...a FESTIVUS for the rest of us...

I hope everyone's Christmas was as Merry as ours! I was thri-i-i-illed to be with my side of our family for the holiday this year! I love our Smith side, too, don't get me wrong, but I think that's the hardest part about being married and having our families live so far from each other, but such is life....ANYWAY, it was fun! Here are the highlights from that glorious holiday weekend:

Avatar...the weirdest movie I've ever seen! This is what we saw Christmas Eve. Was it entertaining? Yeah. Would I ever tell someone to watch it? Nope. Will I ever watch it again? Nope. Will I have nightmares about the creepy "love scene" for the rest of my life? Definitely. But it did leave us with a lot of awkard/funny quotes...I see you.

Mom got us all jammies for Christmas, and we opened them on Christmas Eve, just like the good old days!

Our little ghetto little tree. The white cord on the lights is a nice touch, don't you think?

I've got to be honest, I was expecting another gift dud from Richard (I'm not being rude, it would've fit right in with the other 3 Christmases, or any holiday calling for gifts, that we've spent together), but he blew me away. He did so well that we've decided to never do gifts again - it could only go downhill from here! My favorite present is my Celine Dion: A New Day dvd of her concert in Vegas. It's been on non-stop since I opened it as background music!

Aren't they cute? Chelsea definitely has her snowboarding goggles on over her glasses. Lovin' ya!


I love how my mom wraps the presents we pick out for ourselves!


Rich hit the jackpot on sweaters this year.

I made this picture frame thing for my parents. If they didn't absolutely love it I was going to kill somebody because I'm not a crafty person, and this was a pain in my you-know-what! Luck for everyone in the basement, they did.

Bug's snowboarding gear...now let's hope she even likes snowboarding...at least it looks cool.



The present says "Beefcake" on it. It's an inside joke from our fave show Chuck. I'm pretty sure when he saw this under the tree he panicked and went out and bought me a lot more presents hahaha

It's a new guitar case. I think he thought it was a new guitar at first, and was maybe a little disappointed, but he really was happy for the case - his old one had duct tape all over it!

Boo Boo got a new TV!

Todd hates what she's doing to him, but loves her enough to let her do it. BFF's 4eva!

The first of many gift cards...thank you!

What cute cousins we have!

Scuzzin' ya!

Grandma singing Christmas tunes.

Grandpa/Santa singing tunes with Grandma.

Sarah front and center at the Porter Christmas Sing-Along.

Rich getting Toady - I mean Kody - all riled up.

Where's mom?

Grandpa Tony/Santa on his Christmas throne at the piano...I miss the big tree at the old house...

Here are the Shepherds. Where are the Wise Men?

Dad's goin' rogue! Santa/Mom wrapped this as a gag and gave it to my dad...he clearly loves her. Sarah Palin was the best Christmas gift any of us could have asked for hahaha God bless us, every one!

Awesome Snuggie! Way to go Shirl.

Toady, Dad, & Richard rockin' out to Christmas songs.

Say cheese...

What a beautiful family!

We stopped to see Grandpa at Aunt Sondra's on our way down to St. George for Austin's missionary farewell.

Aus-train, Richard, & friends singing at the farewell...Richard later told me I shouldn't have taken this picture in the chapel. And now that I look at it, I think Austin is looking right at me, thinking the exact same thing!

Family picture time! I'm totally bending down to try and even things out.

Brotherly love.

Ummmm....

Cuties.