Really, these kids are getting too big and too old for all our traditions. There’s not room for them on the fireplace and there’s just barely enough room in front of the tree. Nevertheless, here we are again-Christmas Eve gift opening. I failed to get a picture of them in their new duds because we did something different this year and gave them a choice of two things in the box. It was pretty much chaos after that and I neglected to take a picture of the final choices. Note to self-never give a choice.

Rock tried REALLY hard to get the kids to sleep in on Christmas morning. And they did actually sleep in-sort of, some of them. Either way we started later than we ever have. Alli and Cam who were staying at our house could not believe how long everyone slept. It was a Christmas miracle.

I got a fancy new vacuum that will let me clean my stairs easily. Yeah, I’m pretty boring.

I even got to build legos this year. That was a first! Cade got me this for Christmas this year!

Reagan has kept the kids stocked in Legos for the past few years and this year was no different. He is too generous for his own good.

Cam’s Ham and Cam’s Yams

We love having Cam in the family because he makes our holiday meals amazing. There are other reasons, too, but that one is in the top 5. 😉 This year for Christmas dinner he smoked ham and put the most delicious glaze on it. He was very excited about his glaze. He opened the lid, breathed in deeply and said, “Mmmm smells like Christmas!” After glazing the ham he then took a blow torch to it! It was very exciting. The kids stopped building legos or playing minecraft I can’t remember which, to come up and watch.

I don’t know who asked Santa for more of Cam’s yams but he brought those too! Thanks for all the yummy food this Christmas, Cam and Allie!

This year my parents made the kids work hard for their gifts. They put some money inside these crazy maze boxes and to get it to open they had to solve the maze. The boys especially loved the challenge.

It was great to see Rock’s parents after Christmas and to have them here for Cade’s homecoming. They got each of the boys (the ones over 40, too) these awesome headlamps. All you have to do is wave your hand past it to turn it on or off so taking this picture took a really loooong time. lol

They also got us each a really cool pair of socks.

It was so awesome to have everyone home at Christmas. I love that Reagan is so generous and wants to keep the magic alive. I love that Cade still counts every present under the tree even if he pretends not to. I love that Levi is patient with both those things. And I love that Libby still can’t sleep the night before Christmas. Can’t wait to see what 2026 has in store for each of them and for Rock and I.

Captured this amazing sunset in early December. It looks more like a fire than a sunset! We have had the most mild winter I think I’ve ever experienced outside of Washington. Most days we haven’t even needed a coat outside!

Libby had her Christmas piano recital. This may be her last. 😦 She has become too busy with school and ballet. She played the Piano Guys-We Saw Three Ships. It was very hard and she did awesome!

Levi and Liberty had their Christmas concert on the 18th. After the concert the choir sang happy birthday to Levi.

This song is well worth the listen!

Levi got a big brother home from his mission for his birthday so we had to celebrate a few days later.

Rather than wrap Levi’s birthday present, we had Liberty walk into the room modeling it. He laughed so hard!!! I’m so sad I didn’t get a video of HIS reaction!!

Here’s the suit on Levi with his new birthday tie from G & G Hymas.

Levi and Liberty were asked to be a part of the shadow nativity for our ward Christmas party. It was really really cool. See if you can figure out where they are.

Just before Christmas Reagan took us to the antique store he’s been working at during the holidays. It was very cool.

My goofy kids. Depending on when Levi goes on a mission, this might be the last Christmas picture of all four of them for a while. They are all big enough now I should probably have them stand. They’re almost too big for the fireplace!

December 18th was a big day this year for several reasons. First, it was Levi’s Golden birthday, second, Levi and Liberty’s Christmas choir concert and third, Cade came home from his mission. I’ll cover Levi’s birthday and the concert in my next post, but this post will just be Cade’s homecoming.

After serving for 2 years as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, he said a tearful goodbye to his mission presidents and the Fort Collins Mission and flew home. Well, not without a 3 hour layover in Salt Lake. At 10:00 that night, he finally arrived in Boise. I was SO excited to see him and give him a huge hug! I was a teary mess all day long. It was wonderful to be reunited. Here’s the hug video. 🙂

The ride home from the airport was unreal. The kids were SOOO excited with everyone talking at once. For that one night no one was annoyed or angry and they just reveled in being in one another’s company again. There are a few of those magical moments of pure joy in life and this was one of those.

Cade’s homecoming talk was a few days after Christmas and he did a wonderful job. It has been so fun to see how much he’s grown and to watch him put the lessons he learned into practice in our home. It’s been really cool to see his maturity and the ways in which he leads out in our family and with his siblings now. And speaking of changes, this picture was taken the day of Cade’s farewell. These are two of his closest friends.

But this was taken the day of Cade’s homecoming. Big changes!

It has been wonderful to have Caderade home. But he’s off to college again and leaves on January 5th to BYUI where he’ll room with 5 other missionaries from his mission. He’s super excited and we are excited for him!