We finally got enough snow to have the best holiday with our family.

Jim called from his cell phone that he was headed up the lane to the house and this is what instantaniously happened.

I had to go outside to capture the moment. Talk about excited! They couldn't wait to see the cars headlights.

FINALLY they arrived!

What a great reunion! It was a wonderful week with 12 grandchildren and 8 adults in the house. (some stayed longer than a week) Talk about clutter and food everywhere! But that is exactly what we wanted! We long to be together. Family and the Savior is what the whole season is about. We love them all so much. Even the ones we had to separate constantly. :-)!!!!!!!! So worth it. Scroll down to see some of the happenings.

Just a few Christmas Eve Program pictures. Almost everyone did something to entertain. We had a great evening of stories and songs.

Christmas Eve we heard sleigh bells outside and ran to the door to find a bag of stuffed animals for each child to sleep with that night. It was left by Santa's elves. The kids were delighted! Amy is reading the letter the elves left.

This is where we had to hang the stockings. The fireplace wasn't big enough.

This has always been a tradition in the family. We line up Christmas morning from youngest to oldest to march into the living room where Santa "hopefully" has come the night before. Notice the moms get first in line to take the youngest ones. Connor was last and said "If only Karisa were here, I wouldn't have to be last." That made me laugh.

Just a few pictures of a crazy and hectic Christmas morning after Santa had arrived.

We had the BEST sledding hill. Thanks to Jim. He took two days to build a "luge" like run. It was about 200 yards down past the shop and into the meadow. We would then take the snowmobile to the meadow and pick them up and bring them back to the top to sled again. It was absolutely so much fun! Rachel stayed out one day from about 9am until 6pm (except for lunch). One of the kids was heard to say it was more fun than a Lagoon ride. That's what we want to hear! They are adorable. You gotta love it.

Had to show you the view of the house from below. The snow laid like white garland on the deck. We actually had colored lights draped around the banister but you couldn't see them because the snow was so deep. What a beautiful Christmas. It was so much fun with the kids here to enjoy it. We missed John and family but we were able to play and enjoy the others. This was Clyde's dream (and I have to admit, mine also.)