Our Excellent Christmas in Seattle

I've heard it said that the definition of excellence is doing ordinary things in an extraordinary manner. That definition summed up our visit to Seattle - it was in incredible 10 days being with Bill & Diane and the kiddos. They most certainly have a way of turning the ordinary into extraordinary. There were 23 of us under one roof for 10 days and it was DELIGHTFUL!

We started off the week throwing a bridal shower for my friend and old college roommate, Jeanette. She lives in Seattle and got married there and I was thrilled to play a small part in the festivities. There is nothing like keeping up with past friends and college roommates and watching life unfold for each other. JeVonne is so much a part of who I am today and what my life is - I adore her and still look up to her. Diane was gracious enough to let us have the shower at her house even with the crowds coming in that night and the next day. A trip was planned for the boys and the kiddos to Kids Quest which was free on Friday nights. It was one of a whole week's worth of free events Diane had researched. She's so good. We had a crepe bar at the shower and got to meet all of Jeanette's incredible friends.

This was also the day the 24 hour bug started with Trenton.  He threw up and felt miserable for a day and it hit me that night.  Unfortunately it spread to EVERY SINGLE person in the house one by one except Diane, Shane and Kali before the 10 days was over.  Bummer.  But the McDonalds aren't really complainers so everybody just endured a day of it and then got back to life.  Still I felt so guilty as I watched each person come down with it since it started with the Allens!  Darn it!

This is Sommer helping make crepes the night of the shower. I am so grateful for this girl in my life. She has been such a good friend to me - she was the first other "in-law" after me and I've always felt a special place in my heart for her. She is pretty much amazing at everything she does and moves so fast! I just love her.

This is why they call them "grand-mothers." A few of us had gathered around the piano and were singing Christmas songs and the little kiddos didn't quite know what to do. Well Diane whipped out a box of instruments for the kids and they marched and marched around the pool table, just singing away with us. It was so cute.

One of our activities was a hike in Cougar Mountain. It was sooo beautiful! And green. And warm (compared to CO). The kids were in heaven.

We thought these tress looked like something out of a Dr Suess book.

We were blessed to visit another family from our college days - Don &Tara from BYU-Hawaii. We became family on the little island of Oahu - it's awesome to watch our families grow together. Mason and Trenton are the same age and Kennedy and Kali are just a year apart. Their little Ryker missed this shot, but he reminded me so much of Mason as a baby in Hawaii. The kids had a blast playing together and we loved catching up.

We laughed at the similarities of our life experiences. One thing we had in common was how MUCH we enjoyed little Ryker and Blake - loved every single minute with those boys. Was it that as third time mothers we were more relaxed, they are good natured babies, or we just realize how very fast that precious baby stage goes?  Probably a mix of all three.

After a few days, Kali insisted on calling Aunt Diane 'Nona' and Uncle Billy 'Papa' like all the other grandkids.  She is such a little people person and certainly recognizes love when she gets so much of it from those two!  I love how Aunt Diane always takes time to read to our little ones, no matter how busy she is.

Uncle Billy giving a little love to Blake William.  Uncle Bill took Trenton under his wing and Trenton felt like a million bucks.  I'll never forget swimming laps with Trenton on his back across the pool or teaching him how to play foosball out in the garage.  He was his little buddy.  Bill and Diane are some of the hardest workers I know.  Bill comes home from a day at the dental office and plunges into changing diapers, wiping noses, doing dishes without catching his breath.  He stayed up playing with us until 2 or 3 in the morning and then spent 14 hours at church as the bishop of his ward.  And Diane doesn't stop - the only times she puts her feet up is when she's reading to the kiddos.

We went caroling on Christmas Eve and it was a party!

On the way back we took a 'sleigh ride' in Papa's truck and belted out Christmas songs for the neighborhood.

Christmas Eve consisted of the 'flannel board nativity' narrated by Trenton.  As the two and three year olds placed their characters on the flannel board Trenton kept looking down saying, "You've got to be kidding me!  This is a disaster!"  Then he tried to correct it all.  He finished the program by declaring, "That was the most greedy putting up I've ever seen!" (refering to the kids taking characters from each other) and threw down his paper and marched off. Where does the type A come from?  Not me.  Not his dad.

We did a hadbell choir - I LOVE those....maybe we'll put handbells on our Santa list for next year :)  We had an incredible Christmas Eve feast for 23 people with one amazing factor.  Almost no one was in the kitchen before the feast.  Diane had done so much of the cooking beforehand the day of was stress free and enjoyed by all. Ordinary things in an extraordinary way.

And finished up with a grand nativity!  (with a little rigging of the drawing to let Kali be Mary as she'd dreamt about it for about 2 months)

  Us 'kids' all lined up on the stairs for Christmas morning.

And Santa was generous!  We felt so s-p-o-i-l-e-d! All the in-laws got some nice Huskie wear.

Trenton recieved his much anticipated Live Butterfly Pavillion he's wanted since they hatched butterflies in Miss Stacy's preschool. He was a little bummed when I told him he had to wait to grow the butterflies until sping, so we could ethically release them.

Kali got ballerina shoes, but her real delight over Christmas was...

mothering baby Don (8 weeks old) and baby Raquel (4 months old).  She asked to be with those babies from the minute she woke up until she laid her head down at night.  She held, protected, rocked, sang, & cuddled these babies to no end. 

The kids had a blast with cousins, aunts and uncles.  They were all so patient and loving with the kids, and Kali grew especially close to "Baby Don's mom" (as her world revolved around the babies, everyone else was referred to in relation to them of course).  Marielle listened and taught her so patiently as Kali followed her everywhere trying to get a moment with Don.

We had some fantastic tournaments - the brackets included pickle ball, pool, and ping pong.  There was a McDonalds kids vs. Outlaws basketball game- we won (the in-law outlaws)!!!  And of course a night of Whirly Ball.  This game is a blast!  Bumper car basketball with wiffle balls.  Oh my it is fun.  The other night I adored was when Bill and Diane sent the couples to do a session at the temple and braved putting the grandkids to bed together.  There was such a special spirit in the session with all the siblings together.  When we got home Bill was spinning in the kitchen fixing a gourmet seafood feast.  It was incredible.  It felt like heaven on earth!

So yes, we cried all the way to the airport and coming home to this 'quiet' house was hard.  Trenton siad, "Wow, I have to get used to this house again."  It was a delightful Christmas in Seattle!