Christmas and New Years

On Christmas Eve morning, I made sugar cookie dough and cinnamon roll dough and then went to help my mom work on her kitchen for an hour while the dough rose. Sean went to help my Dad mount a TV while the girls and I made cinnamon rolls and rolled out and cut sugar cookies. After the cinnamon rolls and cookies were baked, we went to Chick Fil-A for lunch. We came home and started watching Its a Wonderful Life while we decorated sugar cookies. Then we went to Neil and Rebecca's for Christmas Eve dinner. 

Neil and Rebecca made brisket and we had lots of yummy sides. We played some Christmas Mad Libs and then did the Nativity play. After the play Sean, Lexi, Alana, and Brian played and sang some Christmas songs. We hung out for quite a while to let the kids play. We left at about 8pm and came home to get ready for bed. We had some big emotions as we were trying to figure out where everyone was going to sleep. We just hadn't had time to discuss it before. All three kids ended up sleeping in Alana's room so they could wake up and come down to the tree together. We got our annual pajama picture in front of the tree. I didn't buy Christmas pajamas this year so we all just wore random jammies. 

On Christmas morning the kids slept in a little. We all went down to open gifts and see what Santa brought at about 8. My parents came to open gifts with us. 

Santa left chocolate bark and letters for everyone outside our rooms:

Alana got a ukulele, Lizzie got tons of magna tiles, Brett got new scriptures and money for his astro-photography. We were very spoiled! 

Sean and I decided to book a trip to Walt Disney World for Spring break. We told the kids about it on Christmas morning. We bought them all their own carry on suitcases and wrapped them up. Brett was particularly curious about the shape of the packages! I told them they could look at them but they couldn't touch them. They opened the suitcases first and then were wondering where we were going. I found some fun infographics about each of the four parks and printed out a picture of our hotel room. They were so excited! 

Mimi came to visit, we stopped by Mom and Dad Z's house for a few minutes. We played games, watched the rest of Its a Wonderful Life and ate lots of candy and treats. We had spaghetti for dinner and did some music with Sean on the piano, Alana on violin, Brett on flute, and me and Lizzie singing. 

Oreo got new toys to rip apart and find the squeaker!

Neil and Rebecca's family gave us matching pajamas, a mickey waffle iron and spot it game. We have made Mickey waffles almost every day since! 

Here are all our Christmas letters from Santa:

We spent our days off, cleaning, helping unpack, eating, playing games, playing with neighbors, and sleeping. For New Year's Eve we drove up to Logan. We ate at Angie's with the Saffrons then went to their house to visit. Sean helped Steffan instal a new microwave which ended up requiring them to move a shelf in the cabinetry. Then we went to our hotel to swim. We had pizza, swam more, then played games while the littles watched movies. We soaked up lots of snuggles with 7 week old baby Evelyn. We got to bed at about 11:30 and then Sean got a hospice call at midnight =) We got up the next morning and had breakfast at the hotel and then went back to the Saffrons house. Sean and Brett helped move a fridge while the girls did some painting. We played a game of architects and then went to Pizza Pie Cafe for lunch before driving back to Bluffdale. It was a good practice in packing for our kids since I didn't really help them or check on them. Brett forgot his swimsuit and we couldn't find one at the three stores we checked. Alana didn't pack any extra pants or shirts which became a problem when the baby's diaper leaked on her pants. We did find her some pants at Walmart. We've been finishing up a few projects and getting ready to go back to school on Monday. Sean has had to work some of the days throughout the break, but has still had some time to chill and play as well. 

We bought some blankets from my mom for the kids and they were super happy with them. Rowan got this dragon one and Lincoln got a space one. Lincoln was a little jealous of the dragon one but he was ok =) 

We ordered the kitchen sink at Angie's and came pretty darn close to finishing it! 

Here is a photo of the Orian Nebula that Brett did the other night with his new set up. He is anxiously awaiting clear night to try and improve. I think it turned out amazing! 

The girls and I went to get manicures and whenever I do that I think "Man I should do this more often" So maybe I will add that to my new years goals. So far I have 

1. Play more board games with Sean

2. attend more ward and RS activities

3. Get more manicures, haha

2025 was a year of miracles for our family! From guidance in our jobs and school, promptings to serve others, learning better to feel guidance from Heavenly Father, safety, health, gospel learning, surviving Trek, Priesthood blessings, the financial miracle of paying off our student loans, and the continued assurance that we are never alone. There were hard things and hard days, and we know next year will have hard stuff too. But we are excited to see the miracles that we know will keep coming!  Happy 2026!