Christmas 2015

The line-up in Mom and Dad's room before going downstairs to "see if Santa came."

The three oldest got their very own laptops.

Cannon was pretty psyched to get Super Smash Bros.  George was happy to get a Lego Batman game as well, but apparently, not quite as happy as Cannon.

My absolute favorite picture of the day-- a happy Peter!

Clark got a new office chair and a Venus fly trap.

George got some pretty cool stuff for Christmas, but he says this football is his favorite.

Elinor in her adorable new overalls.  

It was a rather high-tech Christmas for the kids.  Bethany and Elinor got Kindle readers.

Several kids got MP3 players.  One of the big hits has been the Magformers.  They are magnetic shapes and they are pretty fun to play with.

Uncle Abe was Mr. Fun with the cousins.

We enjoyed having Chip and Laura's family with us.

Abe's traditional British fried breakfast on Christmas morning.

Matt and Misty, Brig and Dev, and Grandpa joined us as well.

The founder of the feast. 

We had quite a bit of fresh powder in the morning, so some went out to play in the snow.

There was lots of Rock Band throughout the day.  We used to have Rock Band, but life in the Fox home took it's toll and many parts got broken or lost.  Santa found a used set on KSL for us and it has delighted the family once again.

George liked his calculator/ cash register.  I guess I'll have to hide it when the kids are working on their math.

Aunt Misty is so fun.  It's no wonder her nieces adore her.

George and Eli playing Magformers.  Considering they are 4 and 5 years old, they got along pretty well all day.

Forts built from the Fort Kit my friend and I created.  Faith is already asking for more parts for her birthday.

I absolutely LOVE the week in between Christmas and New Years.  I love kids contentedly playing with new toys.  No pressure to buy anything.  No pressure to do school.  No pressure to go anywhere.  Everyone is just happy to be together.  So lovely.

It was a very merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve 2015

Christmas Eve dinner with my siblings and their spouses and my parents.  Heaven on earth.

A better angle with Abe and Dev in it.

Most of the cousins were at the kids table.

Bethany planned a wonderful pageant this year complete with speaking parts and beautiful costumes.  Here is The Holy Family played by Kaylee, Cannon, and baby Chloe.

The angels were Takara, Aliyah, and Emi, while Eli and Brigham were shepherds.

Our wisemen were wonderful and they added a little comic relief as well.

The cast picture.  Elinor was the cutest donkey for Mary.  George chose not to participate because he wanted to watch the pageant this year.

Then it was time to open matching jammies from Grandma and Grandpa!  They were met with great approval.

The girls were so happy.  I don't have a picture of the littler girls in their jammies, but they did have a fox on them, so of course I loved them.

The bigger kids got cold hard cash, which I assure you, was at least as appreciated as pajamas would have been.

To our bizarre amusement, Abe reads us the Cajun Night Before Christmas every year.  I don't think the book is that great, but Abe reads it with so much vigor and such a terrible accent, that we love it.  He also reads a very sweet book every year, A Christmas Bell for Anya.  It's a tear-jerker, but it's special to us and it's tradition now.

Then... talk about tradition... Grandpa Cannon read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas from the same edition he read to my siblings and I when we were younger in our matching pajamas.  Same corny jokes at the same places.  We just love it and the grandkids do to.  Heaven on earth.

And when it seemed it couldn't get any better, THERE WAS SINGING of Christmas carols!  I was happy to play and listen to the lovely voices singing parts surrounding me. 

I don't need anything else for Christmas.

Matt and Misty left to go spend the night and Christmas morning at Brig and Dev's house.  We began the task of getting lots of little kids to go to bed on Christmas Eve.  The girls are bunked in Bethany and Elinor's room, but not before they stayed up playing LIFE for a while.
The little boys were all asleep on the floor of Peter's room.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Cannon Family Christmas Eve Breakfast 2015

Oh, my!  There are a lot of pictures taken over the last three days.  Here is one of my very favorites.  It's Pete, Repete, and Threepete!  With my brother having just barely moved here from Virginia, this was the first time we had all the Peters together.  Nice photobomb in the background from my brother, Matt.  This was the first time in several years that all of my siblings have been together for Christmas and it has been magical.

The Cannon family Christmas Eve breakfast at Aunt Jennifer's house is so highly anticipated by everyone in the family.  Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandkids, Great-grandkids-- everyone feels loved and WANTS to be there.  We are large family that is growing and adding members every year, so I don't know logistically how long the tradition can last, but it is marvelous. 

Fortunately, it is a very spacious home, so there's room for a least a few more.  The menfolk were playing "sting-ball".

It's not very often I feel petite, but around my cousin, Ben and my son Clark, I kind of do.

Have I mentioned how much I adore my Aunt Carolyn?

Cousins-- Faith, Takara, and Kaylee-- were so happy to be reunited.

Lots of happy cousins.

Christmas Song and Dance Overload

Bethany and Elinor played a lovely duet of "What Child is This?" on piano and violin.  This picture is just before they performed it at Elinor's piano recital, but they also played at Festival of Trees and in our Sacrament Meeting at church.  

Here's the video.

Team Little Kids just before their piano recital.  

George and I doing a duet of "Good King Wenceslas".  He was quite delightful to work with.

Cannon playing "O Holy Night".

Cannon and Faith playing a duet of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".

Faith playing "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer".

This was a pretty big recital for me as this is about the most students I've ever taught.  Don't ask how I do it-- I just do it.  I have a schedule and I stick to it pretty tightly.  

Oh, and I don't clean my house. 

I'm very grateful to get to work with so many great kids and I'm grateful to be able to do it from my own home.  And I must say I was VERY PLEASED with how every single student played.  Except for the very beginners, who played only one piece, everyone played a solo and a duet with another student.  

 Some of the cute girls in our ward that I teach.

Peter doesn't play any instruments yet, or sing, but he does have a very special dance move when he likes the music.  He's done it for a while now-- pointing his index finger up and moving his arm up and down.  I like that  he's usually straight-faced as he dances.

We were double-booked the night of the piano recital.  Faith's gymnastics recital was the same night.  Abe took her to it and then brought her to the piano recital.  She did great.  Good luck finding her.  She has dark hair in two braids and shes one of the shorter ones.

A couple of weeks ago Cannon had his first dance recital.  It was so much fun!  Here are his videos.  The first is a tap dance.  I don't think you'll have any trouble picking him out.

Here's the next one of his all-boys hip hop dance.  He starts fourth in from the left.  He has on a black and blue Batman hat.

He likes his tap class, even though he is the only boy.  But I must share a funny conversation with him after I picked him up from class a little while ago.  He seemed a little quiet and I asked him if class went okay.  He said it did, but he wasn't very enthusiastic.  Finally he said, "I just don't feel that comfortable around so many women who are not of my relation".

Funny boy.  

Christmas is a very busy time of year for a family who does a lot of music and performing.  Fortunately, music is just about my favorite part of Christmas so I love it.  

Totally off topic, but even I was blown away by the thickness of Elinor's braid!