Best Christmas Ever

(Sorry for the long post. I had 200+ pictures, I have been procrastinating and I just needed to get this done)

These kids were thrilled to take part in the nativity at Great Grandma's houseIt's a good thing Great Grandma made pajamas for the kids, our luggage ended up getting stuck in Memphis for a couple days...and good thing we packed all the presents in carry-ons too.Tommy made sure Santa would get his "chocolate" milkAnd Rachel took care of the letterOh anticipation! Isn't it fun!! I love their tired eyes. Surprisingly they adjusted super quick to Mountain Standard Time and didn't get up until 7am. Amazing right?!
Classic shot
Katelyn likes her new horse and bath toys
Tommy's present tower! I was really quite proud of myself for my orchestrating the presents we got them and the ones my mom sent to Princeton, it was definitely the trickiest part of the big surprise.
I loved hearing Rachel say, "just what I wanted!" with most of her gifts.
Isn't she cute with her matching American Girl doll. She named her Amy and she loves her!Tommy loves his batcave! Jack and Tommy had a few rough moments but they started to click in the end and became real good buddies.
We enjoyed going to church on Christmas and listening to Sister and Elder Christofferson speak.

The week following we seemed to pack in a lot of fun but still managed to get in some down time just hanging out.

Visiting Grandma's work
Going to Zoo Lights! This was definitely a highlight. Lots of fun lights and we even got to see some animals, like the tiger, the leopard, and all the reptiles. It's not a true Christmas vacation without puzzles. I've been doing them since I was little. I think we completed 3 1000 piece puzzles. I'm glad Rachel is joining in!
An additional tipping point to booking this trip was the hope to ski (to take advantage of these years I'm not pregnant or nursing). It's been a mild winter across the board, with Utah as no exception. We did not have a white Christmas and the snow was meager in the mountains. Luckily there was enough to have Rachel really get the hang of it...and LOVE it! It was so fun to see her persevere and progress and be proud of herself, and I love that smile.
You know it's a good ski day when...To include Tommy in on the snow fun we went sledding. No shame in wearing purple. I love it!
Pure joy!
We got sleds for them for Christmas and are still waiting to put them to use here in New Jersey
Just hanging out in pajamas. Guaranteed this was not taken in the morning. Katelyn likes to make this face when she sees the camera aimed at her.
Bubble bath
Cutsies!
Getting the hang of his new scooter
Aren't these two kiddos so cute?! My nephew Jack and niece SophieJust Dance on the XBox. Great times!!We got to spend some time with Jake's brother's family and also had the treat of spending some time with "Grandma Grape" who was up visiting from New Mexico.We took advantage of Provo, seeing my grandma one more time and seeing a BYU basketball game.My kids loved it. The girls may have even enjoyed it more than Tommy. Rachel was really into the cheers and "who's winning"

One more ski day. Spring skiing in JANUARY! Gotta love it!
Scarlet and Rachel were great little ski buddies. They had such a blast and they were so cute cruising down the hill talking and laughing. It reminded me of my good ol' days skiing with my cousin.
And speaking of buddies, these kids hit it off from the second we walked in. They had a great time dressing up and fighting bad guys, doing their "boy" things.
It was a rough transition back to reality...fatigued, unpacking, putting Christmas away, missing family and friends, getting sick etc. but it was SO worth it!