It was that time...for the Norr's to come for our holiday party. After Christmas I wasn't sure if I was excited because I was tired and wanted to take all the Christmas down because it was starting to feel cluttery. I refrained and survived just fine. We wanted to redo what we did last year and recreate Christmas Eve/Christmas/New Years. My parents came early so we could ski and then help prep everything. Unfortunately the weather had different plans and they got stuck driving in yucky conditions and didn't get here in time to go skiing Wed night so we just hung out and got settled. Thursday we got up and I met Dad in Ogden to take him to meet Dr Tanner since is back had been bothering him. Dad really liked him which I was relieved because you never want to make a back recommendation. Then we grabbed lunch and headed home. Mom, Maddi, and I prepped all the soups for dinner and decided to just prep the breakfast casseroles as well while we had the mess going. It made for a lot less work later. Then as the evening everyone started to arrive. Matt picked Kim and the kids up from the airport on his way home from work. Nic got here shortly after. Nate and Kenn's plane got in late so they got here late late but we were all there to get settle in and sleep for "Christmas Eve." We were able to make space for all the married couples to have their own room. This year we moved Hallie down with the other kids and gave Nic and Ky her room since Gray still gets up at night. Mom and dad stayed in the guest room, Kim in Emy's, Nate in Gracie's. All Kim's kids ended up sleeping with her. But the rest of the kids spread our between the bunk room with Maddi and the front room on the air mattress. I was a little worried they wouldn't get sleep and would be cranky but they did great. Friday morning we got up and got the casseroles in the oven before all the kids were up. This house works so well because when the kids get up they head for the gym and that leave the house quiet so people can wake up when they're ready. Once all of us were awake we started opening gifts. Papa had a bowl with all of their names and he randomly drew names so they could take turns opening gifts from grandma and papa and they cousin gift exchange. It worked really well.
After everyone had opened their gifts we ate breakfast and everyone scattered to shower, play with their gifts, or just to go play. Some of us played games, did puzzles, prepped lunch, watch football, take a nap, ect.
Christmas lunch/dinner ended up being easier than any of us had imagined. We had turkey, ham, and roasted veggies. I had made rolls when Matt's parents came on Christmas and totally forgot to serve them so I threw them in the freezer. And I used a bag of Rhodes rolls for soup night on Thursday so we just used the leftovers. I bought mostly fruit and veggies. We did green salads and the rest of everyone Christmas candy they brought to share. It worked out great.
I was so excited when we started to get snow knowing that we would have enough to go sledding. The kids couldn't wait to go sledding and then it turned into skiing. They took turns with the girls skis and boots and they had a ball.
Liam loves eating snow and was happy to watch instead of skiing
Addie didn't like wearing her gloves but didn't like her hands cold so she rotated between wearing gloves for a few minutes and playing in the snow and then sitting in the swing with her hand warmers.
Kinners
Luke
Addi
Griff
Lydi
Poor Griff got to tired waiting for dinner and took a nap
Saturday morning New Years Eve we got up and Papa made us breakfast. Then Nic got the service project going. She first explained to the kids what we would be doing and why. She divided us into 3 teams and meals then we were off.
Then after getting the kids settled and feeding them lunch the adults headed off to lunch at a restaurant in Eden called Carlos and Harleys. Gray stayed with some local friends but the rest of the kids stayed with Hallie and a few friends but it sounds like we should have just left them with Hallie.
Then we came home to get the New Years Eve festivities started
Kimber was in charge of New Years Eve Games. She did a series of minute to win it games and a table sliding game.
No one knew what a big deal this game would become. Kim had bought gift cards and did cash. We had kids crying and hiding. Interesting enough it was the oldest kids in each family that had problems. We had to take a time out and talk about how this was a game and compose ourselves for a minute.
There was also props for our new years pictures.
We were ready for bed well before midnight. The kids were tired to and after the show of emotions during the games we decided that New Years was at nine. We watched fireworks in Brazil and had a countdown then hugs and kisses and off to bed. A handful of the adult unintentionally stayed up until midnight and then we were headed off to bed.
Over night we got close to a foot of snow so Sunday morning was a little crazy. We had all planned on going to church together but with the snow my parents left even before everyone was awake and Maddi rode with them. The rest of us headed to church and it was like driving in a snow globe. There was snow everywhere and we had gotten so much that the plows were way behind. After sacrament meeting we all headed back home and got everyone on the road. Matt headed to take Kim and her kids to the airport while I helped Nic and Kyle pack up and Nate and Kenn headed home. Nic and Ky left about 1 and my mad cleaning began. The kids all were a great help and when Matt got back home he helped as well. We started upstairs and tore apart everything and put it back together. We stripped sheets and got all the kids room wiped down and vacuumed but we moved from the top floor down. It took a long time because we also took Christmas down with it. By 8pm we had the majority down and everything cleaned. It was exhausting but it was worth it. We had so much fun and were completely exhausted but it was great to know when we went to bed that night that it would be a fresh start. What a great way to end 2022.
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