We traveled to Spanaway, Washington to celebrate the birth of Christ with Andy's mom's side of the family. We stayed with Nana and Papa and really enjoyed being there before and after the holiday chaos. Nana made dressing and stuffed the turkey...
...and made a whole bunch of pies to boot!
Andy and Papa took advantage of the pre-holiday quiet to play the Wii together. Here they are flying fighter jets, aiming for Ace status:
Then, the rest of the family and piles of presents arrived and after a fabulous dinner at Aunt Beth's, we gathered back at Nana and Papa's for the gift opening party. Beth and Bryan's creative gift-giving had us laughing most of the night, and it was really fun to see people open the etched glass gifts we made for them.
We ended Christmas Eve evening with pies and catching up with those we hadn't seen in a long while.
Christmas morning, we went to Ryan and Aimee's house to watch their kids open presents and to play with them for the day.
Who needs new toys when you have bubble wrap?
Ayden was most excited about his new Nintendo DS, and thoughout the day, you'd find him camped out somewhere, trying to beat his latest high score.
Meysa got her own pink one too, and showed me all sorts of things she could do in Tinkerbelle land. Lauryn was very proud of her "DS" too and played the coloring book game very contently while her older siblings learned their new games.
Then she and I played a game of Guess Who...
...with Meysa's help to point out which ones to lay down.
Meysa and I worked on her paint-by-number horse until lunch. It was fun to play with paints again!
We really had a good time spending the day with Ryan, Aimee, their kids and Andy's dad and stepmom who were staying with them for the holiday. We hung out there 'til past everyone's bedtime and then it was back to Nana and Papa's for two more wonderful days. Saturday morning, most of the family went to Wolf Haven where Aunt Beth volunteers. They came back full of information and admiration for the animals! Andy and I spent our morning and afternoon visiting cousins we'd missed the night before and Andy's good friend, John, who taught him years ago that a person really can build anything he wants - it's not that intimidating. Saturday evening, we filled the house again for leftovers and game night. Pictionary and Cranium kept us guessing and laughing for hours!
Sunday, Andy went back to John's to spend more time with him while Nana and I worked to update her computer. We spent the afternoon resting and napping until Ryan, Aimee, and the kiddos showed up for dinner and more playing. Andy turned the rocking chair's footstool into a bucking horse and had the kids squealing and fighting for their turn to ride. You might notice that Lauryn managed to have every turn! 
We were very glad to make it this year and catch up on all the changes that happened in the two years since we'd seen everyone! It was a very merry Christmas.
