Afton.

The day after Christmas we took a long snowy drive to Wyoming to spend a few days with my family at the Barn.  I hadn't been there for several years, and was excited to be there in the dead of winter (for the first time EVER).

Here's the pictorial (and oh-so-brief commentary) of our adventures:

Grandma.

Grandpa.

Dos de mis hermanos, Rob y Marty.

Cousins: Catfish and Ash.

The "after Christmas" white elephant gift game. 

(No such thing as too many white elephant exchange games!)

Our cute cousin, Lincoln, just wasn't getting ANYTHING he wanted, no matter how many times he got to choose.

His save-the-day Dad (mi otro hermano, Matt) even asked for the bubble gum machine so Lincoln could have another pick.

Bill was loving the mittens.  We sent them to school with Lex, who swore she would never wear them. She did. One week in Rexburg was all it took.

 No Goldsberry get-together is complete without a rousing showdown (or two) of Aggravation.

The accommodations were lovely,

 as was the view.

Scones - Goldsberry style - for breakfast. Yum.

Sledding and snow-mobile fun:

 (Yes, that is Bill being pulled up the hill.)

Bill and Shilo.

Grandpa, Marty, and Kim.

 Mauri and Meredith.

Matt and Grandpa.

 Mauri and Bill.

Meredith and Marty.

Grandma and Grandpa.

It was so cold, I was glad Bill's nose didn't turn black from frostbite.

Puzzles (Larkin, Evelyn and Rob),

more Aggro,

and a little after-clean-up Tetherball.

A parting shot of the Barn and the seldom-used pathway Bill shoveled from the side door.

Such awesome company. Such a great place. Such a fun time.

Christmas Day 2012.

I have the worst memory. I love this blog because it helps me to remember what I forget. Important things. The sands at the bottom of the hourglass. That is why I am determined to keep it up. For me, not for you (but you are welcome to enjoy it).

So even though it happened a month ago, here's the Christmas low-down (mainly pictorial):

 Austin taught us how to play this game (actually BEFORE Christmas because I had a similar game called The Settlers of Zarahemla, which we had NEVER played because the rule book was just that... a book). LOVED IT. Probably because I won a few times ;-)

Since most of what Bill got were "tops" (long story), I had some fun with his boxes.

Austin and Britt gave us this awesome magnetic Aggravation game board that they made.

Ava and Jack both got a new toy.

The toys didn't stand a chance.

Jack is such a toy lover.  He figures out how to get stuffing, squeakers, plastic wrappers or bottles out of any toy within minutes, leaving a mere shell behind. And he still loves dragging the empty shell around. Every time he goes outside, he has to take a toy with him. Saturday we brought in a good half dozen frozen-stiff empty-shell toys to be washed and placed back in the toy basket. It was like Christmas all over again for Jack. Ava likes toys only when she can use them to tease and annoy Jack. It's quite entertaining.

Christmas morning was lovely.

Austin and Britta had to fly back home later that day - it was so great that they were able to come and spend Christmas with us this year!

We spent the rest of the day doing laundry and packing for our big Wyoming-Utah-Idaho-Utah adventure. Read more about THAT tomorrow.

Pre Christmas festivities.

The evening of the 23rd, Taylor and Lynnea headed up to stay with Dan and Sharen (Lynnea's parents) for Christmas. Before they headed off, they gave and received gifts.

It was great to have them here, no matter how brief their stay.

The Billats invited us over for their traditional Christmas Eve dinner, Nativity Song sing-a-long, and Candy Game the next evening. We have been so blessed to have such great neighbors and friends.

Afterwards we headed home for our traditional gift-opening of pjs. (Ooops. Did I spoil it for you?)

Even the pups had Christmas Eve presents to open.

New oh-so-soft kennel blankies (in animal print, even). Yeah, I know what those pups like.

Next up: Christmas.