I don't know of anything more exciting than knowing you're going to have the entire family all together in the same place. The Calls have this fantastic open street where you can see cars coming from a while away. We got there before the Becks and once their minivan was spotted coming down the road, we were all outside for the welcome. Everyone in one house. Everyone together. That is Christmas. Oh, I love it.
This trip, I really had a good time improving and strengthening my relationship with Kiara and Sam. Kiara was so fun to watch with my boys. They loved playing with her. I remember one instance where Gray just sat with her for 45 minutes talking and laughing and cooing and playing. I got to have such great conversations with her and Sam on separate occasions. That is my love language. Intellectual conversation. I feel so close to them both. And I am so grateful for that. Family is everything.
Cameron brought this piano duet to play with Emilee. It was so fun for me to see them playing together! Sometimes it's hard for me to realize that they are all siblings, like me and my siblings. But oh, it came out. I love when they get goofy and play with each other! This was great to watch. And I love Adrienne in the background of this picture. I don't know anything a mother would love to see more than her children enjoying each others' company when they're grown.
Wayne. He is such a strong man. He planned his chemotherapy around Christmas so he could be as present as possible for all the fun stuff. He is so good with the grandkids. He loves nothing more than to rock those babies to sleep. I love this picture of him and Kenzee.
They have this walker that was such a hot item the whole week. Kenzee, Nash and Granger all took turns in it. Nash would zoom all around the house. The whole bottom floor is wood for the most part. He loved being able to have free range on the place. When he wasn't in the walker, he was crawling across the kitchen floor to play with the fluffy kitchen rug. At one point he had high-centered the walker out the front door. Emilee rescued him. He is mischievous!
Granger in the walker. The best part of it is that there's a tray in the front. I would put puffs in the tray and Gray would walk and munch his way around. So fun to watch. Gray would also park in front of the back door and just look outside. We used to look out the window during breakfast when we lived here over the summer. It amazes me how quick things change!
I rarely put anything in the boys' hair. It just doesn't stay. I didn't realize how long Gray's hair has grown. And then he started pulling portly old man faces. Cracked me up. My mom bought them their Christmas Sunday outfits. Oh they looked so handsome. And Baylee was so good with them. Such a big help getting out the door on time! Church was a circus. Between us getting up and taking the boys to the back of the gym and Emilee and Adam's twins who had contracted croup on the ride down, we were a sight to see. I caught Emilee's eye once while we both bounced our babies in the back and we both just laughed. There isn't much else you can do at that point! Adam ended up taking their boys to Urgent Care, poor kiddos.
It really helps to have an awesome photographer in the family. Even snapshots turn out beautifully. I love these pictures and am so glad to have a family picture from Christmas! The boys' hair didn't stay how it was styled, but I like this better. It's how they really look, every day. Oh, so handsome.
Cameron took Gray out to the trampoline to play with the big kids. He clung on so tight, but he had a little grin on his face the whole time. My Granger is a social little guy. He lives for interaction. I know he loved being around his cousins and doing what they were doing.
I can't believe how big Baylee is getting! She is almost seven! She was doing flips and twirls on the trampoline.
At the Call Christmas Party this year, we went on a caroling hay ride. We had a train of three different trucks and sang and looked at the lights. It got super cold, so we wrapped the boys up tight and Nash actually fell asleep by the end of it [but not before he spit up and got his blanket all wet]! Glad they weren't too chilly.
I don't get to see my friend Lauren very often, but when I do it's wonderful. I know we're not supposed to have favorites, but she's one of my very favorite Calls. It's always a treat to get to see her!
When we got back to the party, Cameron played a song on the harmonica, just like Grandma Call used to. I love that he is so fond of traditions. He had been practicing one song all day and then they changed the song they wanted at the last minute. He wasn't thrilled at his performance. It was a little rough. But I love that he is able to laugh at himself. He is so fun around his family! Nothing phases him. He just loves being with everyone.
On Christmas Eve Day, we went to the Nevitt Party and took the boys to say hello to Mema and Pop. She got to hold both of them. I am so grateful for these pictures.
The party fell right during naptime. Gray played and played with Jensen and his girlfriend Megan and then fell right asleep on her lap and stayed that way for over an hour! Cute boy. It was so fun to see them coo and fawn over him.
I took this picture right before we left the party. Granger loves to smack anything with his cute chubby hands. It makes a great sound. This granite countertop was no exception. He had a blast with it. I also love how grown up he looks here. Sitting up at the counter. Oh he is going to be off to school before I know it. Stay small, please!
I loved getting to spend some time with Kenzee. She is so soft and cuddly! I forget what it's like to have a baby that small.
At the Nevitt party we sing songs until Santa gets here. My favorite is the 5 little snowmen in a row song. Nash was on my lap for that part and was fussy because he was missing his nap. I clapped his hands together while we sang that song and he was giggly and fun again. We sang the song twice and the lull in between was rough until everyone started singing again. He loved it! I love seeing my boys on Santa's lap. It's one of those iconic pictures you think about before you have kids. Seeing all these little dreams come to fruition is such a sweet experience for me.
We got to talk to Pop for a little bit at the party. I always love getting to talk to him. He has a sharp sense of humor. My favorite is when he finds himself funny. He has the most endearing laugh. He always knows my name and gives me a kiss.
We bought the boys new jammies to wear on Christmas Eve. We gave them a warm bath after a quick Nativity from the Grandkids. Nash and Gray were the sheep. We stripped them down to their diapers and put socks on their hands. We sang picture a Christmas and all the characters walked in with their costumes on. Lasted 2 minutes. THAT is the way to do a nativity with so many little kids.
I truly love seeing Wayne and Adrienne with my boys. They adore them completely. Seeing pictures of them together really makes it apparent just how far away we live.
Jared put Amberlee on his shoulders after all the kids were down for the night to get the angel up on the tree. It is so fun for me to see them joking around. Jared and Amber are such good friends.
Emilee and I pulled out all the presents to rearrange them for when Santa came. We had It's a Wonderful Life playing in the background. It is so fun for me to make things look pretty. I really love setting up Christmas. Everything is so shiny and pretty. And it's exciting to see so many surprises!
By the boys' stockings in the morning there was a big orange bumpy ball. There are black bumpy balls at the chiropractic clinic that are always a hit with the boys and the orange one is a huge favorite toy now.
Cameron bought the boys a special treat for breakfast. Banana pudding custard. They gobbled it up so fast! He fed them while we were opening presents.
It was the year of blocks. We got them two different sets of blocks, a big building set and a star wars set. Emilee and Adam got them a shiny set too. And they are all played with a ton. I count on all the blocks being out in my living room from right after breakfast to bedtime. They love them.
Elisha is so cute with our boys! She is such a good help! She would just pick one of them up and tote them around or play with them. She always wanted to help me feed them and needed to know when they would be up from their naps. We have the BEST cousins. The love is so tangible. And my boys love them right back.
Baylee got a K'Nex roller coaster for one of her presents and I admit, I was probably more excited than she was. I LOVE K'NEX. I love building things. So I offered to help her build it. It took a lot of will power not to want to do the whole thing for her! But she is so smart. She spotted differences in the diagrams and put it together herself. I would pull out the pieces for each section for her and she would snap them together. It was the coolest thing to see once it was complete! Only took a couple days. It was a big one!
Cameron and I made Christmas dinner for everyone. Ham and potatoes, salad, jello, rolls and Martinelli's. Delicious.
Speaking of how Gray loves to drum on things. The next surface of choice was Adam's head. This picture cracks me up. He was so happy!
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I kept asking Cameron what he wanted and his reply was always "socks." I refused to get him socks. We are not that old yet! But really, that's all he wanted. And I intended to get him some, time just got away from me. Luckily, Jared bought him socks! He was a happy man.
The day after Christmas, I was so sick. I was puking all night and could barely keep my head up that day. While I took a monster nap, the rest of the family did Gingerbread Houses. So cute! Cam's is on the far left with the covered porch made of pirouette cookies. Adrienne got amazing candy this year so we spent the next few days eating everything off the houses.
The next day, we all went outside to shoot the Martinelli's bottles with a pellet gun. I walked in the trailer (We were sleeping in the 5th wheel. AMAZING. It was nice and quiet out there so the boys could get good naps. It was nice to have all of our stuff corralled in one spot. And Arizona really isn't very cold so it wasn't a pain to walk out there. We even had our own bathroom. It was a pretty sweet set up.) Anyway, I walked out to the trailer to check on Nash. This is how he was sleeping. It made me laugh. After making sure he could still breathe, I went and took my turn with the pellet gun.
Cam was cracking me up. He can't shut one of his eyes, so he puts the gun on the wrong shoulder and it looks goofy. To remedy the situation, he put the gun right in the middle and gave it a go. I don't think he hit anything, but he gave everyone a good laugh.
Wayne and Adrienne's present to each other was a new TV. One that didn't fit their entertainment center. So the guys took it apart and moved it to their bedroom and we rearranged the living room. Quite the project, but it needed to be done while there were so many able bodies around to help! I love changing the look of a home. It is so fun to me. I was so excited to have a fun project to work on!
Adrienne took the three babies for a wagon ride. She stuffed a seat cushion in the back for Gray to lean against. They loved it! It was so fun for me to follow them around and see them having such a good time. The boys had been sick for a couple days and it was nice to get them outside for some fresh air.
We have a tradition of having a girls' shopping day when we're all together for Christmas. This year we were all sick! But we rallied and had a great time. We had to bring a wheelchair for Kiara because she had fallen down the stairs and hurt her ankle. It was pretty swollen and painful, but I'm so glad she agreed to come! We had a great time.
While I was sick, everyone went to play lava tag. They had a blast and came back completely exhausted. This is one of Jared's favorite games. He had been a trooper playing other games with us the whole trip. It was fun to hear everyone loving something he wanted to do. I hope this happens again on a day when I can play too!
I love seeing these three together. I hope they stay good friends. That means we need to make some trips to Utah!
Everyone left on Sunday morning. I was sick again and woke up in the middle of the night with such a painful cough that my throat had been rubbed raw. I couldn't swallow or breathe and I was panicking because the flight out had been so horrible. My body was aching and I had been sick for 4 days. All I needed was sleep, but the boys and Cam were sick too and no one was getting any rest. Cam was feeling slightly better. I woke up in a panic and couldn't calm down. He gave me a blessing and my throat immediately stopped hurting. I was able to go back to sleep. He took Nash and Gray inside and Adrienne stayed home from church to help tend them. We got the boys on a nebulizer to open up their airways. I did some and Cameron did some too.
My parents came down to drop Alyssa off for the week. They were going to Hawaii to celebrate their anniversary and Alyssa and Amber always want time together. They were so excited! It was so great to be able to see my parents again before heading off to the airport.
Before we left, Cameron and Wayne gave Nash and Gray blessings. Part of the blessing said that the flight would go quickly and that we would all get feeling better and that the boys would be able to be comfortable on the plane and get some rest. They fussed until we started moving. And as soon as the plane hit the runway, they both fell asleep. If they stirred, we were able to comfort them. There was no shrieking. There was no playing. They slept. I was so grateful. SO grateful. Cameron and I watched Spiderman to pass the time. I caught sight of the clock on the ipad and it said 3:50am. We weren't landing until 5, so I figured we had another hour to go. Right then, the pilot came over the intercom and announced our final descent into the Dallas area. The clock hadn't changed yet! I was overcome with gratitude. My testimony in priesthood blessings swelled. Isn't it interesting how we could be having this intimate spiritual experience in a crowded plane and no one else could tell? It blew me away. I have never been so grateful in my life. We all slept in until 10 the next morning. We were home!
