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Christmas

On Christmas Eve we continued the Burt tradition of singing and playing carols in the Rexburg Nursing Home. We had quite a big crowd this time, and my Grandma and Granddad even came all the way from St. Anthony to watch. I thought Rachel was ecpecially cute in this first picture, standing there with a big smile posing for the camera.


Sarah was Mary for the nativity this year, and James was a wise man. I am not sure where Joseph (Adam) is...


This is our first family orchestra production of Jingle Bells. They all did so great! And I love how the little kids just stayed quietly sitting in the middle of everyone through the entire piece! (Well, James wandered a little...)


That evening, my parents took the grandkids out to the playhouse to read a story and have hot chocolate and cookies. (Another Burt tradition.) Here are pictures of that. James had a hard time waiting until the book was over to eat the cookies. He was a little sneaky, but hey, it was Christmas Eve! We couldn't very well take it away from him! :) Thanks Mom and Dad for all the great memories.







I took these next few pictures Christmas Eve after Richard and I got everything ready. (Had to have proof that the living room at one point, was actually clean!) We were only up until about midnight. Not bad for Christmas Eve!

"The stockings were hung on the mantle with care..."


Our skinny little Chrismas tree.


One word, "SPOILED!"



Here are pictures of each of the kids Christmas morning. Sorry I add so many pictures, but this is our family photo album - something we will actually look at for years to come. Who am I kidding, we are probably the only ones who EVER look at it! :)






For Christmas, I got a new camera! Yay!!! Our last one was about 8 years old and something had come loose in it. It sounded like a rattle when I shook it. I am surprised it took pictures as long as it did! Anyway, Richard totally spoiled me, and I have been trying to figure the new one out, but enjoying it thoroughly ever since. Here it is. (Thanks to our friend, Jenni Warner, for the recommendation!)


So, the pictures from this point on are taken with the new camera. I am sure you won't tell a difference at first, but hopefully, they will get better as I figure out all the new functions.


Cute picture of the girls. Notice their window in the background. We had an incredible blizzard Christmas morning. In fact, Richard spent a good part of the day helping people get unstuck throughout Rexburg. The journey to my parents house that morning was quite an adventure. We all crammed into the pick-up and headed up to my parents in the middle of the blizzard. Once we got up to Poleline road, we saw my brother, Trev, stuck in his minivan. (Trev made it that far all the way from Hibbard! Apparently he never stopped the whole way - just kept the momentum going so they wouldn't get stuck. Poor Jeana said she was pretty freaked out the whole time.) However, Poleline was completely snowed over. My brother, Lance had come to Trev's rescue, but got stuck as well. He had a pick-up, but drove a little too high onto a drift. My Dad had showed up with his pick-up to try and pull them out. We stopped and Richard got out to help. They were able to get Trev out, but Lance being on the top of a drift, was stuck pretty bad. Luckily, a Rocky Mountain Power Trooper came along (on their way to fix a power outage), and they got Lance out. The Trooper is basically a tank. It was pretty cool. However, I am kicking myself because I had my camera sitting right next to me in the truck through this whole scene and I never thought to take a picture! DUH!!! Oh well. You get the idea.


All of the grandkids, except for Ryan and Alyse's 3 kids, at Mom and Dad's on Christmas Day. (We missed you Ryan and Alyse! :)


William


Kevin and my Dad


This is how James likes to pose for pictures lately. He says, "Mom! Mom! Take a picture!" Then he proceeds to stick out his tongue or make some other silly face.


My Mom holding Will.


We came home for a couple hours that afternoon, and Richard's parents braved the roads to come say hi. Luckily, the storm was over, but the roads were still really bad.


That night, we went to my Grandparent's house in St. Anthony. They had a wonderful dinner, and we played a fun white elephant game. Everyone wrapped and brought something that would belong in a 72-hour kit to exchange for gifts. It was such a nice evening, and it was so good to see some relatives that I don't get to see very often. Here is a picture of my Aunt Marilyn and Grandma Burt.


Granddad Burt


This chair James is sitting on is one I remember playing with at my Grandparent's when I was a little girl. It always brings back memories when I see it.


Me with my cousin Laureen. I was so glad to see her and get a picture with her. She was the only cousin close to my age that also lived fairly close. So, we would get together and play a lot. She is a great friend.


Thanks Richard for a wonderful Christmas. I love you!