Christmas-time is my favorite time of the year. I love the music, the lights and decorations, the Christmas tree decorating, traditions, food, gift-giving.....ALL OF IT!! I especially love the spirit that seems to enter everyone's hearts this time of year. Everyone is more friendly, more patient, more loving, more grateful. The spirit of Christmas, the real meaning of Christmas, is something I wish we could all hang onto all year long. But then I guess Christmas wouldn't feel quite as special.
We alternate each year with our families between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year it was Thanksgiving with the Powers and Christmas with the LaDukes. But the Powers never take a year off in the gift-giving to the kids. They are so sweet and it's so fun to see how excited they and the kids get. Here is Uncle Jim and Auntie Pam giving their gifts to the kids.
They got dress-up clothes for the girls and they LOVE it!!
I traditionally try to get a good photo with the kids in their Christmas outfits in front of the tree.
Aunt Lora, Uncle Mike and Grandpa Powers came over and brought tons of gifts. They are so good to us. Wish I would have gotten a better picture.
Our annual tradition of going to see the temple lights. This year was sooo crowded and busy that it was difficult to really enjoy it and soak it in. We will have to pick a better day to go and keep it secret!!
But it still makes me happy.....making memories with my family. I love these kids!!
Uncle Terry and his girlfriend, Jean, brought over gifts too! And Uncle Larry and his fiance, Lene, sent gifts as well. We are so spoiled by the Powers Family.
We hosted the LaDuke Christmas Eve where we read the nativity story from the scriptures and each child gets to open one present - Christmas PJ's! Surprise!! Picture left to right: Callie, Avery, Bella, Maya, Gage, Paisley, Eden, and Nate holding Will. We missed Billy and Alicia and their kids and the Tucson LaDukes couldn't come until the next day.
Christmas Day we held our traditional Talent Show with everyone. I got so sick starting Christmas Eve (I seem to always get sick on holidays) and tried to suck it up so I could enjoy.
Our little family sang Silent Night along with Alyssa, Trevor, and Mack.
There is always a lot of wrestling, strength competitions, cartwheels, and the like when we all get together.
Papa LaDuke opening his presents Christmas morning. He suffered a stroke just about two weeks prior to Christmas, which is not at all evident in these pictures. In the early morning a couple of weeks ago I got a phone call and the caller ID displayed my mom's number. My heart jumped into my throat as I knew something was wrong. She calmly told me that Dad had a stroke around 3am in bed that woke him up. In trying to get up and get oriented, he fell and hit his head on the bookcase and was bleeding a lot. She described how she loaded him in the truck and drove to the hospital in Show Low. His speech was very slurred and non-communicative. At the hospital, they did a cat scan and determined their ability to help him was limited so they med-evacuated him via helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix. My mom was not allowed on the helicopter, so she had to drive back to Snowflake, pack some bags and drive here by herself. I can't imagine what that drive must have felt like. She wanted me to be at the hospital when he arrived so he wouldn't be alone. We took Gage to school, took the girls to my dear friend, Tami Farnsworth, and headed to the hospital. I called Nathan and Cameron and they actually beat us there, thankfully. When we first saw him in his room, it was quite shocking and scared me. His speech was terrible, his whole right side was paralyzed and he didn't know "what those things are that you have in your hand" (cell phones that we were all using to communicate with family). He had an MRI, which I will post about later, that didn't totally help to determine what the cause was. But, in the long run, he made a very quick recovery and gained a lot of use back on his right side. His speech returned to normal and to the naked eye, you wouldn't know he had suffered a stroke. It forced him and Mom to stay with me for a while, which we loved. For once, they couldn't rush home for golf, callings, or other things that pull them away. It was nice to spend all that extra time with them.
Paisley was so excited about everything Santa brought!
It was a wonderful Christmas and we are so grateful to have our family and friends.
.jpg)
.jpg)
