So moving on to December and the Christmas preparations & celebrations, I present a photo essay...
Snow!!
The kids building snowmen at Grandma & Grandpa Z's house. We've had some snow and it's been cold!
Decorating
The kids building snowmen at Grandma & Grandpa Z's house. We've had some snow and it's been cold!Decorating
I got Huck's stocking done just in time. (It turned out a bit bigger than I'd hoped, but what else is new?!)
We will forever be a "real tree" family. 
These were our costumes for our annual Christmas party with our friends. It started out as a crazy sweater party but the costume bar has been raised every year. It's amazing what you can find on ebay!Christmas Eve
Orem has an In-n-Out!! Which meant we could continue the Zackrison-Family-Christmas-Eve-Dinner-at-In-n-Out tradition this year. (Also notable, hey look - Dad has a Christmas Sweater!)
Orem has an In-n-Out!! Which meant we could continue the Zackrison-Family-Christmas-Eve-Dinner-at-In-n-Out tradition this year. (Also notable, hey look - Dad has a Christmas Sweater!)
Mom picked out cute matching jammies for all of us -- Rachel & June modeling some of the styles.
The kids were a little riled up as we tried to sit reverently and listen to Dad read the Christmas story from the scriptures.
It was so fun having so many Zackrisons gathered together for Christmas this year. We had Grandma & Grandpa, Rachel, Christine, Zack, Ana & Jack all together for Christmas Eve. Then Steve, Ie Li, Mei Li & Stephen arrived on Christmas day. Maybe next year we'll lure the Earnests to town too?!?
Does that look like the face of a kid who intends to sleep through the night? The correct answer is No.Christmas Morning
Santa setup shop in the basement this year and left this note so we wouldn't worry that he didn't come (although that was Brenden's first thought when he woke up).
Getting ready to crash through the wrapping paper at the top of the stairs
The splendor!Favorite gifts this year: fancy sled-mobiles, lego sets (Lego Garage & Lego Beetle), giant nerf guns, Dora backpack & Dora Beanie Baby character dolls, a doll that laughs & cries, new TV for the basement
One of June's favorite presents was the little kitchen Santa built in her little play house under the stairs
Scott's family came to town for a few days after Christmas. We had a great time with them celebrating Christmas and enjoying the snow
(read: Scott & Brett took the boys sledding at 8am after a fresh snowfall)
Peter, Tommy, Oliver, Stephanie & Huck
Brenden, Webb, Laurel & June
Wait - are these two related?
Family Time
Christmas with the Wileys
Scott's family came to town for a few days after Christmas. We had a great time with them celebrating Christmas and enjoying the snow
(read: Scott & Brett took the boys sledding at 8am after a fresh snowfall)
Peter, Tommy, Oliver, Stephanie & Huck
Brenden, Webb, Laurel & June
Wait - are these two related?Family Time
Accessories
I've been resisting getting iPods for the boys specifically because I wasn't ready for one of these -- a boy who'd walk around with earbuds hanging out of his hat who you had to yell at to get his attention. But Brenden saved up his birthday money and did jobs and earned enough and bought an iPod Nano right after Christmas. Unfortunately 2 weeks later it is now missing (with signs up around the neighborhood hoping some kind soul might find it and give it back).
Huck got this great 'h' shirt from Aunt Annee, which is the perfect thing to go with his new leg warmers.
Turns out Huck's leg warmers have been the most popular gift this year, requiring that we come up with a rotation for who gets to wear them when, and has the boys both saving up some money so they can buy themselves some Snuggle Luvs of their own. I'm not kidding. (Brenden and Oliver have each already worn them to school multiple times. Weird, I know.)In other news... We finished our basement
We took the door off at the top of the stairs to help everyone feel like it's not so far away and separate. I can't even tell you how great it has been to have a good space for the toys and video games and general kids-underfoot noise.
Sitting/TV/Video games area
Toys area - 3 new toys closets & storage bench 
Craft Corner
Guest Bedroom #1(also includes Scott's soldering desk - does your husband have one of those too?!)
Guest Bedroom #2Home to the firetruck bed (passed down from Scott's childhood), the air hockey table, and Scott's editing workspace
Lots of storage with built-in shelves - one of the things I've been most excited about
Another storage closet with more shelvesGiant sigh of relief & new years resolution to not get so far behind again...
8 comments:
What a fun month! Those gingerbread costumes are fantastic. It was great seeing see while we were in town.
sorry to hear thanksgiving sucked...love the stocking...and the basement is AWESOME!
Looks like great fun, great pictures, and GREAT basement!!
The basement looks amazing!! The lost ipod is terribly tragic. We are all hoping it shows up again soon. The In-n-Out on Christmas Eve warms my heart. Even though it wasn't in a CA location.
All in all, it makes me miss you all the more!
the basement looks awesome. LOVE june's accessories. :)
You guys were the best Christmas hosts! We had so much fun being together this Christmas. I LOVE Huck in those leg warmers and I am sill so much in awe of your closet organizing. I went this week to Target and started a slow plastic bin transformation for Jack's closet thanks to your example. :)
What would it be like to have a basement with storage and craft rooms! It looks great! How fun for you to have an In-N-Out now. I didn't realize that they had moved that far north.
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