Christmas with Mimi & Papa Jeff

We started our two week vacation at my mom's house. Jane and Cate loved exploring a new place, playing with their dog Buddie, and getting extra love and attention from Mimi and Papa Jeff. While staying at their house, we went to see the Christmas lights at the Oakland Temple. It was a very rainy night and we weren't sure if we would even get out of the car. When we arrived, the rain stopped and we were able to walk around. The temple is always so beautiful at Christmas and I was glad that we were able to go. After walking around, we ate dinner at Fentons Creamery. The dinner was delicious and of course we had their famous ice cream for dessert.

On Saturday we had a early Christmas celebration. They pulled out all the stops and we had a yummy breakfast. Trever especially enjoyed the linguica. Jane and Cate enjoyed playing with her cousin Jackson and we had a good time visiting with everyone. Here is our best cousin shot.

Everyone received some sort of workout gear for Christmas. I am not sure if it was a hint or simply motivation for the new year. Here is Jeff showing off his new shirt.

Cate got a lot of mileage out of this car. It was a popular item with the kiddos.

Jane enjoyed putting together this gingerbread train. I took way too long to put the thing together but she enjoyed putting on the candy once the train cars seemed stable.

We spent the last few days of our trip with my mom and Jeff as well.. They hosted a New Years Eve dinner for our family, and my sister Julie and brother-in-law Vlad joined us as well. We all played a friendly card game of SCUM to wrap up the night. It was fun to see the sarcastic personalities come out. I had no desire to ring in the New Year at midnight, so we went to bed at 11 am. Life changes when you get old and have kids. :)

Thanks mom and Jeff for a fun visit. We hope to see you again soon!