Christmas...the good and the bad

We had a bit of a strange Christmas.   It went something like this:
December 23  -
8:30 pm: family movie night begins {watching 17 Miracles}
9:30 pm: Daisy is whimpering outside so we let her come in with us.  We call Chops but he won't come out of his dog house.  I mention that I think it is weird.  BS just says that he must be tired.
10:30 pm: Movie ends, we are all emotional from the movie.  I call Chops again and he won't come out of doghouse.  I send Sambo out to check on him.  He tells me that his neck is wet.  I coax him inside, he comes in and collapses on the floor.  I look under his collar at his neck and immediately call BS downstairs.  He comes down, takes off his collar, and we discover that the poor dog's skin under the collar has eroded away to nothing.  All we see is blood and grossness.   The kids are watching and freaking out.
11:00 pm: BS is taking Chops to the Emergency Vet and I am getting kids settled down and in bed.
December 24 -
2:00 am: BS comes home without Chops. Says that the Vet is going to get his wound cleaned out and that we can pick him up in the morning.   He's going to be ok.  She said she has seen this happen before and that sometimes there is a really bad reaction to the material of the collar.  His wound had been building up for weeks but didn't manifest until that night.
3:30 am: Millie comes in my room, wakes me up, and pukes right next to me.  Luckily she had the puke bucket with her.
5:00 am: Millie pukes again and I help her into the tub and take care of her.
7:00 am: I head out for a last minute Santa errand.
8:30 am: I get a text from BS telling me that BS is puking.
10:00 am: I pick up Chops.  He is in pain and loopy from drugs but ok.  I get home and Sambo pukes again.
12:00 pm: G-ma Judy and G-pa Jim visit us and bring us gifts.  The kids scored some really cozy blankies!  Sambo and Millie are really trying to feel better on Christmas Eve.

3:00 pm: We decide to stick to our plan for Christmas Eve.  Millie and Sambo are feeling well enough to go out and neither has puked for awhile.
3:30 pm: We go to the movie theatre to see The Adventures of Tin Tin.  Will is as white as a ghost.  And almost greenish.  He says he feels woozy.  I give him a Coke, tell him to take sips and suck on the crushed ice and that he will be ok.
5:30 pm: Movie ends and we all agree it is a really good show.
6:00 pm: Dinner reservations at Bucca Di Beppo.  Millie and Sam nibble on bread and noodles.  Will eats nothing, still pale, but hanging in there.  He is tough as nails.
8:30 pm: Come home and discover that our Christmas lights outside and the lights on our Christmas tree won't turn on.  What?  They had both been on all month long and now on Christmas eve they choose to have issues.  Eventually we got them to work but how frustrating!
9:00 pm: Gift exchange between the kids and presents from Mom and Dad - PJs and robes and slippers.

9:30 pm: See that Santa is getting close {Norad website}.  Set out cookies and milk for Santa and kids tucked into bed.
11:00 pm: Preparations for the next morning.  Luckily I had wrapped almost everything at G-ma Cindy's house so I was very prepared this year.  And there was hardly anything to put together.
December 25 -
1:00 am: BED!  This is a record for BS and I on Christmas eve.  We were very pleased with how early we were going to bed.
4:00 am:  BS pukes
5:00 am: BS pukes
6:00 am: BS pukes
8:00 am: Kids wake up.  BS is miserable.  But the kids and I carry-on with the excitement that Christmas morning brings.  First up is always stockings:

8:30 am: BS crawls out of the bedroom and lays on the floor, pretending to be excited about stuff.  The kids continue to open gifts and we manage to have a really nice morning.

The boys gets banana chairs {that also have bonus gaming qualities}

Lacrosse Stick

Rapunzel Dress

XBOX Kinect

All of the Barbie Princesses

Baking Supplies

Lego Robot

Money!  

There was a ribbon tied to the tree that led to a basement bedroom...

Sambo's new own bedroom

   

I got a Bosch!  And a big roaster, and a watch, and sunglasses, and cross country skies!

10:30 am: Go to church
12:00 pm: Brunch - Quiche, cinnamon bread/toast that G-pa Guffey made, fruit smoothies.  Yum.
1-5: pm: Play and lay around
5:00 pm: G-ma and G-pa Guffey come to visit, see new gifts, and have dinner.  Yum.
11:00 pm: Mom is sick.
2:00 am: Mom pukes.

I could go on but in a nutshell, another 6 hours and I feel better too.  Quincy never did get sick, lucky girl.  Although we had some sickness, an injured dog, and some dysfunctional lighting we still had a fabulous day!  We are all exhausted from the non-stop hustle and bustle, but oh so happy.

Clark Christmas Party

From the previous post, we went straight from The Gateway to Gma & Gpa's house for the Clark party.  Almost everyone was there this year {all except for the Ludlow's, they are in Ohio}.  As usual, it was a blast and great to be with everyone.  We ate pizza, played games, and of course had a visit from Santa.
Something we did different this year was a white elephant gift exchange beween the grown-ups.  It was super fun and funny!  Uncle Adam brought a live rat in a cage for his gift!

Christmas Bingo!

Sam and Will had festive red and green hair for the party

Pin the nose on the Reindeer

Sadie and Quin playing "Don't Eat Pete!"

Audree, Quincy, Spencer {Oh and Karlee behind}

Sam is so stoked Santa gave him sweatbands for basketball

 The kids entertained us with acting out the Nativity story.  They were so cute and did so good.  We even had a new baby boy {Landon} to play the part of baby Jesus.

Guffey Family Christmas Party

We did something different this year for the Guffey family party.  Aunt Heidi proposed we stay a night downtown at Little America Hotel instead of having a party at one of our houses.  The money spent towards gifts for everybody would instead go towards 24 hours of Salt Lake City fun together.  We thought it sounded like a great idea!
We all met for dinner at The Spaghetti Factory and shopped at Trolley Square.  Then we checked-in at our hotel and fell in love with our giant rooms!  Little America is an oldie but a goodie.  I forgot my camera so I was trying to take some pictures with my phone.  As you can see the kids wouldn't hold still for a second because they were so stoked!

Our intentions were to go Temple Square and see the lights and maybe a carriage ride, but the grown-ups were pooped and the kids were anxious to swim.  Another perk of the hotel is they have an indoor/outdoor pool which they love.

All set for bed

The next morning we slept in and went to breakfast.  Again, our intention was to get out and do something like ice skating at the Gallivan Center, but all the kids wanted to do was go swimming!

Then we checked-out and went shopping at the Gateway.  So much fun and thanks to my Sister for such a great idea.  Pretty sure we are making this a tradition.

A few of the kids in the lobby

Christmas Randoms

The weeks leading up to Christmas are a blur.  I love all of the parties, recitals, activities, and school happenings that lead up to the big holiday...but man, this year it was almost too much.  Is it possible to have too much of a good thing?  It was literally non-stop for weeks and it got exhausting!  And now it's a blur.  I wasn't very good at taking my camera but I did take some pictures at a few of these events.  Some of the days it was all I could do to get us all where we need to be in clean clothes with my dessert or appetizer!  That's another thing - I love to bake - but I will be happy if I don't have to make another dessert for a whole month!
{Yeah, right.  Millie and Sambo's birthdays are just weeks away}.

Anyway, here is a little taste of some pre-Christmas fun:

Festival of Trees:

I took Quinny and 3 of her buddies.  My friend Allison and her little boy Hudson came too.

Clare, Q, Megan, Hope, Hudson

I loved this ski tree with star made from skis

This "Tangled" house was the girl's favorite Gingerbread creation

Notice good 'ol Tigress had to come along.  She doesn't go anywhere without that nappy baby tiger

 Ridgeline Christmas Sing:

 Quincy's Preschool Program:

In 8 years of preschools, this Christmas program was one of the best!

We love Mrs. Frampton!

Waiting for it to start, so excited!

They acted out the Nativity story to a cute poem.  Quincy wanted to be a shepherd.

Writing her name so good!

 Christmas Sugar Cookies:

Sam and I went to our friend's "adult only" dinner party and look what we came home to:

Awwwww.  So sweet.  And so impressive for an 11 year old girl.  Who taught this girl how to bake?  I have to give some credit to the "Cake Boss," her favorite TV show.

 Parties!

And more parties.  Friend parties {with kids}, friend parties {without kids}, work parties {3}, neighborhood party, girls only party, family parties {many}, and a high school friend party.  It was so great to see the girls I have known since I was 5.  These are the kind of friends that I can go years without seeing and then when we are together it is all the same.  Love these girls, it was so good to catch up.

Mindy, Jessica, Krisha, Mandy, Jennifer, Suzy. Sydney was also there but had to leave early.