Millett Family Christmas

We have not left home for Christmas since Ian was about 2 years old.  This year, since my sisters were coming from so far away (Nichole from Pennsylvania and Cassy from Kansas)  we decided that we would go to Vernal to spend Christmas with my family.  On Christmas Eve, Dad reserved the church building and we went there to play games since there are around 30 of us.  Nichole had an idea to do Family Olympics.  They turned out really fun.  The Olympics began by splitting into two teams and then taking the Official Family Olympic Oath.  It was pretty funny.

Each team had to work together to create a poster with the team name on it.  One team was the Abominable Snowmen,

And the other was the Marshmallow Ninjas.

Justin led the family in Olympic warm-ups.

He had the family doing some pretty crazy stunts like putting your foot over your head. lol

And the Karate Kid Pose.

Next was the torch run.

The kids had to do something different each time they passed the torch.  Crab walk, Run backwards, etc.

One of the events was to see how many marshmallows you could fit in your mouth.

We also had to fill a hot chocolate mug with mini marshmallows using chopsticks.

Grandpa served his mission in Japan and is quite good with chopsticks.  Hands down, he won this event. :)

We had to throw the "discus" (aluminum foil ball).

And had a three legged race.  Justin and Micah were one of the first teams to cross the finish line, but I'm not sure how legal their team was...Justin did all the work by having Micah stand on his shoe and hang on! Lol

I think the kid's favorite event was the decorating of the gingerbread houses. Aunt Adrienne ended up with most of the younger girls helping on her house. 

The boys gathered together a team and they went to work with Uncle Reed.

Aunt Cassy had the older girls helping her.

The boys really got into decorating their house and planning out exactly what they wanted it to look like.  I was pretty impressed! Uncle Reed had those boys under control!

Eli was feeling pretty left out, so we fashioned a small house of his own he could decorate out of sugar and chocolate chip cookies.

I was the helper on that one. :)  Eli was calling all the shots, he knew just what he wanted!

The finished houses...they were all so creative!

The Christmas Eve program was held back at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Adrienne and Justin gathered all the kids and put on the Christmas Nativity Play.

Then it was time for all the kids to open their Christmas Jammies! Yea!

All the grand kids sporting their new sleepwear. 

Uncle Jordan even got new Jammies--Micah was excited they matched in their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (Jordan's nickname is "Leo" for Leonardo, and Micah's friend, Peter, once told him--"Your name is just like one of the turtles--Micah-angelo!") Pretty perfect! Lol

John started not feeling well the day we got to Vernal (December 23rd).  He was a good sport and tried to participate in what he could of the day's activities.

All the kids Santa presents.  They all got exactly what they asked for this year, which with 6 kids, is a rarity. :)

Morgan asked for an American Girl Doll.

Eli wanted a Crocodile.

Lindey wanted a Peppa Pig.

Micah wanted a new Nintendo DS game.

Zander asked for a Kindle Fire.

And Ian wanted Disney Infinity for the Wii.

Santa was nice to John and I as well, bringing us tasty treats. :)

Aunt Adrienne and Uncle Justin's family

Aunt Nichole and Uncle Justin's family

Aunt Jennie and Uncle John's family

And Aunt Cassy and Uncle Reed's family

I was a little worried that our kids would be disappointed with what Santa brought, seeing as he was much more generous with my sister's families. (Santa only brings one gift to our house.) But, Christmas morning, everyone was so excited with their gift that it didn't matter. :) Whew!

Everyone's stocking also had a new hat which was good since there was 10 feet of snow on the ground in Vernal. (Not really, but a few feet more than what we had in Green River. :))

Later that day we went sledding at the Golf Course.  I was excited to take the kids there and show them something I did growing up.  They were funny in the car on the way there, asking how big the hill was, and not really believing me that it was going to be awesome.  When we drove up to the hill, I pointed it out.  Micah's comment? "I'm not going down that!" Lol

Aunt Cassy and 3 of her kids.

Eli was so funny--he pretty much has no fear whatsoever.  He got out of the car, took the sled from Grandpa's hand and took off down the hill.  He probably rode down the hill more times than any of the other grand kids.  He figured out which way to lean to get the sled to go where he wanted and everything.  He had so much fun!

My poor husband made it down the hill with the kids a few times, and then spent the rest of the time in the car.  He just was not feeling well at all.  He was dizzy, had a fever, and nothing sounded good to eat.  We decided to take him to the Instacare to see if they could do anything.  It was closed, being Christmas day, so we ended up at the ER. They ran all sorts of tests.  His bloodwork came back normal, he didn't have the flu, or strep.  They pretty much said if he didn't feel better in a few days to come back and sent us home.  That was a fun few hours. We went home the next day, December 26th, and John still spent the next several days in bed.  Not fun. :(  I felt so bad for him.  Not a great way to spend Christmas.

Even with John being sick, we had a great time in Vernal.  It was so great to see everyone!