench and yet I still can't stop snapping.

Back to the book.

We topped off the early sunset at the ocean where the water was cold but the air was warm. There's no place the boys love more.

I think I still have a little Michigan winter PTSD from my 20+ years there, but it still blows my mind that we spent December 28th at the beach.

Christmas Cousins

My mom requested a photo of all her grandsons while they were together for Christmas. Ollie could fit right in as a brother.

Christmas Morning

The overarching memory from Christmas 2017 was how sick everyone was. The photos don't show how many people were coughing, sniffling or had fevers. There were some that didn't eat Christmas dinner and some that spent a good portion of the day in bed. 

We had a lot of presents to get through with eleven people and we couldn't make it through in one sitting. We opened one round in the morning until people starting dropped like flies and finally made it through the rest in the afternoon.

The boys were excited about their one present from Santa. We always open presents from youngest to oldest.

Finn got a dancing robot that didn't make it more than a month without breaking.

Crew's one request was a ninja sword that he eyed at the LEGO Store and cost under five dollars. 

Now that thing is still going strong.

Nash had his heart set on one particular LEGO set.

Blake loves all things roller coaster and I loved how excited he was about a K'nex roller coaster set. I have a feeling the boys' wish lists are going to change in the near future and I'm enjoying the years when they still ask for toys.

We slowly made it through the rest of the gifts. I actually love that it takes a long time and we don't just tear into everything all at once for a few reasons. First, I love to see what everyone opens and the expressions on their faces. Second, it gives the receivers a chance to be grateful and appreciate each gift, knowing that it's going to be awhile before another turn. Third, what else do we have to do on Christmas Day besides sit all together in one room? And finally, so much time and effort goes into making lists, buying gifts and wrapping them and I don't want it all to be over in a flash.

One of the presents I had picked out for the older boys almost ended up being a mishap. 

A few days before Christmas, I was taking a rough inventory of the packages I had received in the mail. They were mostly stacked in our hallway, still in the shipping boxes. But I knew I had ordered some blueprint posters for Blake and Nash's room and I still needed to buy frames to put them in. I searched through the pile of boxes and came up short. I pulled up my Etsy order form and realized that I didn't update my shipping address and they were delivered to our old house in Utah, that we had moved out of three years earlier.

I called a friend who lives a few streets away from our old house and asked if she would mind knocking on the door to see if the package happened to be there. Luckily, the new owner had kept the package and wasn't sure what to do with it since she didn't have my contact information. My friend took the package and it just happened to be a few hours before my brother was leaving to drive to California, so he was able to pick it up and bring it to us. Whew, what good timing. 

Blake and Nash loved their blueprints of their favorite things and they look great hanging over their dresser.

We loved hosting our first Christmas in our new house, but we're hoping that next time will involve a lot less illness. 

Christmas Eve

We kicked off Christmas Eve with a fancy dinner.

With presents finally wrapped and under the tree after making it a low priority all month, we were ready to go.

Blake was out of bed for the first time in days after being sick with the flu. 

We were glad that he had some of his energy back but some of the rest of us weren't as lucky. My dad missed Christmas Eve dinner and could barely sit up during presents. There was so much coughing in one vehicle as we drove around to look at lights that it was comical. We felt so bad passing on the flu to our five additional house guests.

We pressed forward with festivities even though it wasn't quite what we were hoping. Blake led us in acting out A Partridge in a Pear Tree.

The boys and their cousin Ollie opened Christmas pajamas.

Then it was time for my favorite Christmas tradition; sibling gifts. This year, the boys gave to the brother three younger than them. 

That meant Nash had Blake. He gave him a Nanoblock grand piano kit.

Crew had Nash and gave him a Harry Potter paper flyer book.

Next up was Crew. 

Finn gave him reindeer antlers he was dying to have. 

So funny the things they find so much joy in.

Last to open was Finn.

Blake picked out a toy screwdriver for Finn and it was a hit.

There's always so much love seeping out from the givers and receivers during the sibling exchange and I love that we do it separately on Christmas Eve.

We capped off the night with a wrapping paper fight before we tucked the boys in bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads.

Christmas Lights 2017

My brother Jorden has aways been into decorating with Christmas lights and each year gets bigger and better.

He taught himself how to use software to sync an entire light show to music.

He came to California for Christmas and decided to take all of the lights off his house in Utah and bring them to California. He replaced my second story Christmas lights with quite the spectacle of lights. The lights danced to music from our own radio station channel so drivers could watch and listen from their cars. 

Jorden spent an entire day walking around on our roof and building structures to set up the lights. My mom and I were simultaneously wrapping gifts in the upstairs guest room and had the windows open so we could feel the breeze. We were all in our own worlds with the tasks we were working on. I mentioned to my mom that I needed a screwdriver to assemble one of the gifts I was wrapping, and instantly, my brother's arm appeared through the window with a screwdriver in hand. 

We still laugh to this day about the magical appearance of the screwdriver.

Our whole family came outside for the big reveal and we blasted the music on speakers so our neighbors had no question of our presence. They started joining us on the street and the boys thought our synchronized light show was the coolest thing ever.

Now they just have to learn how to map Christmas lights too so we can have a display even when my brother doesn't relocate his lights from one state to another.