So the sleeping arrangements for the weekend went as follows: Mike and Lacey and Kallie slept in Shaelyn's room; Shaelyn slept in our room; Chris, Rach, and their kids slept in the girls' room; Tim and Tam and William slept in the guest room; my parents slept in the sitting room; and Matt, Jess, and my girls slept in the family room. All in all, it was a full house, but not so full that everyone was uncomfortable. It was so great to be able to host all the family! I am so grateful for our house and the opportunities it affords us to provide a place for all our loved ones to stay!!
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| We had some good snow for all those of our family that live in warm climates. |
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| Lacey putting sweet baby Dallin to sleep. So precious. |
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| Matt provided us with some great free labor chopping and stacking our firewood! Thanks Matt! |
On Friday evening, we did our Merkley Christmas gift exchange since we were all together. It was good family time and lots of fun.
MERKLEY CHRISTMAS PARTY:
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| We had a few jet-lagged Doha Merks at the party :) |
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| Gift for Kallie from Hallie--an owl hat! |
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| Now she's part of the Owl Club too! |
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| Then William's turn |
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| Claire gave him a little hammer and pegs bench |
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| Then Jakey boy's gift from Evie--Lincoln Logs! |
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| Although Jake had a bit of a cough and wasn't feeling well all weekend, he still got up and gave Evie a hug. Sweet boy. |
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| Brooklyn's gift from Shae--a baby! |
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| Hallie's gift from Jake: a bead creation set |
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| Evie's gift from Brooklyn: Lisa Frank set |
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| Tired Merks, lol! |
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| Claire's gift from Kallie--Sofia the First purse, cute necklace, and a candy necklace |
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| I know her face is a little blocked, but this picture captures how Claire really felt about her gift |
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| William enjoying his new gift |
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| Shaelyn's gift from William |
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| It sings and talks and is very popular around our house! |
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| Tim and Tam's gift from us |
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| Our gift from Jess |
Everyone else got gifts too, but we're just not as cute or interesting as the kids, so I want to move on to the gift I spent the most time and effort on:
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| The yearly photo book! This book represents a lot of hours of work. It was worth it, though. It turned out great! |
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| Mom and Dad also paid for a copy of the Merkley photobook for each of us children too! What a great | gift! |
Saturday the 21st was Hallie's baptism day, and also our sleigh ride and sledding day. That evening, we had the Henderson gift exchange at Grandma and Papa's house.
HENDERSON CHRISTMAS PARTY:
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| New PJs from Grandma and Papa! |
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| All the Henderson grandkids! |
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| Kate's gift from Evie |
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| I stayed up really late the night before finishing that scarf! It turned out really cute. |
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| I wish I would have taken a better picture, but it is a cute chevron pattern. |
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| It was a classic family Christmas party, and I tried to enjoy it as much as I could, being pretty exhausted after the baptism and luncheon and hosting so much family. Regardless, I am grateful for all my Henderson family! |
Sunday morning family time:
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| Grammy loves the baby time! |
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| Grammy and Grandfather playing Five Little Monkeys with the little ones |
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| Playing peekaboo with William |
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| London Bridge is falling down! |
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| Lucky Grandfather! |
Almost all the Merkleys stayed to see Hallie confirmed in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. It was also our ward's Christmas program and Rob and I sang O Come, O Come Emmanuel in Sacrament Meeting.
All our company left on Sunday except the Doha Merks, who stayed for Christmas with us. After our house emptied, we had a lot of very relaxing vacation days--what Christmas break is all about!
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