Christmas in Alpine

We spent Christmas Eve morning and part of the afternoon with Mom and Dad, Melody and Brandon. Melody and Brandon flew in early that morning. We talked for a little while and then played a game of Five Crowns which I ended up winning for once. Jason left to go Christmas shopping and pick up Andy and Kimra from the airport while I stayed with my family a little longer. The Eliasons and Riverton Rogers came over and we had fun playing. Andy took family pictures for us before, Jason and I left again to be with the Burninghams.

We ate a yummy dinner and played Dominion a couple of times, Catch Phrase, and talked with Andy and Kimra, Steve and Kirsten, and Mom and Dad B.

Friday Dec. 25, 2009 Christmas
We were woken up at 7:30am for to open Christmas presents. It would have been earlier, but 3-year-old Drew got sick with stomach flu during the night and slept until 8:30am. It was a little more anti-climatic opening presents since Drew wasn’t there and the two toddlers didn’t care as much. I gave Jason some jeans, cargo pants, basketball shoes, basketball shorts, and a bag of vanilla tootsie rolls. I got some jeans, a sweater, a rice cooker, couch cover, and two couch pillows. I looked for a Korean translator, but didn’t get one in time for Christmas. Mom and Dad Burningham gave Jason a heating pad, football, and two games. They gave me a really nice ceramic space heater.

We ate the traditional Burningham breakfast of Swedish Saffron bread, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, and orange juice. It was really yummy! After breakfast we played a game of Carcassonne, Jason and I showered, and then we went to Grandpa B’s to visit for awhile. They had treats and sandwiches and we visited. They gave us a calendar for Christmas. Grandma and Grandpa Richards gave us $70, which will definitely help our Christmas.

Next we stopped by my Mom and Dad’s to have a turkey dinner with the Eliasons, Riverton Rogers(Keith, Kim, Talisa, and Kira), and Melody and Brandon. It was nice to see them on Christmas. Afterwards we exchanged sibling gifts. The Eliasons gave us a nice car emergency preparedness kit, and we gave the Carters a cordless, hands free phone thing for their phone. I enjoy being with my family.

By 6:30pm we were out the door again and back to the Burninghams. Tim’s family came in that day so we visited with his and Jeff’s family. We opened more gifts. Jeff and Sally gave Jason and I Christmas CDs and ski lift passes to powder mountain. We gave Lisa two shirts that she really liked and Kimra new Sunday shoes that she liked too. Mom and Dad Burningham gave us Book of Mormon Who?, Rivers and Rods, and Hit the Deck (games), The Secret DVD, a jar of M&Ms and a dishcloth with spatula. We really appreciate their generosity.

After the kids went to bed, the adults stayed up until after midnight talking about politics and religion. What a different Christmas day compared to my family, but it was a good one and nice to be with a lot of family.