Celebrating CHRISTMAS Eve and Christmas Day 2014

Traditionally, we spend Christmas Eve at grandma and grandpa Evans's house. This year, a nasty flu attacked their bodies and we were unable to see them for about two weeks. We miss them greatly, but made the best of a new tradition making pizza on Christmas Eve.  Brandon and Allison were with us this year and it was a delightful evening. Allison is so very helpful in the kitchen and is happy to encourage Jessica to participate in meal preparation!

As a family, we were able to reenact the nativity with the support of our audio technology. Using our iPad, we set the audio sound for the LDS Scriptures to Luke 2. With homemade costumes, we each played a character of the beautiful story of the birth of Jesus.

This team of techno experts are preparing the audio for the nativity play.

Joseph and Mary pose together after the birth of baby Jesus. Jessica was very vigilant in searching and finding her costume as Mary. I am proud of her for her vision into re-creating Mary.

The three wise men look to the stars!! 

The moment when 15-year-old Carson offered baby Jesus an iPhone as a gift made us all chuckle. He was very sincere in his offering.

Alison's purple nails is a reflection of the activity that Jessica and her participated in earlier on Christmas eve day!

Mary excepts the gifts from the wise men very graciously.

I used the app Avery to make this collage and add this cartoon-like filter to the pictures of our nativity scene.

Santa almost missed our house because Allison and Brandon slept on cushions in front of the Christmas tree!!! 

Because of the late-night activities of watching movies, our household did not get up until about 10 AM. Before unveiling what Santa left, we posed for these traditional stair pictures. My family has been participating in this tradition for 45 years!

Brandon and Allison open their gift of tickets to the BYU cougars versus Mizzou Tigers November 14, 2015 game at Arrowhead Stadium!

Ever After High is a new series of books that Jessica has begun to enjoy by author Shannon Hale. These Barbie dolls are characters from the series of books. A child's magical outlook on Christmas morning is very contagious!

Our daughter-in-law Allison crocheted each of us scarves for the Christmas season! Allison quickly learned how to create these beautiful and warm gifts for our family. I was so grateful that she taught Jessica how to crochet and we bought Jessica some yarn and some hooks to try this new hobby on her own. The friendship that these two sisters are forming brings me so much joy!

While in Wisconsin for Thanksgiving, Jessica picked out this thoughtful and lovely saying for her brother. In true feminine style, she was one of the only siblings that thought of her other brothers and created a Christmas gift for each of them

Jessica wrote this thoughtful and well-scripted poem for her dad for Christmas. It brought tears to my eyes when she read it out loud to him.

Allison poses with Carson who is wearing the scarf she made him!!

Dad's turn to model the new gift!!!

Brandon asked for Green Bay Packers items for Christmas and I bought this cool jacket on our trip to Wisconsin.

It never ceases to amaze me the energy that Brandon adds to our home. He has always enjoyed wrestling with his siblings and imaginative play. In this I-movie Trailer, I have included clips of a Christmas Eve Wrestling match between the kids. I believe they were all pretending to be ZOMBIES!!!!!!!!!!! (and this was after the re-enactment of the Nativity Scene)

One of the best moments on Christmas Day was our hour-long Skype video call with Elder Hunter Michael Bishop.  He was so happy and excited to talk to all of us and we were able to share many of the happenings of the last year!! He looks very healthy and happy and was able to communicate with us at the home of his current ward bishop.

We were able to set up this picture and in only one shot we were thrilled at the results. Even though Hunter's screen picture is a little warped we were on a time crunch

After our four-day trip to Houston Texas with Allison and Brandon, who attended a friends wedding, we spent a lovely afternoon on the KC Plaza. Because Brandon has a birthday on January 5, we went to eat at a restaurant called McCormick and Schmidt. The entrées were very tasty and filled us up, but the highlight of the meal was this chocolate bag

Even though it was a bitter cold day, we spent some of the time on the plaza in Barnes &  Noble bookstore. The bargain book section is our favorite and we picked up some steals. We were glad that Brad was able to join us for this special meal as he had to work when the five of us drove 12-hours to Houston.

Happy New Year 2015!!!!!!!!!