To have the boys home again and playing soccer in the backyard was...well it almost made me cry. I truly miss that!
A trip to Greensboro was on our agenda as well. We made a visit to see Dad. Matt, Zach and Marissa had not seen him since last Christmas. He was soooo happy to see everyone, it made him cry. He loves having visits, so anyone who would like to do a kind gesture, go visit my dad, he would love it. He kept making comments about all the pretty girls, some things never change :) Always so good to see Dad and put a smile on his face, just so happy I could do it with more of my family.
We can't go to Greensboro and not go to YUM YUM Better Ice cream! So good! It was the first time for Marissa, Aubrey & Kimber, and I think they enjoyed it.
Some of the most wonderful moments of Christmas break were when we gathered every night as a family and had Devotionals...so great!!! The kids were each assigned a night to do dinner and to give the family devotional, and they did not disappoint! The spirit was so strong and they taught such wonderful gospel principles, those were moments and feelings that I will not soon forget. Game nights are always fun, and sometimes intense, maybe too intense, but we were all still friends and loved each other in the end :) The night I brought out the cookie skillet...out of the way, they were ready to dig in and they were done in no time!
This year we put off doing gingerbread houses until Dallin & Jaclyn joined us after Christmas...its never too late to be creative, and wow are they creative! We paired everyone up! They all worked really well together and were supper creative, they turned out so good this year. Kimber & Matthew were good sports when their little house fell, but they had fun either way! Dallin & Jaclyn were so meticulous with theirs, Aubrey & Caleb was covered with colorful candy, Tory & Katie did a great job too, but no one was more proud of themselves than Marissa & Zachary. It was so fun watching them work together to a create something beautiful.
We all went out to dinner to celebrate Dallins graduating from UNC.
Aunt Bean along with Amber & Claire and Ashley & Violet all came down for a visit. Dallin could not get enough of these sweet girls.
The girls got a crochet lesson from Aunt Bean. I have already made 2 scarfs since that day :)
Dallin & Jaclyn finally made it back from AZ yeah!!!! Also Matthew had a friend come and spend some time with us over the break, Kimber Clayton. We all quickly got to know her and she fit right in. We tried to show her a great time while she was here. We hope you will come back to visit with us again Kimber. We also had another family gathering at Anne & Barry's house, celebrating those who had graduated, Tyler, Dallin, Jaclyn & Marissa and a friend of Christopher's. I loved the fact that we just got together again, you can never have too much family time, can you :/?
Ice skating was on the agenda this time over break. It was a lot of fun, for some it was the first time and for others the first time in a long time. Downtown Charlotte had a rink set up outside the Nascar Museum. I think it will be something we put down to do every year from now on.
The day after Christmas was family Christmas with the Pages. Its a crazy bunch when we are all together. We were missing 3 missionaries, and Dallin & Jaclyn. Its a rare occasion that we are all able to be together at one time.
We sure did miss having the rest of our Pages with us...oh and I also have some handsome boys, just saying!
Marissa's sisters also came to NC. We got to enjoy Aubrey as well as Marissa over the break. The kids enjoyed riding around in Caswell, something they have not done in a long time!
Christmas Morning we got to sleep in, not up as early as we use to when the kids were younger, but it was still about 8:00 am. We all got what we wanted for Christmas. Gift opening went faster than it ever has because so many got money...which is fine, I am good with that. After opening we headed out to deliver our Secret Santa, we had tried the night before but they were not home, so we had to make our attempt again Christmas morning. That is always one of the best parts of Christmas.
Christmas Eve was just like it usually is with just fewer Pages than normal. Dallin & Jaclyn were in Arizona over the holidays, we missed them so much, and of coarse Abigail was in Chile. That morning we had a Christmas Brunch, which the kids always love, I do to since breakfast foods are my favorite. We invited a few people, some were not able to join us so it was a smaller group than usual. I did not even take any pictures of the yummy food or our guest...oops! We exchanged our family gifts in the evening, opened our PJ's and had hot chocolate and watched a movie, this year we watched Prince Caspian.
Matthew, Zachary & Marissa arrived home for the holidays on the 20th, early morning, but they were good sports and hung in there with a short nap, while Matthew and I got caught up on a few things that are going on in his life. Grandma Myra and Will drove down for a few hours for a visit. That was pretty great, it was nice having visitors.
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