Christmas 2009 Christiansen Style

This year Christmas took us to the snowy northern lands of Logan, Utah.  Jeremy's brother, Jason, and his wife, Cansas, live there, and were gracious enough to house quite the crowd of Christiansens.  12 adults, 6 kids (including two babies and a toddler) later, I'm not sure they knew what hit them!

We arrived Wednesday night, just in time for some of Cansas' tasty sausage stew (note to Cansas--you should email out that recipe!).  Gavin (their 5 year old) greeted us at the door with a clip board in hand, ready to check us in, give us our room assignment (room 1), and have us draw numbers for our door prizes. Awesome.

Photo courtesy Jeanine

Jason and Cansas had set up a detailed itinerary (emailed out ahead of time) including things like morning calisthenics, sledding in the bowl of death, staring contests, and optional hygiene. It was awesome. We didn't end up doing everything on the itinerary, but there was plenty going on regardless, let me tell you.

Sledding did make the cut, however.

My first time donning a sled... and I must say, it's like Disneyland without a seat belt! And you know how much I love Disneyland. That's Jason and Gavin in the background. Gavin was DIE HARD. Wow. That kid has no fear. As for the sweet snow suits... it was a balmy14 degrees outside when we left the house. Hello Logan.

Christmas eve also brought all sorts of delectable delights (honey baked ham, my favorite cooked carrots, shrimp, waldorf salad, gingerbread cupcakes, and the list goes on).

Photo courtesy Jeanine

Since the babies (Raymond and Chloe) have pretty early bedtimes, we did our little nativity before dinner. It starred all six grand kids in residence. Raymond was a shephard, Chloe was the star, Sadie was a sweet little angel, Bauer was a wise man, Gavin was Joseph, and Bentley was Mary. The kids were surprisingly calm and all caught their cues.

Photo courtesy Jeanine

Isn't he the cutest little shepherd you ever did see? Pretty much.

Christmas morning was a bit chaotic (would you have it any other way?) Lots of toys. Lots of wrapping paper (Raymond was in heaven). And lots of delicious raspberry crepes. So fun!

After that the rest of the trip seems a blur. Let's see. A few games of settlers happened, some fantastic pinini sandwiches, an ugly sweater contest (I think Sadie's was cute too, just for the record), a sleigh/wagon ride and  herd of elk, Harry Potter 6, a handful of casualties (what's a holiday without some sickness?), and some seriously good napping for Raymond.

All in all, it was a party. Thank you Jason and Cansas!

We got home on Monday (Jeremy was one of the casualties, postponing our return a day). I've already taken down Christmas (whew!), tried out both my new vintage table cloth and the beautiful pieced table runner from my mom, and made a dehydrated an apple or two. Hello dehydrator for Christmas, my new permanent counter fixture, let's be good friends. Raymond is in toy HEAVEN. He went from owning a few handmade things by yours truely, to some serious toys. The kid couldn't be happier.

ps. don't judge the photography.  I know it's bad lighting and fuzzy and probably just no good (and mostly taken on my phone). But hey, I'm just plain not good at it.  Maybe Jackie will post her sweet shots soon and I'll replace some, ok?