Christmas with Cousins

We traveled to Albuquerque for Christmas with my side of the family.  It was the first time we've all been together for 3 years.  We've added a couple of cousins to the mix since then.  

Darbie, bless her heart, housed 17 of us for a week!  This is an amazing feat in itself, but doing it while in early pregnancy (the barfy kind), is especially commendable.  We each took a night for dinner duty, which was great.  We tried to plan an activity each day, so that no one went stir crazy.

 On Christmas eve, the kids frosted cookies.  Some of them buried their frosting in sprinkles while others unfrosted the cookies with their tongues.

 All seven kiddos had a present to open on Christmas eve.  Would you believe that everyone got pajamas?

 The hard part about making surprises for the kids is that they can't try them on.  Josh's jammie pants were really long, so I had to roll them up.  They'll fit next year I guess!  You can't tell in this picture, but Eliza was thrilled about her night gown.  Mike didn't get in the picture, but I made him some jammie pants with the same fabric as Caleb's.  Caleb thought that was pretty cool.

We thought we were going to have to drag my parents our of bed, but they bounded down the stairs in these monkey suits on Christmas morning.  My mom is the one who usually has the "special" ideas, but apparently my dad was the author of this one.  Derrick was happy to inherit my dad's monkey suit when my dad decided his onesie caused a perma-wedgie.

 I made each of the kids their own art kit, in hopes of replacing our crayon-marker mess at home.  They love being creative.  I still have to keep them out of reach so Josh doesn't paint the town.

 Each of the kids got an instrument.  I had to call a friend to get the details on a trumpet they have that my kids absolutely love playing with at their house.  We originally ordered the trumpet, sax, and clarinet (here's the clarinet), so they could each have their own instrument, but the sax was back-ordered, so we got Josh a Super Saxoflute which has all sorts of pieces that you put together to make your own instrument.  It is still very popular with all the kids, as are the trumpet and clarinet.  (The "band" woke us up this very morning, in fact.)

 I made Josh a robe this year.  Eliza and Caleb got robes last year.  He loves it and it comes in handy since we live in a chilly basement :)

All the kids also got nice slippers with real soles, which also come in handy in the basement.

I didn't get many Christmas morning pictures which I'm regretting now as I try to remember everything.  As I write this a month and a half after the fact, I can tell you which gifts were the favorites.  The kids love the marble works set (which I found at a yard sale for $2 earlier last year), as well as the Trio blocks that were a hand-me-down from my sister.  Mike surprised me with a Blendtec blender which I love!

The kids (directed by Grandma) preformed a lovely rendition of the Christmas story.  I didn't have my camera handy, so I'm hoping that some sisters will share the photo love.

It really was a wonderful Christmas!