Merry Christmas

Our Christmas started on the 23rd when we went out to Duchesne to the Moon Christmas Party. We had stopped in at my grandma's a few weeks before and asked about her tree. She said she thought about putting it up but the thought of putting it away was too much for her so she left it in the garage. At the age of 92 she can do what she wants. But I can't stand the thought of no decorations for Christmas so we got her a small potted tree that she can throw away after Christmas. She is amazing and I hope I have her energy when I get that old. She still snowblows her driveway, drives by herself and was the best Grandma. We got to visit for a few minutes before the party.

We held it at my Brother's restaurant. We had prime-rib and chicken fettuccine. The food was wonderful and the company better. After dinner Mom and Amy handed out the gifts they had bought.

Taylor received a nice wallet for his mission. He started to laugh because Grandma Moon had given him his first wallet that he still used. It's a red-Velcro one with a picture of a dinosaur on it. He really loved that wallet. I'll have to ask him if he switched yet.
Taryn got a hat to wear to the rodeo's and we got a really nice tool chest to use at the cabin. They usually do the party on Christmas Eve so we haven't been able to attend. I'm glad they changed so we could attend. It was fun to see everyone.
Christmas Eve we decided to try cooking King Crab legs. We bought it at Costco and since we had never cooked it before we asked the guy in front of us that was also buying it. Steve took over that task and the sea-food smell about did me in. It really was stinky while we were cooking it. It was quite funny watching as they tried to crack it open. Steve finally got out the pliers and it worked great.

I have a real problem with touching things and after looking at the legs I knew that I wouldn't be able to touch it, so my sweet husband gave me some of his. It was really good. I think next time we will cook it outdoors and have plenty of pliers on hand.
Christmas Day keeps starting later and later. One of Taryns old clients had no where to go for Christmas so she went and got him so he could spend the day with us. His name is Jay and he is 61 years old. His cute little stuffed dog is called yodel. I've never seen a stuffed animal that was so loved. He had a cute personality and was so thrilled when we told him he could take the Santa hat home.

We didn't start opening presents until after 10:00. Christmas is really different with out little kids around, but we still had a few surprises under the tree. Taylor donated money for a hive for me and Steve and donated money to buy some Chickens for his siblings gift. I can't remember what organization they do this with but I couldn't ask for a better gift.
Taryn gave me a slanket, which is like a snuggie. I have loved it, it is so soft and warm. Later that day we got to talk to Heather and Kevin and the girls and see their Christmas gifts. The girls seemed very happy with Santa and the gifts. Braelyn was a little disappointed that they didn't get snow for Christmas.
We had to have a contest to see who would win our coveted gold ball trophy this year. So we decided to do a pool-ping-pong and guitar hero tournament. Taryn won the pool game, Steve won ping-pong and Taylor won the guitar hero part.
Not a huge surprise that I didn't win any of them so we decided that whoever won racko was the winner. I won the first game of racko, I was pretty excited thinking that I might have a shot at this trophy. We played one more game to determine the winner.
Taryn won and took the trophy away from Taylor. I think I will plan card games next year for the trophy. I might stand a chance at winning them.

Of course the high light of Christmas was the phone call to Greg. We only got to talk for 40 minutes so the time flew by. He sounded tired, but happy. He has worked hard and is an awesome missionary. We have less then a month before he comes home. Then next Christmas we will look forward to our call to Taylor. We miss Heather and Kevin but are happy that they are making their memories with their own little family.