We flew home to Arizona for Christmas break and enjoyed warmer weather and sunshine.
Rachel and her family as well as Michael and his were all there.
Park trips, temple lights, "hiking", lunch outings, and the train park were on top of the list of "to do's"
This year we did a "sub for Santa" with our family. We split into three groups, each shopping for a different sibling from a family in need. Each of these "big kid cousins" was the team captain and we raced to see who was the most efficient, the thriftiest and best bang for their buck.
Night time included cousins in pjs and reading books with Grammy.
Jackson, Abbie and William could often be found playing one of Grammy's many games.
Another fun outing was to the new Legoland Discovery Center in Tempe.
The kids had a blast, despite their tired faces at the end of the outing.
We usually get in the hot tub on Christmas Eve, but opted for the day before because of the rainy weather on December 24th.
The cousin sleepover was a big hit and success!
Christmas Eve included decorating sugar cookies and our annual adult decorating contest.
It was hard to beat the Arizona cactus, but everyone's cookies looked awesome :)
On Christmas Eve night we switched over to Ben's house to enjoy dinner and the Lewis family celebrations.
We spent the night there and woke up to all these fun aunts/uncles and cousin Holly
Ben spent a lot of time and handmade me a set of musical chimes out of pipes (my family owns a set of chimes and he has loved the tradition of playing Christmas songs together and wanted a set of our own)
Santa brought William a drum set all the way to Grandma's house in Arizona. He was thrilled!
We had to get a picture of the matching Christensen cousins after church and had fun opening presents at Grammy's house later that afternoon.
Almost got everyone in the picture :)
The rest of Christmas break (after December 25) was spent at the Lewis home.
CJ and family, Diana & Adam, Jennie & Steven & Kelvin joined Grandma and Grandpa at their house. It was a party to say the least!
Holly and Lucy, six months apart in age, fun little cousin buddies.
We decided to go hiking one morning with the whole family.
Lucy threw up on the way there and at In-N-Out Burger afterwards.
William had fun and didn't even get carried in a backpack.
He had some help from aunts/uncles along the way, but did pretty good considering the length of the hike!
The view was gorgeous at the end, but it was a little rough on my 31 week pregnant body.
Some of the family went shooting with Bubba afterward and had a great time.
Another Gilbert fun spot is always Riparian Park.
CJ organized the annual Burke Elementary soccer game. William actually played in most of the game and had a blast pretending he was one of the guys.
My chimes in action, playing a Christmas song together.
We even were able to visit the zoo on our trip.
On our anniversary we went to the Mesa temple with the Lewises and did some sealings as a big group together.
That evening we went to the Freestone Park railroad with the kids.
After the kids were in bed Ben and I went out shopping and to our favorite, first date location, Oreganos.
New Year's Eve is always a blast with fireworks and banging pots and pans at the neighbor's
We had a wonderful time with both of our families over the break. We stayed busy and enjoyed every minute of it!
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