A Very Merry Christmas!

We were so excited to spend an entire week with the Allen's for Christmas! We started the trip out right by going to the BYU vs. ASU basketball game in the Glendale Arena. Crew loved being in the big stadium and although the Cougs had a tough loss, it was so much fun!

Crew loves singing and cheering so I believe this was a "Go Cougars" arm raise

One of the reasons we were most excited to go home was to see Katherine! We have missed her so much over here in L.A. We are so thrilled that she Devin are engaged and getting married March 20! We love them both and Crew was in heaven having Katherine around again!

Go Cougars!

The kids in their Sunday best before church. These are Matt's sister Jeni's kids minus her third son Tate. Crew loved having his cousins around and this is really the first time he has been old enough to really interact. We just need to live closer to each other because they all got along great, for the most part :)!

Monday morning we all loaded up and went for a hike in the White Tank Mountains by the Allen's house. Dave must have been doing something inappropriate because my camera blurred his face but the rest of the group looks pretty tough!

We always tease the Allen's about the "waterfall hike" but with all the rain Arizona has had lately it was actually flowing a bit! The desert is so beautiful out there and it was just a great day to be out and enjoying Arizona beauty! This is Crew and Grandpa looking at the waterfall.

Kind of scary, but here is our rugged family.

Another group shot in the canyon by the waterfall
What a happy boy!


One significant event on Christmas Eve was talking to my brother Christian in Taiwan! My parents were in Arkansas and Maren was in Utah but we all got to talk on a conference call for about an hour and had a blast! He is doing great and will be coming hom the end of June now (darn those extensions!) It was a wonderful Christmas present to kind of all be together even though we were all so far apart!

This shot is on Christmas Eve. Becky has these bells that each kid gets to hold and ring, on cue, to play Christmas songs. It was really fun and Crew is a really big bell fan!

The Bell Orchestra

A darling pic of the happy couple

Last picture before Santa comes!!!

And man did Santa deliver! Crew was so excited about his new bike that he has been telling us about for months! Even though Santa could only find a red bike on Craig's list, Crew seemed not at all phased.


Testing it out.

Tate got a little drum set for Christmas and Crew was pretty excited about it. He is actually quite good too. I feel kind of bad because he has such potential but I don't know if I can handle it! His birthday is coming up so we will see...

I love this picture! This is Matt's brother Michael's daughters Samantha (2) and Ashley (6) on Grandma's lap with Crew. What cute faces!

Another highlight of the trip that I don't have any pictures of was our little family date night the Friday after Christmas. Matt and I took Crew out to eat and then to his first movie, Bolt. It was one of those nights that you don't want to ever end. Crew loved being in the big movie theater, in the big seats, and between mom and dad. I'm sure the movie was pretty over his head but he loved pointing things out that he saw and every fifteen to twenty minutes he would look up at me smiling and say "hi mommy!" As we were leaving the theater he had the biggest grin on his face and we were laughing the whole way home. This was definitely a night to remember.

The week went by way too fast but we loved all being together. Thanks Allen's for such a great week and a wonderful Christmas! We love you!