New Year's Eve

 We had a pretty low key New Year's this year - just had a few friends over for pizza, dessert, and some bubbly to celebrate.  Here are the boys drinking their toasts at 9:27pm (the time we chose to celebrate as New Year's - yeah, we're all old, boring parents now!). 

 The girls with the kiddos (minus Lexi who was already in bed).  I like how half of them are in PJs - yep, good thing 9:27 is the new midnight! ;)  Crazy how our count has doubled in 3 years - there must be something in the water around here!

But don't you worry, 9:27 can be just as exciting as midnight - complete with noise-makers, toasts, and even a smooch or two!  Happy New Year everyone!

Snow Day

 Since it snowed all Christmas day, the 26th was our dedicated "Snow Day", and the last day of our trip.  Lexi got all decked out in her marshmallow snowsuit, but we didn't have any waterproof shoes for her, so Brad decided mittens would work great....so, Monkey-Baby was born!  Hilarious!  But at least her little tootsies were toasty. :)

 I absolutely love this tree in Grandma and Grandpa's front yard when it snows - it's breathtaking!  

(Can you tell what non-snow people we are, what with all our borrowed gear and all!?  Brad's coat, Monkey-Baby's mittens, Libby's boots...)

 Time for sledding!  

The hill on the side of the house was just the right size for the little ones...oh, and that big one, too, I guess!

 They even got to give it a go all by themselves.

 Grandpa and Kade joined in the fun.

 And this might be a record for this little sled - four people, including one full-sized adult!

 When Lily came out to join us, all four kids went a few times.  Cousins are so fun!

 The first of our two snowmen.

 Libby "helping" her daddy form the base of the next snowman.

And the other snowman-builders hard at work.  What an awesome day in the snow!  A perfect ending to an incredible trip.

Christmas Day Family Pictures

 Diann made the girls matching dresses to wear, and with that amazing tree, we HAD to get a family picture.  If only they'd look at the camera!

 Our perfectly snowy White Christmas day - I love it!

This is just right off Grandma & Grandpa's deck - it looked so beautiful!

Christmas Morning

 This was Lexi on Christmas Eve ready for her first Christmas.  What do you think, does she look excited?

 Santa came!  Lily and Kade beat us to the punch, so they came to check out what our girls got, too.

 The search through all the treasures begins...

 More present-opening fans - Grandma and Aunt Jayann.

 Of all the goodies, anything we can shove in our mouths is always the best! ;)

 When the whole gang arrived, it was mass present-opening time.  Here we are with our loot - yeah, you can say the Macbeths go a little crazy at Christmas!

 Some of the others with their treasures.

 And a few more...after most of the opening was done.  We changed the system this year:  instead of going one at a time in age order, we did kids one at a time, then everyone open their present from one family at a time.  It was a much more efficient method and was over in about an hour and half (instead of the 4 hrs it's taken in the past!). 

 Lexi was napping during the first round, so she got her own present-opening time.

 Lexi and Aunt Mindy

 Lily showing off her beautiful new purple princess dress that Kristina made for her - it was gorgeous!

Uncle Paul had all the kids laughing with his version of Kade's new 6 foot tunnel.  Lexi thought it was GREAT!

It was a great Christmas morning and the best part was, it snowed the entire time we were opening presents, and all day long!  So, yes, I'm convinced that was Heavenly Father's Christmas present to me - it was the perfect White Christmas! :)

Pre-Christmas Festivities

 AFter driving to Las Vegas to fly to Washington (crazy, I know...but it saved us over $900!), Uncle Paul and Lily and Kade were among our greeting party.  Libby was ecstatic to see her cousins and having Uncle Paul wheel all of them around in a wheelchair was the icing on the cake!

 Aunt Mindy was so excited to get to meet her new niece and became an instant favorite by feeding her right away.

 Bathtime!  Bathing with cousins is sooo much fun!

 On Sunday, we all went over to Uncle John and Aunt Jamie's for dinner and to see their new house.  It was gorgeous and Libby loved the fact that her cousin Chase had his own personal fort for her to play in.

 Lexi and Aunt Michelle

 Lexi with the baby whisperer (aka Grandpa).

 The Macbeths at the "other" Macbeths

 Lexi and I playing with some of Chase's toys - you'd have thought Christmas already came!

 Quality Grandpa-time for Kade and Libby

 Back at Grandma and Grandpa's house, playing dress-up was the favorite pastime.  Lily was so nice to share all of her pretty dresses with Libby and the two sure had a great time together.

The princesses and their prince - how cute!

BYU Bowl Game

 Our Christmas present from Amy was tickets to the BYU Poinsettia Bowl game in San Diego.  It was the Thursday night before we left to go out of town so Brad ended up missing it, but the rest of us had a great time!  We were all bundled up for freezing, but the weather wasn't bad at all.

 Lexi loved all of the lights and loud music - she was a great fan!

 Though between watching the crowds and lights or chewing on her braids, I don't know which she enjoyed more.

Libby was being her typical non-photo-cooperative self, but did indeed LOVE the experience!  The best part was watching her to do the last part of the fight song whenever we scored a touchdown:  she'd do the "rah, rah, rah"s and then yell, "Goooooo  Fish!" instead of "Goooo Cougars!"  Pretty adorable!

The Cougars won, so it was the perfect night - thanks Amy & gang!

Our California Christmas

 Since we were all fleeing the coop for Christmas this year, we decided to celebrate over a week early and had our California Christmas on December 16th.  My mom made an AMAZING Christmas dinner and the girls got ridiculously spoiled (and so did we, for that matter) and they couldn't believe that we'd get to do it all over again in Washington!  Woo-hoo!

 

The first-timer took to it all quite well.  She seems to think Christmas is pretty great!

 This shot would have won out as my all time favorite if it wasn't for Libby's hand! ARG!!  All were smiling and looking - that's priceless.  But, alas, the hand...(a small tear drops from my cheek.)

 Sure glad that my mom decorates so well - it looked gorgeous!

 The presents were doled out and we were ready to begin.

Lexi and Grammy had a great time unwrapping together.

What a great pre-Christmas Christmas!