Cousin fun

Todd and Savannah and kids got here about a week before Christmas. We've been enjoying spending time with them. Savannah snapped some pictures of our little monkeys playing down at the park.

Rachel and Annie can't keep their feet on the floor and climb up to the tip top highest place they can. Jared and Eloise mirror their cousins' monkey antics with a little more caution.

 

 We went to Winterhaven to look at all the cool Christmas light displays.

 We had two strollers that fit 4-5 kids put together, with some creative seating, and one seat on Savannah's back, and I carried Megan in a baby backpack. We managed to keep all 9 kids moving without losing any, so we can call the night a success.

 The big hit of the night was the Frozen light display that had "snow" coming from Elsa's Ice Castle.

 For Christmas Eve we hung out together for the afternoon and after dinner the kids acted out the Nativity. The kids mostly wanted to be angels, with a Joseph, zebra, and shepherd or two mixed in, but no one wanted to be Mary, so I got to join in the fun as Mary, since Megan was going to be Baby Jesus.

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 Ryan refused the shepherd costume I offered, and instead ran and got his blanky to wrap around him. Then when he saw the angel wings he wanted some, too. So he was a shepherd angel.

 Grandma took care of Megan while I was "pregnant" with a balloon.

 Then Jared (Joseph) decided it was time to get rid of the balloon and have this baby already, so he yanked the balloon out from my robe.

 Ryan must have been Megan's Baby Jesus' guardian angel/shepherd because he stuck close by. And Eloise was the Zebra that came with Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, then bedded down in the stable.

 The angels sang "Glory to God."

 Ryan began wielding his shepherd's crook as a weapon. There are a few pictures of him shooting it like a gun, and many with it in a blur as he swings it around dangerously.

 This is about the best picture we managed to get of the whole cast. It sure was a fun night and a pretty darn funny performance. It just gets better every year!

After the "play" Rachel and Annie and Eloise sang and signed Away in a Manger, which they had learned in primary (except Eloise who just followed along with the signs, but did a pretty good job of it for her first time seeing the signs).