Pre-Christmas Festivities

We left our home on December 16th not to return until the 2nd of the next year, but we still got in a little holiday magic--Vegas style.  The Freeman fam introduced us to the incredibly lit up cactus garden at the Ethel M (M for Mars candy) chocolate factory, which I obviously didn't get a great picture of, but Ty was very excited to see.

 

Here he was checking out some snowflakes (Fake ones.  Come on, folks--we're in Vegas!) and kept throwing his head back so he could see the blue and white lights.  If you look closely through the window you may be able to catch a glimpse of an Oompa Loompa.  Then again, maybe not.  Come to think of it, a chocolate factory is probably a terrible place to work if you're in to fake tanning.  

 

 Back at the ranch, we did a little (emphasis on little) holiday baking, too.  "We" would be Ty and I.  Sorry if there was any drool in your treats.

 Here you will see our Christmas scene before we packed it all up.  Check out our little tree--it made the trip from Reno with us and is still alive in its pot.  :) 

 Because of Matt & Isa's wedding, we went up to Fairfield for a few days before taking off for WA on December 24th.  Since the rest of my family was there, too, it was lots o' fun, but super crowded.  Good thing Russell and I like cuddling, because we got a twin bed to sleep on.  No complaints; the company was worth it and Ty still slept like a champ.  It rained most of the time we were there, which really was no surprise, so someone tell me why I brought about 0 rain-proof shoes.  Duh, Carolyn.

 My cousin, Neil was married to Dani (I started to write "My cousins Neil and Dani were married," but that's not quite right...we don't marry cousins where I'm from.  We're not that kind of family.)  Anyway, they weren't so lucky with the rain, so we waited under a big golf umbrella (thanks, Da') for the bride and groom to appear.  We're only missing Jula in this picture!  Do we look related?

 Hunter, Soren, and Tina are demonstrating the most popular position/placement of most people at the house: lounging on the couch.  

 Aww...sisters!  Sawyer looks a little lost.  That's probably because he's not a girl and can't participate in the "girl talk, got ta be girl talk..."

 I like this one.  The gentlemen are upstairs playing Mariokart and such.

 Ty LOVED being around the "big" cousins!  It was so funny to see Carl make the babies laugh.  More on Ty and his cousins later.

 Suh-weet!  Check out this awesome CD Russell got!

 Ty-Ty and Mor-Mor and Far-Far.  (No, he was not flirting with his grandparents, that just happens to be the bib he was wearing.)

 How cute is this?  Ty loves his Far-Far!

We were sad not to be with the Pedersen fam for Christmas, but are glad we got to see everyone and spend some time together!