Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Allmon Family Christmas Party 2008

We left the day after Christmas for my brother Anthony's house in Roy, UT. He and his wife Jeanie hosted our family party this year. They always do such a nice job. I love all of Jeanie's nice touches she puts on everything to make it special. We started our party with a wonderful turkey dinner. Thank's Jeanie and Anthony for all your hard work. We had so much fun that weekend! Next the children acted out the Nativity as they do every year. It is always so fun to watch the kids do this.(quite entertaining too!) Austin and Courtney got to be Mary and Joseph. They did such a good job! Alex was the most patient of all the kids. He stood still the whole time throughout all the songs and picture taking. Isn't he such a cute shephard? The Three Wise Dudes (with attitude) just sittin' around chillen. The little lost shephard boy (aka Aaron)He was the only cousin there who wasn't in the group picture. He kept moving around so I had to take one individualy because he looks sooo cute in his costume. Finally, the most anticipated part of the evening...the gift exchange. The kids waited patiently to exchange gifts with their cousins they were the closest in age to. This year we did something a little different. We had a "green" Christmas. Each of the kids had to pick out something of theirs that they already had (but still liked and wasn't junk) and give it to their cousin. Or they could make something. They weren't allowed to spend any money. It turned out even better than I thought. The kids all put a lot of thought into what they wanted to give their cousins. It really did mean a lot more to them than quickly picking out a toy at the store and mom and dad paying for it. Plus it was nice on our budget too. The adults did kinda the same thing. 
We had to give "gifts from the heart". So most everyone made something to give to each other. It was stuff like homemade candy to homemade CD's, artwork or craft . It was definaltly harder to come up with something than ever before but a lot of fun and neat to see what everyone came up with. I really loved it. Saturday we took all the kids bowling at Fat Cats in Salt Lake. They all had a blast. I sure wish Idaho Falls had a family friendly bowling alley. It had a big playland and a huge arcade and a pizza parlor. It was a lot of fun. Saturday night we went to Temple Square to see the lights. My mom, my brother Randy and Zac and my brother Anthony with his family went with us. It was a lot of fun. I haven't been there at Christmas time for years. It was beautiful but FREEZING cold! Our kids and some of their cousins watching the Nativity. I thought this was a cute picture.

No comments: