Christmas Eve was fantastic!! Tyler only worked a half day and Reilly got off of work early too so Tyler and I were able to go on a little drink run with Reilly and spend some time with her on our own which was fun and seems to get more and more rare these days.
Pictures by Reilly
Our family likes to have a fancy dinner for Christmas Eve. Everyone helped to prepare it and while things were cooking we played this game that Reilly gave to us:
It was funny and disgusting! We also played it on New Years Eve at the lake.
After dinner Ailey and Bryn had planned out an elaborate Christmas Program. They do such a great job even down to the darling handouts.
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Our two emcees for the night!
We sang Christmas carols, Kam played the trumpet, Ailey sang, Bryn played the piano, and Reilly read a few favorite Christmas stories and was the narrator for TRULY the Best Christmas Pageant Ever! We opened pajamas and our ornaments. I love this tradition. It is always exciting to see who will get what ornament.
We paused the program to play our own version of Johnson Tries. This was another gift to the family from Reilly. She bought a whole bunch of weird flavored sodas online for us to try. Hunter came over and joined us for this game!! Also equal parts hilarious and disgusting. The flavors were: Buffalo Wings, Ranch Dressing, Grass, Dirt, Mustard, Sweet Corn, Butter, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Pickle, Bacon, Pumpkin Pie, and Birthday Cake.
Tasting Dirt:
Tasting Grass:
Then it was Christmas Jammie Time:
We are not a matching jammie family like was such the rage this year. Everyone is very particular about their pajamas and they all like very different kinds so I'm not going to waste money on novelty pajamas that will only get worn once so... a mishmash it is... but everyone was happy and comfortable.
And now for the highlight of the night: THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER!! We have outdone ourselves with this gem. Bryn's acting, Ailey's table cloth flapping and klutziness including her spectacular wipe out (2:44), and Kam as Joseph. This was one not to be forgotten!!
After the pageant we turned off all of the lights and lit one candle.Tyler read from the scriptures before accompanying the kids to their bedrooms by candle light.
Christmas morning was our latest one yet. 9 am!! That is a record in our 22 years of parenting. I welcome it!
Kam's gift to Tyler
His gift to me. SPECTACULAR!
We had a great Christmas! Everyone was very pleased with their gifts and Kam's trip to Hawaii with his school is paid for...he had to give up birthday gifts and Christmas gifts and pay for part of it himself but he is super stoked to go in April. Tyler spoiled me with all kinds of really great and thoughtful gifts (the kids too) and he was happy with what he got! So it was great all around!
We had a leisurely morning and delicious breakfast of overnight strawberry cheesecake french toast. It is SO GOOD! Then we all got ready and headed out to the lake to meet up with extended family.
The house looked really pretty and the lake had frozen over. We met up with Stacey and her family, Kelley and her family, and Jordin and her family and their friend Brandon who was visiting from Colorado. Hunter came over too. Kirk and his family were coming up the day after Christmas and staying through New Years. We had a big appetizer and dessert buffet. Everyone provided two savory dishes and one dessert. It was fun and everything was delicious.
So many cooks in the kitchen:
Tyler and Kameron making chicken crescent rolls.
Jordin making prosciutto wrapped asparagus.
Kelley's boyfriend Chris making a delicious shrimp dish. This was my favorite along with my mom's apricot baked brie!!
Mom making her cheese ball.
We opened gifts and the grandkids had a talent show. Kam played the trumpet, Dane played his saxophone, River played the flute, Bryn played the piano, and then Ailey, Kaiya, River, Jaylah, and Bryn did a super cute dance that Ailey choreographed. But I am apparently unable to post it anywhere because of copyright laws due to the music. Annoying.
The Johnsons plus one
Chris, Kelley, and Elle
Hunter and Reilly
My two favorite guys!
Everyone except Kelley, Chris, Elle, Reilly, and Hunter spent the night so we all stayed up late playing games. Ramon finally taught us to play Mexican Train. We were also inadvertently color- coordinated. I am glad everyone got the gray and black memo!! Ha Ha!
Lilac Lodge...the cabin side of the lake house...doesn't have heat or insulation but we had some big heaters going and we were hoping that people could sleep over there but we started them up too late so we all had to squish into the house because Lilac Lodge was FREEZING! It was craziness.
The kids the next morning after sacking out on the floor of the living room.
Kam got the chair. Seniority rules!
The lake was looking gorgeous!!
This guy isn't too bad either!
Dane, Kam, and RJ working on projects down in my grandpa's shop.
RJ kills me at the very end of this video, "Mom...You ever heard of a smaller twin? Me and Kameron are like that!!" Ha ha! Love that kid!
Kirk and Meki and kids were delayed an extra day due to Meki getting food poisoning while on the road and having to spend an unexpected night in Butte, MT. That is the worst! Eventually she was up for further travel and we were excited to see them.
It was so fun to have Kaiden, Kaiya, and Kirin here too. Kirin did NOT want to pose for any pictures while here.
This is all I got of him. LOL
Jaylah's birthday is right after Christmas so she had a big cousin (and a few friends) ice skating birthday party in Coeur d' Alene.
Kirk and Ty battling it out!
Elle and Bryn
Kaiya and Ailey
They were not fans of me taking pictures of them in their helmets. Teenagers!! Safety first!
These two didn't care!
Everyone did a great job skating! They were skating all over the rink by the end of the 3 hours and there were no injuries or terrific wipe outs. Thank goodness!!
The birthday girl!
The kids had a great time and Jayah felt very celebrated!!
**Right before the party I got some tragic news...my BFF from college, Tiffany, had just lost her younger brother Brady to suicide. It wrecked me. Brady was the most darling, handsome, talented, charming, funny, smart, athletic guy. It broke my heart for my dear friend and her family and also Brady's sons. Depression takes such a terrible toll. It has robbed the world of such an amazing person.**
That night Kaiya asked if she could come to church with us the next day and spend the night. Of course! She is not a member of the church but lives in Utah and has always been interested in finding out more about the church. It was the last Sunday of the three hour block and a 5th Sunday so no young womens just a discussion of our ward mission plan. Snooze. Ailey was dying... but Kaiya loved it! (Her words) She asked if she could come again with us the next time she is in town. Yes, you can! You know my joy of having church visitors and filling up our bench. ;)
We headed back out to the lake that afternoon and had a big family dinner. A polar plunge was necessary. Kirk cracked open the ice off of the dock and then Kirk, Kaiden, and Kam all jumped in. They hold the record for being the manly-est and have the bragging rights for being the last out of the lake for the year. They should have jumped in at midnight on New Years Eve and then they could have been the last out and the first in for the new year. LOL. Tyler was super bummed to be out of things like this. He is always game for a polar plunge but with his health issues...nope...not going to happen.
Cutting a hole in the ice at the end of the dock.
Getting ready to plunge
Plunging!!
After... triumphant!
After dinner things took a bit of a turn... my brother Kirk got the ball rolling on a difficult conversation that has needed to happen for a very long time. Our family hasn't been getting along very well for about 2 years now. A bunch of stuff went down when my grandma died that affected our extended family but also affected our family in addition to other family drama and inter-fighting. There has been a lot of pettiness, back-biting, talking behind people's backs, and all around crap. Kirk laid it all out on the table and said that now was the time for everyone to air their grievances and say what they had to say while we were ALL there (all 5 siblings, spouses, and my mom...all kids were sent upstairs) and for everyone to be accountable for what they had done and said and to try to work through things and make them better. He and I have had many discussions about strained relationships with our siblings. It has made both of us dread a trip to San Fran and spending time with family in general. The past two years I have had to set up some pretty strong boundaries with my family for self-preservation. I have been very hurt over the past few years.
The good part was that everyone got to say what they needed to say and talk about their issues with whomever they had them with...some are deep seated from childhood...some are more about feelings of self worth ...and some are valid. It was hard and there were a lot of tears and some shouting and defensiveness but I give everyone credit that no one left...which would have been VERY EASY to do. We all stayed and we all listened and we all apologized when necessary. I am cautiously optimistic. I do think that we all want to get along better and have more authentic relationships and I do know that there is a lot of love there but there is also a lot of work to be done to heal strained relationships. So I hope everyone puts in the effort that requires. It has to be a two way street. There has been a very real loss of trust and I hope that some of that heals in 2019. Either way I know that it was extremely helpful for me and Tyler to say what we had to say and to vocalize it and to have it be heard. I think it was so necessary to have that *discussion* so that we could all move beyond some issues and look forward to our trip to San Francisco.
The next night was New Years Eve. Kirk and his family, Jordin and her family, and me and my family and Hunter all spent it together at the lake. We had a fantastic time!
Kam, Kirk, and Ty are three peas in a pod.
We had another spectacular feast...Kirk made an enormous and delicious prime rib. It truly was a thing of beauty! Reilly was a bit out of sorts because the day before she cut her finger deeply with a very sharp knife from a new set of kitchen knives that she got for Christmas and needed multiple stitches so she was in a lot of pain and not her best self but she rallied later that night and got into the spirit of things!
More games were played while we waited to ring in the New Year:
Many card games were played and we also played multiple rounds of What's that Smell! It is harder to identify smells than you might think!
Uncle Kirk and Kam... always up to no good! :)
Meki and Ramon
While playing games we found some treasures that brought tears to our eyes and reminded us of those we love and who are no longer with us:
How I miss my Grandma and Grandpa Ellersick and my Uncle Mike. It was a good reminder of how short life can be and how quickly times goes by and that it really is worth the effort to work on family relationships.
Then it was time to pop the bubbly...real and faux...and toot the tooters!!
We went outside to welcome 2019 in with style!!
We went outside to welcome 2019 in with style!!
We had Ramon be the first one to cross the threshold in 2019 to bring us good luck. Legend says to have a handsome dark haired man be the first one to cross your threshold and you will have good luck for the year. So far so good...the next day Kirk found $20 and Tyler just won his office pool for the NCAA championships. THANKS RAMON!! LOL.
Kirk and Meki drove back to Utah on New Years Day and we went home to take down our Christmas trees and un-decorate. Boo. I love Christmas decor and it always makes me sad and blah to take it all down.
This year packaging up all of the ornaments was a little bittersweet. We have carried on the tradition that my family had of giving our kids ornaments every year. They get to open an ornament up along with their Christmas pajamas. This is highly anticipated because the ornaments are always special. They have special meaning or represent something in their lives from the past year. My mom always gives all of her children, their spouses, and grandchildren special ornaments each year too. The tradition is that when you move out all on your own ie no roommates so a serious grown up or get married you get your ornaments. It is highly anticipated and very special to receive your box of ornaments. I remember when my mom gave me mine... as a wedding gift. I was more excited about that box of ornaments than any other gift we received. Reilly requested her box of ornaments and Tyler and I lovingly took them off of our trees and packed them away for her. We were super sentimental and sad to see some of our very favorites go. She will have a tree full of beautiful and special ornaments next year.
We also had two dental issues over the holidays:
Kam had a filling come out and with it a chunk of his tooth and Tyler had a tooth ache for several days leading up to New Years. Neither of which were *technically* emergencies so both of them had to wait until dental offices opened up in January. Kam's whole situation is quite the dilemma. More to come on that!
Ha Ha! Thanks Kaiden! You might have to fight Dane, RJ, and Kirin for that title!!
Happy New Year!!
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