Christmas and New Year's

For whatever reason, I've had a terrible time getting my pics loaded onto Blogger of our Christmas and New Year's. Everything is out of order and kinda confusing, but hopefully you'll be able to follow along.

For New Year's we had a couple of our friends from Arizona, Rebecca and Ryan Greer, come to visit us here in Idaho. I was so worried about all the snow and them freezing but luckily it had all melted by the time their plane landed. Not too long after they left we got our second hit of huge snow storms. I think the Greers need to come back to make this batch melt! :) I'm convinced it's the Arizona heat they brought with them that made it all melt the first time.
The last night they were here we pulled out the Guitar Hero. We had so much fun and it was one of the first times they had ever played. They did great and we had a blast being rock stars!

Becky and Ryan have two kids, Miriam (who stayed behind in AZ with her grandparents), and Ben. He was a lot of fun to have around and he was really well behaved for being so far from home and in a place he didn't recognize.

On New Year's Day, Becky convinced me we needed to go get pedicures. What a great idea! We left the kids with the dads and escaped for a few hours. We are grateful for husbands who will let us do that! I have to say that this was my first real pedicure and it was marvelous! It was so relaxing I could have fallen asleep in my chair. Oh, it was so nice! I told Becky I would have to make it a more regular thing. Now I just have to convince Robert it's in my best interest to go get regular pedicures. Wish me luck with that one! :)

On the day that the Greers landed in Boise we spent our last evening with Robert's family who had come to visit for Christmas. That night we decided to go to the Botanical Gardens in Boise. They light them up with Christmas lights. It was pretty cold and poor Ben didn't enjoy it one bit. My sister Liz and her family were there that night, too, along with Robert's brother CW and his wife Amy. It was a party!
Charlie and Sandi are also from AZ (the Greers are actually in their ward back home) and I don't think Sandi loved the cold weather here. I really didn't think it would get this cold, either. I guess I've been away too long. We loved having Robert's family close with us this Christmas. Charlie and Sandi stayed with us in our little apartment. I think Nate was the only thing that made that bearable for them. I mean, how comfortable can an air mattress for a week really be?
Big goofy group picture. From left to right: Becky, Me, Charlie, Sandi, CW, Amy and Ryan.
I had to throw this one in. It's Jason with my niece Maggie. How cute is she? Adorable, that's how cute! I LOVE being able to watch this little girl 4 times a week.
Of course it's Grandma and Grandpa Ross's job to spoil Nate when they come to town. He has loved these Lightning McQueen sandals since he'd first seen them at the beginning of the summer. Well, planning ahead, I'd already bought sandals for him the year before using a 2 for 1 deal at the Children's Place. So we always had to tell him, "No, honey, you don't need them." He was a good sport most of the time and would just wear them in the store and before we'd check out he'd put his Lightning McQueen sandals down for a nap until the next time we visited Target. When we went to Target with Charlie and Sandi, Sandi ended up getting them for him and he loves them! He asks to wear them all the time and we have to tell him, "Not until the snow melts and it's not wet outside." Poor guy, is he ever going to get to wear his favorite shoes? Until the days are dry and warm he'll just have to settle for wearing them inside the apartment.
So Christmas Day morning was spent at my parents' house. We were really spoiled this year. My mom has a hard time not going all out for Christmas. She plans all year for it. So this year after she found out Robert's family Dutch Ovens like pros, she got him one for Christmas. He was so excited and so happy to get it. No, we haven't used it yet, but he also got a recipe book full of Dutch Oven recipes from his dad so we're anxious to try it out.
This Christmas, for me, was the year of the shoes. I think I got at least 5 new pairs. It's true I love shoes and I'll never turn a pair down but this was almost like a dream come true. This was the fourth pair. My mom got them for me and I love the ankle strap. Of course they are high heeled and fabulous!
This is my favorite picture of the whole holiday season this year. On Christmas Eve at the Kunz household everyone opens one gift. Usually it's pj's but my mom went out of the box this year and got Nate this giant stuffed Mater car. It's so soft and the inside is a blanket Nate can pull out. Needless to say Nate sleeps with his new Mater every night. I will never forget his voice and how excited he was when he realized it was Mater. I heard "Mom, it's big!" and "Mom, it's so heavy!" all night. What a home run gift. Great job Grandma Kunz.

Hopefully everything being in reverse order wasn't too confusing but I just didn't have it in me to try to fix after such a battle to download the pictures! I hope everyone had a great holiday season with friends and family. We loved it here and felt so blessed to share it with all the people we love.

And just think... It's only 350 more sleeps 'til Christmas! (What movie?)