The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

I can't believe that another Christmas has come and gone.  We had a wonderful time with our families in Utah.  We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at my parent's house.  It was so nice because all of my brothers and sister and their families were there with us.  It was crazy and loud but a lot of fun.  I think my parents will enjoy their quiet Christmas next year.  

All the grandkids got to open a present on Christmas Eve from grandma and grandpa...Pajamas Yay!!!

Christmas morning was great.  Makayla was so excited to see what Santa had brought her.  Kyle didn't really understand what was going on until he saw his toys.  Kyle got a great car racer and Makayla got her unicorn pillow pet that she'd been asking Santa for for months.  She also got a play castle. And that awesome Santa brought our family a Nintendo Wii.  We have all had so much fun playing with that.  Even Ben's parents joined in some Wii game fun which is a story in itself!!!

Makayla got a Rupunzel doll from grandma and grandpa.  Now which one is Makayla and which is Rupunzel.  They look so much alike!!!

Kyle got an awesome train from grandma and grandpa.  He can pull it around the house and it plays music.  He loves it!

I got Ben a RC car which is pretty cool if I do say so my self.  Just trying to make up for a bad memory he had as a little kid.  He asked for a remote controlled car and got one that was attached to a cord.  I think he will like this one a little better. 

Ben did a great job surprising Makayla and me with matching earrings with our birth stones in them.  They are gorgeous!

Since there were so many people at my parents house opening presents there was a lot of garbage.  To make room we just threw it all down the stairs as we went.  Afterward, the kids had a great time playing in all the paper and boxes.  That night we went to Ben's sister's house and had Christmas dinner with all the family that was there.  It was so nice being with family the whole day.  That is one thing we have really grown to appreciate while we are living in Nevada... family.

Makayla loved the outfit that grandma got her.  In fact I think she wore it three days in a row!!!

Kyle loved playing the piano.  And you know what they say... you can't play a piano unless you are wearing a fire hat.

One thing that all the Harward grandchildren look forward too is dancing at grandma and grandpa's house.  There isn't a night that goes by without dancing!

While we were staying at grandma and grandpa Shawcroft's house they were nice enough to babysit the kids while Ben and I went shopping and out to dinner.  It was so nice!!!  Again we really really really miss family!  While we were out we went to the BYU bookstore.  Ben needed a new hat so we decided to get Kyle one also.  Usually he hates wearing hats but when he saw that daddy was wearing one too he wouldn't take it off.

Every time we are in Utah we visit my grandma (the kids' great grandma.)  We always have a good time talking to her and catching her up on our lives.  She lives with my aunt and uncle and this time they had three baby kittens that the kids absolutely fell in love with!!!  Makayla tried and tried to get me to let her have one but I told her we could either adopt another baby or have a cat but not both.  Thank goodness she chose the baby!!!

New Year's Eve we spent at Ben's other sister's house.  The best part of the night was when Makayla was dancing with the older girls.  I have to say that she did a better job with the moves than Ben did.  And of course I wasn't going to humiliate myself by joining in so I just watched and played with Kyle.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  Okay so it wasn't really the new year.  I think it was somewhere around 9:25pm or so but the kids didn't care.  And what would it be with out a little sparkling cider!

One other thing we did during this time was visit with Makayla's and Kyle's birth mothers.  Because of scheduling problems we could only visit with them together.  It was so nice.  I have been wanting them to meet for a while so it was great.  Makayla had a great time catching up with Krista, getting some new Little Pet Shop toys from her, and torturing Krista's husband.  Kyle is a little shy these days but he was great with Brooke.  He loved playing peek-a-boo with her and loved the car and track she gave him and the riding car she gave him (I will post a video on this later.)  We were having so much time catching up that I totally forgot to take pictures!!!  Overall it was a great time in Utah but we are all happy to be home!