T'was four days before Christmas and all through our house, every creature was stirring - and wrapping and packing and loading and cleaning and charging.
Time for our annual journey northward, we were ready to go, with Eeyore, blankie and life saver
tablets in tow.
Whew! Too much poetry for one post. :)
Grandma Susan's house. The kids loved their new pillowpets and cupcake maker!
Great Grandpa Orchard, a.k.a. their new jungle gym.
At the cabin - one of the greatest places on earth - and on our way to cut down the family Christmas tree.
Decorating the tree with all of our collectible ornaments. Shuttle craft to Enterprise, Shuttle craft to Enterprise. Spock here. Happy Holidays! Live long and prosper!
Cousin Nativity - starring Camdyn as the angel, Ella as Mary, Teegan as Joseph (diggin' the beard), Cole as the sheep, Cade as the donkey (fitting considering his love of all things Eeyore), and Max as the reindeer (MIA).
Hope Santa loves sprinkles on his cookies!
All snug in our Christmas jammies - getting photo bombed by silly Uncle Steven
Stealing one of Brittany's Christmas traditions - sibling squish, from oldest to youngest
Ahhh....how sweet and snuggly
Cookies - check! Milk - check! Letters (or novels with oodles of questions) - check!
Warning: Do not leave Cade alone with unattended cookies!
Is it time yet? Is it time yet? Is it time yet?
We had kind of a funny moment when the kids first came down the stairs. Since the tree was already crowded with presents and we wanted a little more room, we had Santa leave his packages by the fireplace. When the kids came downstairs and headed right for the tree, you could see the disappointment on their faces when they thought Santa didn't come. Papa quickly redirected them to the living room and the smiling faces were back!
A kindle for Ella
A shooting dinosaur for Cade
and a Batcave for Cole
New slippers from Grandma and Papa that open their mouths when you walk!
Uncle Steven with his rocking horse. Giddyup!
Yahoo! Opening our yearly passes to Lagoon! The happiest place on earth for the Murphy kiddos!
A new portrait lens for mommy - YES!! I think you can see my excitement!
And all things Seahawks for daddy - not sure if that pillow pet face qualifies as excitement but I think so!
All of us opening gift of family pics. Can't wait to get them!
Can I handle anymore excitement?!
How's this for cool? When Josh and Steven were little, we visited the Children's Museum in Boston during one of our summer treks to the East Coast. Mom took a picture of them in the dentist play area, with Steven as the patient and Josh as the dentist. We came across the photo last year and knew that we had to do something with it for them. So, mom sent it away and turned it into canvas art for their soon to be dental offices. Who knew that some 25 years later they would both be dentists?
In our family, the gauge of how well you did on gift giving is not always by the width of a smile or the volume of cheers, but by the number of tears it creates. And I am here to tell you, we hit the big jackpot this year! Steven called me a couple month before Christmas and told me he had found tickets to the Piano Guys in Seattle, one of dad and mom's favorites. But we knew we couldn't just wrap up the tickets. After a couple of brainstorming sessions with Josh, Steven and I, we came up with the idea to make a video of the kids being the "piano guys" and set it to their rendition of Linus and Lucy. Brittany and I picked some fun spots for the kids to rock out in on their toy grand piano and toy cello and Steven did an amazing job capturing it all on film. We could not have imagined it turning out any better! These few shots of mom and dad watching the musical stylings of their sweet grandkids are beyond priceless! I still get teary-eyed when I look at them!
Ella and Camdyn with their new dolls
While Cade, Ella and Teegan were busy coloring, Camdyn and Cole were playing Iron Man (the new Ken) and Barbie/Princesses. They were hilarious to listen to!
Papa testing out the finished product
Building of the Gingerbread House with Grandma - one of the kids favorite things!
Beautiful! Now when can we break it apart and eat it?!
2nd Annual Smashing of the Money Christmas Balls
28th Annual Blowing out of the Candles for Uncle Steven
West Yellowstone - Grizzly Discovery Center
Who let the bear out??
Daddy was MIA in this cute family shot. He's busy working in the sun of Texas. We missed him!
Sledding, sledding and more sledding. We were sled-a-holics!
It's always sad when our time together (and to make snow angels) comes to an end and we have to say good-bye to everyone and close up the cabin. Thanks to all for another memorable year! We love you!!
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