There are 25 grand kids. As you look at pictures you can see there are more boys then girls. There are 15 boys and 10 girls. On paper it doesn't seem to be a big difference but pictures sure do tell a different story.
Everyone had trickled into town by Saturday night. Sunday my brother Marc blessed his baby Rebecca and we all crashed at the homestead for a delicious meal. The rest of the day we visited and just hung out . Uncle Todd and Uncle Aaron were the best. They had most of the grand kids outside playing red rover, running relay races, and just plain wearing the kids out so they would sleep.
Luckily 2 of my sisters live close by my parents so we were able to separate at night and calm some of the chaos.
Monday we packed our day full. We had the kids pictures in the afternoon at EAC(I was the lucky photographer), Then we ate an early dinner at Casa Manana. Thanks to Kuliana for thinking of ordering ahead of time so we didn't have to hang out with 25 under the age of 16 waiting for food. After eating we headed to the Mom and Dad's house where the children got to ride in a little train pulled by a tractor. The children all loved it! After the train ride was the family home evening talent show. It was alot of fun watching the children perform in various ways. It was a night never to forget. At the last minute we invited Aunt Leora and her crew over to join us. Aunt Leora was a good sport as we used her in our Mexican horse race. What memories we will all have for years to come.
Tuesday we had no plans, thank goodness, because it rained and was cold! But it didn't stop the kids from having fun with all of their cousins. Tuesday Lehua and I were in charge of the food. Per Malia's request we rolled lumpia. We also made California rolls, yellow coconut curry, rice and loaded brownies. Due to the nature of the lumpia it took us all afternoon to prepare. It was well worth the effort as it tasted great!
Wednesday was Christmas Eve. The long awaited day. We all met at Pizza Hut and created mass chaos as we brought all the troops into the restaurant. We had called ahead and ordered our pizzas and also told them there would be more then 50 of us coming. Unfortunately they were not as organized as Casa. They had some of the pizza's cooked and on the tables but they hadn't brought any cups or pitchers of soda. It took some time but we finally got everyone fed. We then headed out for Christmas Caroling. We stopped at several of our relatives homes to drop off goodies and to sing. The grandchildren loved it! Next we headed to the church where we reenacted the nativity. All the children picked what they were going to be. After the play, the children all sat down for the long awaited candy bar story. It was a very successful night full of more memories.
Throughout the week the grand kids were intermingled, sleeping at different houses nightly. We didn't want to confuse Santa so on Christmas Eve we each gathered our own children and made them sleep at the homes we were staying in. We had decided just to stay at the different homes and open presents etc.. By lunch time several of us headed to Mom and Dad's to wish them a merry Christmas and to get the kids out of the house. We were there a few hours before we again separated to get ready for the pictures. We were all very glad when they were done. Trying to organize 40 people for a picture is not easy. Aunt Leora snapped the pictures with Bam's camera as we stood there, hoping to get at least one decent shot. Thank goodness for digital cameras!
Friday morning the Mom's(Sister's) all decided to go on a bike ride and the Dad's headed out on a ATV ride. The women headed out first. The day started out cold and dreary. We headed out all covered up. As we began our ride, it started hailing on us. Not big hail but small hail that felt like thousands of little needles being shot at us. Our faces really took the brunt of the hail as that was the only part of our bodies not covered up. Our cheeks felt numb like going to the dentist. On our way back we were tempted to head to Aunt Leora's so we could call the guys to pick us up in the truck but resisted. We would never have lived it down if we did so we surged forward. It sure was a lot further then I had remembered. But it was another adventure that we will never forget! When we got back the guys were just leaving on their adventure. They also froze as they rode up into the snow on their motorbikes and ATV's. Crazy, crazy, crazy! What we will do for a little fun and a lot of torture! We were planning on a trip to the movies to watch Bedtime Stories but the guys were too exhausted as were we. We ended up dropping the older kids off at the 9:00pm movie and then the sisters went out for desert to kill time. After desert we headed to Kameron's house(Kuliana's sister-in-law) to waste away the rest of the time. We were all so tired, a few of us even dosed off for a few minutes. When we picked up the kids it was snowing!!! We couldn't get to the respective homes fast enough. We had definitely over exhorted ourselves this day!
Nothing was planned for Saturday so I busied myself with scanning old pictures and documents of Mom and Dad. Marc and his family headed back to Utah. Everyone else went different directions visiting family members on their other sides. Kanani was gracious enough to let all the kids who wanted, bombard her house. They all enjoyed a fun day riding 4-wheelers and motorbikes.
Here's my Dad's claim to fame! He was in the film Elvis Presley filmed at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii. Check out his muscles!
Sunday we went to church and then went back to the homestead for dinner. I continued with my scanning. Bam worked on all the vacation videos. We all hung out and once again Uncle Todd and Uncle Aaron kept the kids busy. This time they took them to the wash to pan for gold! They came back wet and cold. They had a very fun time.
Following the Uncles lead, Devyn drew spots on Traekon's face. Traekon thought it was fun and decided to make Brody Kung Fu Panda!
Monday the kids again hung out at Auntie Kanani's. It sure is nice having land where they are able to run around like crazy and ride ATV's to their heart's content. At 4:00 we headed out. We needed to get to California to see Bam's parents. Jarom was not happy to leave. He was in tears cause he wanted to stay there. He even told Bradyn maybe we would move there.
And that ends the Arizona part of our wonderful Christmas vacation.
2 comments:
I'm so glad that you had such a wonderful holiday. It sounds much more pleasant than ours. Did you ever get our Christmas card? I think the cards to you guys, the Westwoods, the Bruderer's and the Wilson's didn't get sent. I don't remember addressing those envelopes. But I can't find the cards anywhere that I put aside to mail. I swear I forget everything still. I even had a nightmare last night that I forgot that Bishop Gunnell was holding David one morning and then I didn't remember about it till that night just before bed! My crappy memory totally haunts me!
OK What is the candy bar Christmas story? Inquiring minds want to know here at the Bryce household in Gilbert.
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