THE SMITH FAMILY: Christmastime Summary

We had such a great time in Utah. I love to spend holidays with family. I love to see our girls play with cousins, talk with Aunts and Uncles and hug their grandparents. I know these times will be special memories my girls have of their childhoods.

Here is a recap of some of the things we did:

Family get-to-together at the Holts

Our first order of business was visit to our cousins!

Paige and Grandma made lots of cookies for the residents
at the veterans home

Shopping and writing letters to Santa

Elf on the Shelf. Oh my, I was really hoping to avoid this fad altogether. Unfortunately, Paige has a close friend who told her all about the Elf on the Shelf. They even went so far as to write a letter to Santa asking him to send Paige an Elf on the Shelf. My fate was sealed when another friend bought Paige an Elf for her birthday. So this Christmas season, we had Candy Cane, our Elf on the Shelf, with us. She turned up in all kinds of places. She even came to Utah with us and ended up in really high places like on the ceiling fan!

A new tradition in Dave's family is Christmas BINGO. All the Smith siblings and their families get together for a rousing game of BINGO, food and prizes. This is only the second time we have been in town for the party. It was a very fun, the girls loved it. Plus everyone leaves happy because everyone is a winner multiple times!

This is Grandma Church's Christmas present
from us. She loves BYU!

Ashley and Ali

Paige thrilled with her first win

Paige also won Grandpa Church's roadster music box. She
was so happy to have something of Grandpa's

the prize table spanned the whole length of the stage

The "cute girls"

Uncle Brian and Uncle David checking out their prizes

Grandpa and Grandma Smith treated all the girls and grandkids to a Santa Claus Symphony at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City. It was a fun performance just perfect for kids. After the show, we went to the City Creek Center for lunch. What a great day of riding Trax, listening to beautiful music, eating, and playing with cousins.

waiting outside for Trax. It was windy cold, so there were
lots of intense faces!

Once we were on the train, the smiles came out

The whole crew in front of Abravanel Hall

All the cousins (and a couple random kids) lined up on the balcony

This was my fortune at lunch time! Yikes! No one wants this
one at Christmastime

The girls also got some piano practice in. First with some friends of Aunt Katie and Uncle Scott Smith. Paige and Ashley also brought the music they have been working on for a Christmas piano recital so they could share their talents at the Smith Family Christmas Eve Party. The nice thing about Dave's family is that there are so many gifted pianists and singers, that the girls get immersed in music, a nice change of pace from their musically-challenged parents.

Singing around the piano

Just Dance - that counts as music too

We also had some good meals with Grandpa and Grandma Smith

Lunch at Roosters

We also spent some time with my family too. The first thing we did when we went to visit with my dad, besides eating :), was to help set him up on Facebook. All his family from Thailand are on so it was time to get him on. Technology is new to my dad and he is a very slow typist, so I tried to make everything as easy as possible. Fortunately, it seems to be working! He is figuring it out and has even started posting status updates! Way to go dad.

Here is my dad's profile pic

We also got together with my sister Becky's family and my mom's brother's family, the Gibbs - Uncle Wade, Aunt Lynn, their kids Colin and Amy, and their grandkids. Becky hosted a dinner at her house. It was fun to see everyone again.