Nativity at Nana's

One of the best events of the Christmas season is going to my parent's house with all my siblings and having the children act out the nativity. My Mom hasn't been feeling too well so I offered to host this year but no one wanted to miss the special feeling we get when we are at Nanny's house. Her home is truly magical, especially at Christmas. We decided that a brunch affair would be better timing for most of us so we all brought a dish to share and had a wonderful morning together. Tanner helped me prepare a delicious crock pot meal the night before with bacon, hash-browns, peppers, and eggs. It cooked all night and was perfect the next day!

We all have the best time being together. What a blessing it is to live so close to each other. As always, we missed Josi but hopefully they will move closer soon! Ray was without a nap that day and was quite the little noise maker. We got there about an hour before everyone else arrived and were able to eat and play for a bit. When everyone is together we are quite a crowd and it's hard for me to carry on a conversation let alone eat! But it was a beautiful event.

Kim, per the usual, wanted to be Mary but Jessie had never  been Mary before so we once again had 2 Marys. ha ha Parker was Joseph and Rayleigh just wandered around. Sometimes she was a sheep, other times she was an angel. Jack was baby Jesus but spent most of the time with his fairy God Mother, Kari. ;-)

The kids did so well and I'm thankful to my parents for creating the sacred, special times to reflect back on spiritual stories. My mom is always teaching the children about Heavenly Father and the gospel. Their work in the temple has blessed us all so much. I'm so grateful for their perfect examples.

After the Nativity we exchanged gifts and the kids played. I hated to leave but wanted to make sure I hit the road before traffic got too bad. Even leaving at 1:30 it took me an hour! Sheesh! And Jana came over with her 3 girls! I was so happy to have her in my home and get to just giggle and chat like girls do. Girl time is good for the soul.

It was a big, busy day but full to the brim of all good things!