Christmas

I have this bad habit of not taking photos when I'm around my family.  There are just so many cameras around that I guess, I just feel like someone's taking care of it.  I just get lazy.  So, then I come back from family vacations with little to show for it on my blog.
Christmas was wonderful, though.  Chris and I spent 12 days up with my family in Canada.
Before we went up for Christmas, Chris proposed the idea of a family lip sync music video.  It took a while to come to a consensus on the song and style, but eventually we decided on a one-take to Simply having a Wonderful Christmas Time by the Shins.   We choreographed the whole thing with people running or crawling to get to their next spot and then we shot the whole thing three times and chose the best one.  We posted it Christmas day and then watched the number of views and comments for the rest of the break.  I think it really captures an accurate portrayal of Walton vacations.  See for yourself.

My parents and half of their grandchildren.

Christmas eve had the traditional acting out of the nativity with Jane starring as baby Jesus this year.

Jane with her stocking.

CHRISTMAS DAY
We opened presents all morning long, took a break for breakfast and then plowed on ahead.  Chris got a GPS running watch, running head phones, a shirt and tie, a BYU hat and Hinterlands for our Dominion collection.  I got a Kindle Fire! Chris totally surprised me with that one.  I had no idea how much I wanted that.  Now I use it all the time.  I also got some running clothes, some nice tops, a Mac magic mouse, and a gorgeous throw for our living room among other great gifts.  Jane got some rings (which she now plays with all the time), a cute red jacket, some books, and a tabby toy.  

We went shopping, ice-skating, and bowling.  We played badminton, volleyball, and ping pong.   In the evenings we played Dominion, Carcassone, or Seafarers.  We wandered around a VERY rainy Fort Langley, went out to dinner, saw Les Miserable the movie and the boys went to a very late showing of The Hobbit... but I don't have pictures of any of those things.  Just trust me when I say, we had a wonderful time.