Family Christmas Party

Saturday was our big family gathering with my nieces & nephews, along with all their children & spouses/fiances, from the other side of the family. We started holding it here at our house, a few years ago, when it became apparent that we were outgrowing my parents' house! This year there were 29 attendees - 22 of whom spent the night - and 4 dogs! It was an awesome time!! We snacked all afternoon and then my niece and I made pizzas for supper. The kiddos all really liked their gifts and the Yankee Swap for the adults got rowdy, as usual! I was finally able to give Grampa his Christmas present, a photo book of last summer's camping trip. We stayed up really late playing Catch-Phrase, Pictionary, and Rock Band. The kids all got along great, visited with the horses, played with Legos and had a dance party before we finally got them all tucked into their sleeping bags.

Most mornings our boys climb into bed with us before we all get up and start our day. Yesterday morning they brought along 6 of their cousins!! It was really funny!!

About 9 am, our 300 bale hay delivery arrived. Our guests were all happy to pitch in and get it stacked in the barn. It was much more fun than just doing it by ourselves! Everyone laughed and worked off some of the junk food from the previous day. Part-way through, my brother-in-law decided to build a hay fort for the kiddos. He also made a maze! They were thrilled and had a blast taking turns going into it! Some of the adults checked it out too!!