So, this is Christmas

(Yeah, yeah. Christmas was a while ago. Deal with it.)

Preface to an amazingly long post: This year, we spent the Christmas holidays with my family. We spent 7 days with the Halls and had a marvelous time of it. And because I brought my camera but left it in my purse, all pictures are courtesy of cell phones.

Day 1: We flew from Louisville to Dallas, waited for 2 1/2 hours, then flew to Salt Lake, picked up Amber's car (she was generous to "rent" it to us for the week) and met our dear friends, the Woodlands, for lunch at the Dodo. If you are in the Salt Lake area, you should try it out. Also - their pie is amazing. It was wonderful to see the Woodlands, as she is one of my dearest friends and I haven't seen her since moving. And, as they are moving out of the country soon, this meet-up was necessary. After too short a time, we jumped in the car and drove the 3 1/2 hours to Idaho Falls. (Note - I know some of you will tell me it doesn't take 3 1/2 hours to get to Idaho Falls. I will respond by saying it does if you follow the speed limit and if your family lives out in the foothills.) We got into town just in time to drive straight to the Hall Family Christmas Party. This annual tradition, hosted by Grandma and Grandpa Hall, is now held at the Country Club because there are so many of us. In fact, Grandpa announced that there are now 140 of us. Sheesh! I can't imagine the Christmas gift/food/event mayhem that party involves. Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa Hall are pretty much the coolest, and it was an absolute joy to see them and to get to see extended family, some of whom I haven't seen in years.

Day 2: Church! My parents' ward was putting on their annual Christmas program and they asked my dad to be the narrator. My dad is a very smart man, but reading is not his strong suit. It never has been, though you'd never know it if you've never heard him read out loud. My siblings will tell you, however, that family scripture study time can be... interesting. He was really nervous and kept saying that everyone else could just read their part but he'd need to memorize his. Scooter is kind of Superman, though, and delivered his part not only well, but did so in a meaningful and thoughtful way. And that is why they chose him to do that part. Dan sung a version of The First Noel that he and one of his friends who is a piano/organ composition major wrote, and I'm pretty sure he can outperform Josh Groban any day. He also sung again in Relief Society, doing a version of Mary, Did You Know that made 3/4 of the women in there (including me) cry. After church, we had Grandma and Grandpa Bowen over for dinner. After dinner, we Skyped in Ryan and Brooke (they couldn't come down from Moscow for the holidays because of some very good reasons - Brooke had to work, not to mention that she is very, very pregnant at the moment) and had a family devotional. Each of us took a member of the nativity and explained the significance of their role. It was really neat to get to focus on a specific part of the nativity and to get to hear everyone's thoughts on the different parts. Then, Dan sung again. I don't know the name of the song, but I was full on bawling at the end of that one. It's really awesome to hear him sing (because he's amazing) and he always brings such a spirit with him when he performs. One day, I'll be as cool as him.

Day 3: Christmas Eve! We... hung out all day, waiting until the late afternoon. Dan and Lindsey decided to take a  nap.

Only siblings can be this awkward and this adorable at the same time.

That evening, we all piled in the car and drove to Pocatello to go to Texas Roadhouse with Grandma and Grandpa Bowen. Mom and Dad started this tradition with them last year, and it's an amazing one. I mean, come on - delicious food that you don't have to make or clean up, and everyone gets to eat what they want? Bingo! There was a man working there who was doing balloon animals. I asked him to make hats for my siblings and me and they were so funny. We were all laughing so bad our faces hurt from smiling. Amber got a hat that had a fish hanging from it, Dan's hat was an alien hugging his head, Lindsey's hat was a flamingo, and my hat was a monster. Wanna see them? Well, okay...

Yes, we are all adults. Yes, we are all wearing balloons. Deal with it.

Afterwards, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to play games. Dan had to take his hat off, though. We found out (by way of a nasty bunch of hives on his forehead) that he's allergic to latex. This could be interesting for someone who is pre-med! Then we got in the car and drove back while singing along with every Christmas carol on the radio as loudly as we could. Even Dad joined in, and he is less than vocally inclined.

Day 4: Christmas Day was a blast. We got to be on the phone with Deg's family while they opened presents (thanks to the 2 hour time difference, my family was still all asleep while this was happening). Then we all met  in the kitchen for the trek downstairs to the gifts. Santa came, and that's always awesome. There were presents opened and spent time together. Mom then guided us all to make an amazing Christmas morning breakfast. Well, everyone but Deg and Dad were helping, anyway - they got to shovel the driveway. (By the way, it was so great to have snow for Christmas. It's not the season for me without it.) We got ready, napped a little, went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hall, and then went with Uncle Craig to go see Les Misérables. I will not do a giant review of that here, but I will demand that you go see it. Now.

So excited about the bow on his head.

"If we both wear bows, it makes us cuter, Deg. Trust me."

Christmas morning doggy pile. Amber and Lindsey are on the bottom (even though you can't tell Lindsey is in there), then Dad, and Dan, with his amazing pose, is the cherry on that awkward ice cream sundae.

Day 5: We hung out all day, and it was fun to have some down time with everyone. Well, except for Amber, who went snow skiing with a friend. Lucky! In the afternoon, Mom, Dad, Dan, Deg and I went and did a session at the temple. Dan, Deg, and I did family names (Dad would have done one, but for some reason, the third male name wouldn't print - weird). It's always a joy to be in the temple with them all. We went home and played board games and Just Dance 4 until we were all sweaty and exhausted. The plastic water bottle carnage was epic.

Day 6: Dan talked Deg into bringing his recording equipment with him, so they spent the day recording Dan singing. We were all excited about that at first, but seeing as how this lasted all day during day 6 and 7, we all wanted to stab that microphone by the end. That evening, we met Grandma and Grandpa Hall and Craig at Jaker's for dinner. Grandma insisted she take Deg and me out while we were in Idaho, and said she guessed everyone else could come if they wanted. When everyone showed up, I commented that Grandpa looked nice (he was wearing a shirt and tie). His response, "Well, it's just because I was too damn lazy to change after going to the temple." Oh, Grandpa. The rest of dinner consisted of Grandma saying funny things (Hall cousins, you know what I mean) and the rest of us just rolling in laughter while attempting to eat without choking. Oh, and I spilled my water all over myself and Craig. Oops! We came home and Dan lost in the most epic fashion in a game of Life. The best quote from that was when Lindsey landed on a "pay for your kids' education" tile. She refused, saying, "I want my kids to be homeless!" Ba ha ha!

Day 7: The recording continued. Oh, the recording! Mom and Dad went to my cousin Kylee's wedding and I ran a few errands (there are some things Idaho does that Indiana/Kentucky just can't, such as DownEast Outfitters, and I probably spend at least $100 on undershirts every time we come to visit). That night, we had an epic Just Dance 4, complete with Dad and Deg actually participating (which is my favorite).

Day 8: Yeah, I know we stayed for 7 days. We left on day 8 at 6:30 in the morning, so it doesn't really count. Everyone woke up to see us off.... oh, and to go skiing for the day. We were all ready to leave and I asked Deg if we had everything, to which he responded, "Yep. All that's left is for us to hug everyone and for you to start crying." We all laughed, but it's true. Every time we leave (and I mean every time), I bust out in tears. What can I say? It can be hard being so far away from those crazy siblings and parents of mine! Well, with that as my exit, we drove back to Salt Lake, flew to Dallas, waited 3 1/2 hours, flew to Louisville, drove home, and crashed.