We got A LOT of Christmas!

So much for needing a little Christmas, as the song goes. This year we got a LOT of Christmas, thanks to having 7 extra special visitors to our North Carolina home. Whitney, the kids, and I got back from Richmond the Monday afternoon before Christmas, while my mom stayed with Devin and Sarah a few extra days. They drove down Wednesday afternoon and the real fun began! Here's a run-down of the last 2 weeks, so try and keep up!:)

With so many mouths to feed, we divvied the cooking responsibilities between everyone, and somehow I never cooked and everyone else made multiple meals. Lucky me. Whitney made us her famous Russian soup (or "shi") and pieroshkis that first night, per Jon's request. Yum!

That night we also decorated some gingerbread houses. Oh man! That was some crazy-cousin-candy-poppin'-action. Still not sure if more made it into their tummies or on the house...

This kid is a marshmallow FIEND!

The finished product. Truly....special. Unfortunately House #2 collapsed and never made it out alive.

We tried to keep the kiddos really busy so they didn't get too destructive, and for the most part we succeeded. The weather was gorgeous, so we spent lots of time outside riding bikes, crafting Christmas projects, and baking Christmas goodies. Mmmm, sugar cookies. My favorite!

And then Christmas Eve finally rolled around. I LOVE Christmas Eve. It's such an exciting day, especially when you have kids who are excited for Santa!

The amount of presents "under" our tree was disgusting. I don't think we'll ever have this many again. Ever.

To get the kids out of the house in order to finish wrapping and building Santa presents, we took the kids to Chick fil A for lunch. They definitely burned off some energy at the play-place, but we also went to Pinehurst Village to walk around where we saw this cool Nativity.

It was all decorated for Christmas and lit up! Merry Christmas!

Then we headed back to get ready for our Holy Supper. Jon's family has done this every year and I think it is such a fantastic tradition. They have a really simple meal of fish, olives, flat bread, and cheese-- foods Mary and Joseph may have eaten, on the floor by candlelight.

We watched parts from the movie "The Nativity Story," and helped the kids get dressed up to act out the Nativity. I love how it helps keep the focus on the meaning of the season, and not Santa Claus-- which can so easily overtake anything else.

With help from everyone, two Mary's (Lucy and Eva BOTH wanted the coveted role of Mary), and some phenomenal acting skills, we read Luke 2. We read "The Night Before Christmas," put out cookies and milk, dropped off our Secret Santa box, and tucked the excited kiddos in. Then Devin and Grandma drove up to Raleigh to pick up Grandpa TomTom who had just flown in!

Christmas morning dawned bright and early! The traditional lining up at the staircase from oldest to youngest...

Trying to figure out which presents are for which girl...

Finally! The jackpot! Santa brought Lucy a humongous doll house, a unicorn pillow pet, "Pinkalicious" book set, and some other fun surprises! Yea!

And Zachary? Well, he was on choo-choo OVERLOAD. Santa went a little crazy with the GeoTrax (blame Jon)! He was the funnest to watch-- total shock, to total elation.

Zachary would have spent all day in his new Buzz jammies (he even tried to push the buttons, awww), playing trains.

But, with Christmas on Sunday, we had to quickly wrap up playing with the new Santa goodies and get ready for church. Lucy in her new church dress-- so pretty!!

Zachary looking handsome in his new duds.

Matching cousin dresses from Grandma Joanie! So cute! It was a Christmas miracle we found the same one in three different sizes.

After church we headed back home to cook Christmas breakfast. It's my family's tradition to make Abelskivers, sausage, eggs, and hot chocolate. This is my favorite part of Christmas Day!

Around 1 o'clock we finally began work on that huge pile of presents under the tree. The toy-fest continued thanks to some generous grandmas and grandpas, cousins, and aunts and uncles!

My cool new Snuggie from Whitney. Man, I love that thing! My missionary brother Taylor called from the Dominican Republic that afternoon amidst some drama since we don't have a land-line here. We got done later than we planned on, and the kids were definitely feeling the effects of the long exciting day, so they got put to bed.

The adults however got to enjoy a kid free meal. We always choose a country to make a dinner theme from, and this year we chose Switzerland. Devin and Sarah have a raclette grill, so we cooked some shrimp, veggies, cheese, and other meat, made fondue, cut up some bread, and gorged on rich, heavy food. I love Christmas!

The next day the guys got to golf the #4 course at Pinehurst Country Club, thanks to some connections from Jon's work. We took the girls to the park since it was a beautiful day.

That night we got pizza from the hippy-dippy Mellow Mushroom. Yum!

Tuesday morning we went to Waffle House for breakfast, which is quite possibly the singular reason for my dad coming out at all. He's obsessed! Some combination of the crazy Southern waitresses, warm homemade waffles, and hot chocolate has this guy hooked.

After a delicious breakfast we headed up to Durham to see Duke University campus. So cool! It reminded us all of Hogwarts with all the cool old buildings and Mess Hall.

Naturally this sports-obsessed family HAD to see Cameron indoor stadium where the Blue Devils play. We even got to step onto the court. Such HISTORY!

We stopped at a little BBQ joint for dinner on the way back home. Apparently it was recommended by Pat and Geena Neely from Food Network, but it was a little on the redneck, trailer-park side for me. At least it had character!

Wednesday night we decided to do our traditional Iron Chef competition, this version, Iron Chef: Berly Ct., desserts ONLY. We got the kids in bed, and split into 2 teams-- Grandma and Sarah P, Whitney and Sara (me). The secret ingredient was revealed to be LIME.

Whitney and I decided to do a lime sugar cookie crust baked into ramekins, topped with a key lime semi-freddo. We garnished with lime marinated strawberries and toasted coconut. I thought it was a rockin' little dessert if I do say so myself!

Sarah and Grandma went the extra mile and did 2 desserts. The first was a creme puff stuffed with lime curd and drizzled with raspberry sauce. They made their own pate choux for heaven's sakes!

They also served homemade flour tortilla chips with a lime, honeydew, and strawberry salsa. Mmmm.

These judges had a tough decision ahead of them!

Here is the Chairman, in his official judging robes, of course.

Whelp, you can see who won. GRANDMA and SARAH P!! Winners!! The trophy plate has been passed.

Friday was BYU game day, so the kids played while the adults (well, mostly Grandma and Devin) watched the Cougars win despite a true nail-biter.

New Year's Eve was kind of a bittersweet day, as Devin's family and my Dad got packed up in order to leave the next morning. We had one last delicious dinner of ham and potatoes, had a wild bonfire outside (complete with fire jumping), played games, and toasted the New Year in with Martinelli's. What more can I say? You can see for yourself what a fantastic time we had with all our special visitors. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!