Packing Up.....
Ashlee agreed to have our Family Christmas Party at her house this year. Last year it was held at April's home in Syracuse. I first thought that taking turns at each house was a great idea until we began packing up to head over to her house. WOW....what a job! It is MUCH easier to just have the party at my house and let them do all of the hauling back and forth! lol
April's car was Crammed to the very tip top!
There was barely room to sit....
But it was well worth the effort. We are all packed and ready to go enjoy a few days together as a family. I love this tradition!
The girls with their new toys from their mom. Each year she gives them new Jammies and books. These stuffed animals went along with the Christmas books that they got. She is an awesome mom!
Craft Time....
When we first arrived at Ash's house she had a fun craft planned for the kids. They were going to make Christmas Placemats. She had all sorts of supplies to make the project FUN!
I absolutely love to watch my grandkids use their imagination while creating their individual projects.
They each have their own unique ideas....
Karah drawing her chubby Santa with presents
Lyssi working on her Christmas tree and Stocking....
Adding the finishing touches on her tree
Luke is so proud of his picture. LOVE the tree!
Jack showing off his Masterpiece!
Boo with her finished project
Lyssi worked, and worked, and worked....
While Uncle Tyson read, and read, and read....
She took her sweet time and made sure it was JUST right! She was so proud of her hard work!
Santa Hats.....
While Alyssa finished up her artwork we pulled out the next project. I had planned to save this for later in the day but the kids were "EATING UP" the art projects and wanted to do more.
I got each of the kids a Santa hat to decorate and put their names on.
They always love any project if it includes GLITTER!
Lukie....with his glitter mess!
Yikes!!! That was the WHOLE bottle!
April was on the CLEAN-UP crew. She is a pro at gathering up that messy glitter.
Fun Stunts....
Tyson showing off his sheer strength as he throws his kids and his wife up in the air to entertain us. He must have been BEAT because he did this for about a half hour. He would have made a great YELL LEADER in high school with these skills. Wish I had videotaped when Ty first started cuz he was throwing the kids up so high up in the air! I could not believe it!!!
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Now it is Mom and baby's turn to be thrown around by Tyson.
Dessert????
Ash has this cute plate at her house and I thought it was perfect for this Christmas party. The kids did NOT want to wait for dinner.....So we decided to let them munch down on some yummy chocolate dipped pretzels while they waited. Wonder why they did not eat much dinner......hmmmmm?
DIG IN!
We relaxed and watched a Christmas movie while we waited for dinner to cook.
Fun with Dad!
Snuggles with mommy....
So happy together.....
Games....
Each year we try to come up with new games to keep the kids entertained. Some sound kind of dumb at first but we always end up enjoying ourselves so much! SUCH GREAT MEMORIES!
We started off with our Christmas rendition of the game....."Duck-Duck-Goose" but changed the words to "Jingle-Jingle-Jingle-BELLS" The kids had so much fun chasing us around. The adults chose to just sit on the sidelines and watch but they should have joined in cuz it was LOTS of fun. By the look on Tyson's face I think he enjoyed watching Howie and I entertain his kids :)
Almost caught Luke!!!
Papa Howie being chased down by the BLURR Jack!
Papa Howie sure got a workout. Brayden thought he could slow his papa down by hanging on his leg when it was his turn. NOPE.....didn't slow down Howie :) Brayden got a fun and scary ride once Papa started running around the circle. So happy nobody got hurt.
Our next game was "Santa Says"....or Simon Says if it is not Christmas time
They are so good at following directions! Maybe we should play this game when it is time to clean their room! "Santa Says....pick up your toys! Santa Says....make your bed" I think it would work :)
Boo and Howie are the last ones standing! Who is gonna win?
I love this picture for some reason. I think it is because it shows how much the kids truly enjoy playing with each other. I love these kids sooo much!
The kids took turns being SANTA....
SANTA SACK RACES
I found these cute Santa sacks and planned on just putting gifts inside for Christmas morning. Then I got an idea to use them for a sack race game. It was a HIT! It was fun to watch the kids race across the livingroom.
Took a while for them to get the knack of it.
Grandma T had to show them how it was done.
With a little cheating on my part....What do you expect? Can't let my 4 year old grandsome beat me! lol
"Heck...who needs this stinkin bag? I can run much faster with out that darn thing!"
We couldn't leave Baby Nate out of the races!
We tied the kids into the bags and let them roll around on the ground. They thought it was great fun....Little did they know that it was the grown-ups chance to rest from all of the action. Go ahead kids, roll around for another hour or two. Your grandparents are exhausted!
Time for some boxing lessons from Papa Howie....
I aboslutely LOVE this video of Howie and the kids dancing around the room boxing. I love to hear them laugh and I love to watch them play with their Papa. EVERYTIME we are together the kids spend HOURS playing and goofing off with him. NO MATTER HOW TIRED HE IS.....he always makes it fun for them.
Time for a DOGGY PILE!!!
SQUISH HIM!!!!
Time to wind down and get ready for bed....
I sure love my little kiddos!
Jammies and Decorating the tree....
Cute Cousins.....
It was next to impossible getting all four of them smiling and looking at the camera at the same time. I think April took ten pictures of this particular shot.
Uncle Tyson could not pass up the chance to play bongo drums on their bottoms as they lay posing for Aunt April. He got them a bit distracted.
Tyson still making them giggle....
Bedtime Scriptures.....
Had to post this picture....Lyss will kill me when she grows up and sees this.
Aunt Ashlee reading the scriptures to the kids. Brayden is not a happy camper. He just found out that as soon as the story is done....BEDTIME!
We had a wonderful day today as a family. Tons of fun memories that will always be cherished. I LOVE MY FAMILY! I LOVE OUR GET TOGETHERS! I LOVE THIS FAMILY TRADITION!
Time for bed! Sweet dreams.....
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1 comment:
You have THE funnest family parties. You could write a book with all your creative ideas. I would buy it so I'd be a better grandma.
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