What a fun holiday we had!! Where do I even start? I suppose I will make a list of some highlights...
The Nativity
On Christmas Eve, we all sat down and listened to a band's Christmas rendition of Hallelujah, which was wonderful. But after that, we watched the Church's video on the Nativity. It struck me so differently this year. Now that I have a precious son of my own, I can relate better to Mary and the overwhelming, life-changing, incredible feelings that come over you when you see your baby for the first time. You hold him and stare into those eyes, into the old soul that has been held and reserved to come just at that time to you. But to think that her baby boy was the Son of the Most High God. A God himself, come to earth to fulfill the his Father's plan. To make it possible for all mankind to repent and be forgiven and to return to live with our families (including him and our Heavenly Father) forever. There was no greater mission and no greater man to perform it. Did she know that when she was holding him the first time? She truly was a choice woman to mother Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that I know of his birth and life- and that I was born into a family with parents who taught me to follow him :)
Little Italy Dinner
Oh my goodness. Emily & Tyler out did themselves this year. The dinner was AMAZING. Let me just tell you what was on the menu, so you can be a mouthwatering mess by the time this paragraph ends. We had a loaded table complete with Olive Garden copycat bread sticks by Josh, Olive Garden copycat Salad by Mum, Italian Sodas by Mike, DELICIOUS lasagna by Em, Parmesan encrusted chicken with fettuccine alfredooooomygosh!! and homemade vanilla and chocolate hazelnut gelato by yours truly. It was great to sit around the table and nom-nom as a family. We rock at Christmas Eve.
Gingerbread Pictures
So I wanted to do a little family activity or two while we were up there and I liked the idea of gingerbread houses, but didn't want to go through the trouble of cutting each stupid shape out so they'd fit perfectly together yada yada, so instead I decided to make little rectangles of gingerbread that would be used as a canvas. Then I went out to the dollar store and got a bunch of Christmas candy, got a recipe for royal icing on Pinterest, and some ziplock bags to put it in. We then made our own pictures of whatever we want. Here is what the end result was:
Emily - Owl
Shan - Harry Potter
Josh - Gingerbread House...hahaha
Mum - Happy colorful stick figures
Jenn & Dad - Horse
Tyler - Mordor HAHA
We're awesome.
Sourdough
Gramma Thompson gave us some sourdough starts, so Dad and I decided to make some during the holiday. Well at about 9am we got the stuff out and picked a recipe... We started going and were getting really excited to get it in the oven when the instructions read: Let sit covered for about 15 hours.... WHAT!? NO!! No one was going to wake up at 230 in the morning to make sourdough, so we put it on the deck to slow the process. It worked. The next day, we got back to it and were getting excited to bake it when it reads: Let sit for about 5 hours. REALLY..? Sigh. So about 6 hours later we FINALLY had sourdough bread baked in dutch ovens. It was SOOO GOOD. Because it was baked in the oven inside a dutch oven, the crust was PERFECT. We all gobbled the bread and the two loaves were gone that night.
Christmas Song Jingle Along
After we watched The Nativity, Mom brought out a big bucket of home made jingle bell... jinglers! We all had our jingle bells, then Tyler played karaoke Christmas songs and we sang our heads off. James LOVED this! In fact, the next day when they came over to Mom's, he went straight for the jinglers and pointed to the speakers that we were playing the music on and said "This! This! Do This!". It was awesome.
White Christmas Musical
So Tyler was Bob Wallace (the lead) in White Christmas at the Centerpointe Theater this year!! They made a good decision casting him as Bob. It was a big snowstorm right before we were supposed to leave for the show and I was worried about the roads, but the snow stopped just for us and even Gramma Thompson was able to make it with her bestie Gloria! Haha. Anyway, Tyler was WONDERFUL!! We had a great time. As we were getting up to leave, the people around us asked if we had family in the show. When we told them Tyler was our brother in law, they went nuts! "Tell him he was SOO GOOD!!!" "What a great voice!!!" "He was perfect!" etc. Haha yeah.. We know him, even!
Presents
After we played the obligatory and entertaining candy bar game, we had our annual gift exchange. I flippin' love the gift exchange when you aren't allowed to give money. It has to be a gift! So here is what everyone got:
Tyler (from Shan) Got a huge Beatles piano book and a guitar wall mount
Josh (from Tyler) Got a fly fishing book he has been wanting
Mom (from Dad) Home Depot gift card for new paint (for the kitchen)
Dad (from Em) Got nice new jeans
Mike (from Josh) Got a little laptop desk thing with fans in it
Em (from Jenn) Got a haircut
Jenn (from Mike) Got Skull Candy headphones
Shan (from Mom) Got new black boots and Coconut Lime lotion
Then Mom had a little surprise for me and Em! She got Em a new jelly roll pan and me a new cast iron pan!!! I gotta say, we LOVE it! I have used it a lot since we brought it home. So sweet :) Mom also got PK some new bath toys, batman pajamas, and a school bus that goes when you pull it back!! He LOVES the bath toys and we played with the school bus today back and forth, back and forth for about a half hour.. Haha :)
Then on Christmas morning, Josh, PK, and I opened our presents from Mom and Dad Coburn! It was so fun! I was so proud of myself for not trying to spoil any of my surprises. We all took turns opening presents. Josh got cold weather fishing clothes, some crazy clear cure goo that cures stuff with a UV light (like at the dentist!), a new electric razor (that he LOVES), and fly tying stuff (from me ;). PK got a hippo that pops balls all over and sings funny music. He loves it. He wants to know how that popper works so bad! He has even turned it upside down trying to figure it out. Haha. He also got stacking bowls, leggings, and a cute winter outfit that he wore for Christmas Eve! I got a Google Nexus 7 tablet (YEEESSSS!!), these super cute and nice snow boots that weight almost nothing, are super warm, and have a little fur on top!! A cute crafty scarfy-doo that Mom made, in my favorite- yellow and grey, and a Nexus cover from Josh! It was a lovely day! The only thing that would have made it better was to be able to talk to Mom and Dad, but they were on a cruise and actually in Honduras on Christmas Day! Neat!
Swing Set
We have a big swing set in my parent's back yard and there is a baby swing on it. Phoenix has never gone swinging on a swing set and it just so happens that i brought his snow suit in case he wanted to get outside while we were visiting (plus it was a golden opportunity to try out my new snowboots!!) so I popped him in it and we went out to the back yard for some swinging. I would tell you how much he liked it but I think these pictures will do the talking ;)
And finally, here are a few randomzies.
Here is Emily... Never a dull moment! Yes that is Jenn's lift from the tub to her bedroom.
The tried and true Thompson tradition of putting children in random objects and carrying them around the house. Here is the laundry basket carry.
Phoenix was obsessed with the front screen door. He loved banging on the glass and seeing the outside. Then Charlie came along wanting breakfast and Phoenix was wetting his pants (probably literally) over her. He thought she was the coolest looking cat ever. She is pretty awesome. I mean look at her!
