The Actual Christmas

Christmas was so wonderful this year. After a week of family togetherness and warmth, our little fam joined up with our big fams out in Utah. The big ol' snow storm of December hit the day that we flew from Florida to Utah, so our travel day that was supposed to start at 5:00 AM and end at 1:00 PM instead started at 5:00 AM and ended at 9:30 PM. It was a long day.

The trouble it was to get to Utah was well worth it. It was so fun to be there at a time when my younger sisters were out of school, so that they were able to be around a lot. We got to voice our opinions about wedding colors, cakes, bridesmaids and dresses (Mel and Jake), our opinions about who Mignon should date, and how Mikee is perfect (still). Cadence got to play in the snow, and at the little gym (pictures, please?), play the two pianos at my parents' house, visit Grandma Great (Harward) everyday, eat Grandma's yummy chili, give Pepper treats, pick presents for her cousins, aunts, and uncles, and have dance party after dance party.

Campbell was loved, adored, snuggled, kissed, danced with, tossed, changed, propped up, and tickled by a whole lot of people. She was SO happy there.

Another great thing about Utah was that Spencer's family came to us! They come to their cabin near Sundance for many holidays, and it sure made our Christmas special to be there with them.

Christmas day was so much fun. Cadence was very very excited about the presents and made it a little more fun for everybody. Campbell was just a blob, really. Someday, Cam. Spencer got me "4 gigs of ram"? Really romantic, Spence. Just kidding, now I can blog twice as fast, I LOVE IT! I really do, thanks, babe. I wrote him a letter. And got him Rockband. You know, almost as exciting as ram. :) (To be fair, he also took me to Florida, and Rockband was kind of for both of us.)

We really missed having Merica, Damian, and their adorable girls around for Christmas morning. Their girls are so funny and fun on Christmas. We loved, however, having McKay and Karalyn around for Christmas, and of course Zavian, who is the handsomest, most hilarious and expressive baby boy ever. I wish I could have packed him up and brought him home with me.
Christmas night, Spencer's family came down to my parent's house and we had dinner and played and danced and had a great time together. The chemistry of our families together is always funny to me. So different, and yet a great time is always had by all. A great and memorable time. Like that time that the Clives nearly got themselves lectured/dirtylooked to death by the Ortons over an insistence that my mom gets the "spanking machine" for losing a game....

Spencer and I got to go Snowboarding the next day while Cadence stayed home at the cabin and played with Gramps and Mamaw. When I got back she was sledding with Gramps and having so much fun. She also got to sleep right next to John, Caitlin, and Trevor, which was really exciting (almost TOO exciting).

We came back to my parents house when the Clives had to leave to head home. We were sad to see them go so soon, but were very grateful for their time and how good they are to the kids. I don't know when we'll see them again, but we can't wait.

It was nice to have as much fun with my family as we did. I didn't feel rushed, or anxious about "fitting it all in", or morning sickness (last year I was pretty worthless). It was so fun to just be there. My dad had a lot of work to do, and so did my mom (Mel's getting married really soon!), but they were both very happy, and took a lot of time to be with my kids.

Thanks, Mom and Dad Orton, Mom and Dad Clive, and all the people who made time for us this year.

Thank you, Spencer, for all you did to make this holiday special for us. I appreciate all your hard work and the time you sacrifice to be with us, to take us places, and to love us.

Now for a few pictures. I didn't take very many. I never do when I'm with family. It's too bad. I guess I was having too much fun.

Cadence and Daddy ready to go out in the snow. I hadn't found her boots yet, so newspaper bags and rubberbands did the trick. Below are a couple more snow play pics that I thought were so sweet.




Mikee and Campbell. I like it because Mikee is making a weird face, even though she still looks pretty.
Grandpa Orton and Cadence are dancin' fools!

Cadence was so helpful on Christmas morning. She wanted to help everybody unwrap. Here she is sporting her new princess panties, which we are now using for potty-training.