For Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning we were with Andy's Family. We had the traditional Gilchrist Christmas Eve Dinner of Turkey and Mashed Potatoes, it was delicious!! We did a gift exchange and once again talked and caught up with family. Christmas Morning Grayer woke up anxious to open presents!
Grandma Gilchrist made Grayer this cute smurf hat
It is tradition that after we are done opening presents we head over to Grandma's and Grandpa's house to watch them open their presents.
Grayer playing with Grandpa Wayne
Playing with Cousin Chris and Uncle Mike
That afternoon we drove back up to Idaho Falls for more celebrating with the Christensen Family. We opened presents, then played with our presents!
Cousin Maggie opened Toy Story 3 from our Family to her's!
Me with my Mom and Grandma
Grayer's new Fireman outfit
Uncle Mike and Cousin Emma playing with her new toy
Grandpa passing out the presents
Cousin Sam and Grayer
My handsome man!!
For that evening my Mom planned a special activity at the church... We were to discover the "Treasures" of Christmas!
The first treasure was Christmas Music. We had a wonderful family Christmas program.
Cousin Audrey singing
Grayer and Cousin Emma being goofs:)
Cousin Daniel rockin' it on the piano
Cousin Maggie performing her Christmas piece
Here is a video of Grayer singing a Christmas Song
The next treasure was the treasure of Christmas Fun! We went into the gym and had a snowball fight and went sledding. How, you might ask? The "snowballs" were marshmallows and the "sleds" were pieces of carpet, it was awesome!!
Here is the video of our Indoor Snowball Fight
Lizzy didn't want to throw the marshmallows, she just want to eat them!
carpet "sled" relay races
Cousin Eva having the time of her life
The third treasure was Christmas Cookies. We went into the kitchen and decorated some cookies!
The big boys
Next my Dad took us into the high-council room and had each grandchild take off his or her shoes before entering the room. He then told everyone the story that President Hinckley once told of the 2 boys who came across a poor man's shoes. One of the boys thought it would be funny to take the shoes and hide them and the other thought it would be even better if instead they put a silver dollar in each shoe and see what happened. The boys hid and watched as the poor man came back for his shoes and discovered the silver dollars and immediately knelt down and thanked Heavenly Father for this blessing.
This was the treasure of giving and also the treasure of Christmas stories. And as all the kids were putting their shoes back on they too discovered some silver dollars hidden inside!
The last treasure I don't have any pictures of but we went into the chapel and all the lights were off besides a lamp, and underneath that lamp was a manger scene. We sang Silent Night and my Mom bore her testimony of the treasure of Christ in our lives. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful and very Merry Christmas!
We had a wonderful trip home to visit family for the Holidays!! The first few days we spent with my sister, Amy, and her family in Utah. It was really fun to be with them. While we were there we went to see the lights on Temple Square and then headed over to Chuck-O-Rama for a fun filled dinner! (To say my nephews and nieces love Chuck-O-Rama would be an understatement, they were so excited for that buffet dinner:))
So freakin' cold in Utah
The lights are AMAZING!
Cousin Ana and Grayer at Chuck-O-Rama
My sister Amy and her youngest, Lizzy. This was our first time meeting little Lizzy. She is so cute!
Buffet Satisfaction, now heading home
Because we were all heading up to Idaho for Christmas my sister and her family celebrated an early Christmas and let us join in on the festivities! We had a delicious fondue Christmas Eve Dinner then stayed up super late wrapping presents for the kids to open the next morning!
Grayer and all the Berry Cousins after an awesome Christmas morning!
Then we headed up to Idaho for Christensen and Gilchrist Family Parties....
Our first stop was Firth for Grandpa Wayne's (Andy's Grandpa and Grayer's namesake) 85th Birthday Party. We went to the church and took family photos, ate all different kinds of soup, played games, had a Christmas program, listened to Great-Grandma read a story, opened presents, and caught up with family that we hadn't seen in a really long time!
Grayer Wayne with Great- Grandpa Wayne
Listening to Great-Grandma read a Christmas Story
Grayer and Cousins Paige and Grant
Priceless Picture!
From Firth we headed up to Idaho Falls for Grandma Baker's (Susan's Grandma) Christmas Party! I didn't get any pictures but, this party was a little different than previous parties because the little kids weren't invited. At first I was a little bummed but it was a party I will always remember because we were all able to catch up with our Grandma, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins with no interruptions from our little ones. It was really fun!
Andrew and I officially met in our music theory class at BYU-Idaho. We both had a mutual friend who set us up and of course the rest is history!! We were married in June of 2005 in the Idaho Falls Temple. In January of 2009 we were blessed with our sweet little baby boy, Grayer!! In May of 2013 our second darling baby boy, Finden joined our family!! We currently are living in Rochester, New York where Andrew is getting his Doctorate in music performance from Eastman School of Music. Together we are having a great adventure and loving life!!
