The Cromwell Clan: Celebrating Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone! It was a great Christmas up at the Cromwell's this year. It was great being able to gather for Christmas Eve with the family. It's always fun to get together and catch up on all the going's on. It's also so fun to see all the little babies that were all born within the last year. A year goes by fast and the little grow up to quickly. They are all so darn cute and each have such a different personality.

All the babies.........
Eli 18mo, Christian 12mo, Olivia 10mo, Austin 23mo

We had a little Christmas eve dinner, a program, and the kids got some new pj's. Layne and I were in charge of the program this year but I let Layne take the lead and basically do it :) It was fun, entertaining and a night full of gratitude! After the program, the kids got the traditional gift of pj's, they all looked so cute in the matching pj's. Grandma did a good job at picking them all out :)

Gpa & Gma doing a tongue twister and eating marshmallows

Rich on guitar and Layne on harmonica
playing Jingle Bells

Everyone enjoying the program

Christmas morning was wonderful. The kids get so excited and grandpa always shouts down the stairs, "I don't think HE came!?" The kids never believe him and come running up the stairs. Julia was so happy that Santa had brought her the one gift she really wanted, a singing Rapunzel doll. Christian got a new ball popper and loves to dance when he hears the music. Christian was a little tired that morning but loved crawling around to see what everybody got for Christmas.

All the girls

Most of the boys

Singing Rapunzel

The elephant ball popper

Christian chillin with grandpa

She loves Aurora!

Yay....new toys!

It was an enjoyable day! We even got to have church on Christmas day. It was nice to feel the spirit of the day and really remember what Christmas was all about. The rest of the day was spent playing, napping, and eating until we were about to burst. It was great to be able to stay up at gma and gpa Cromwell's house with everyone. Andy and Whitney and kids came up a little later and it was so nice to see them. We miss all of our family so much and wish we could visit and get together more often. At the end of the day while I was getting Julia ready for bed I was asking her what her favorite gift was and a few other questions and she just said to me, "Mom, everything was just perfect." That was nice to hear and hopefully that was her way of saying or giving thanks for the day :)

Such pretty girls

A handsome boy!

Ella, Olivia and Julia all dolled up and ready for
church in their new Christmas outfits

Kids playing the Disney Headbands game!

Hailey is finally here. ALL the girls
LOVE her to death! She's a great cousin!

The 2 littlest cousins trying to conspire
on how to break the barrier and get to the tree

When we got back home to Alpine, it was time to have Christmas all over again! It was nice to be able to spend time with both families this year! We had a great time at gma and gpa Mott's house. The kids were so excited once again to open more presents. Julia got a few gifts that I am grateful she received because it keeps her busy and out of my hair. Thanks to Aunt Amy and Gma Mott for her new Leapster and Alphie computer games. Again we ate and played games and got to talk and just enjoy the day with each other.
It was such a rough year for our family this year and it was so nice to end it on a good note! We are all so very appreciative and happy for being able to receive so many wonderful gifts and more important love and family time. Its what makes the holiday's so wonderful for our family!