Busy, busy Poulton's

We hope you have all had a marvelous holiday season. We have! It has been more crazy than usual around here, and Greg and I are ready for school to start on Thursday.

Our Christmas was wonderful. Christmas Eve day was spent baking and tracking Santa on the computer. Then that evening we celebrated with Greg's family in Orem. After a great meal, each family shared a favorite holiday story. After that, Grandpa read from the Bible. With the kids totally hyped-up, we came home and they unwrapped one gift before putting the cookies out for Santa and some carrots for Rudolf.

Christmas morning began at 6:30 am. Well, that's when Elise came into our room. We made her get in bed with us until we heard the snow plow at 6:55. I knew right then that it would be a matter of moments until they were all screaming in our room, and I was right. Dang that plow! Who knows how long they would have slept. Anyway, we went downstairs to find the stockings full and Santa's big presents to the kids in a row on the couch. Lots of screaming and yelling ensued, and everyone was very happy. Then the chaos went upstairs and they ripped open their presents from Mom and Dad. Much more yelling and then they were off to play with everything, while we tried to salvage the living room.

Greg's folks came up for breakfast at 9:30 (our traditional french toast casserole was a hit!) and the kids had fun showing them everything. I got a nap around 1 pm; Greg could see I was about to lose it by then. (Did I mention that the baby had been up 3 times that night?) We had a very quiet afternoon and the kids played and played.

Kevin and Shawn came into town on the 27th. It was so great to see Shawn pregnant, she looks even more beautiful, if that's possible! They stayed with us for two nights. The kids loved having them here. It was fun to go through baby clothes and name books as they get ready for their first little guy.

My cousin Alicia and her husband Joel were also visiting for the holidays. We saw them on the 28th at my dad and Adrienne's. After an initial bit of shyness, Elise and their daughter Olivia had a blast playing together.

The 29th was our 13th anniversary! Can you believe it's been that long? We can't. We went out to eat in Sandy at our favorite secret, Tiburon. It's a great little restaurant, with only about 15 tables, and a great menu. Check it out if you're over that way.

Then for New Year's Eve we spent the evening with some friends in the neighborhood. The kids had so much fun running around with the other 8 kids there. (It was extremely loud.) We came home at 10:30, Rachel had had it by then. Hailey and I were the only ones to stay up until midnight. We drank our apple cider while watching Ryan Seacrest talk to Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers.

So, today we are recovering from the insanity that has been our home the last little bit. We've been cleaning and preparing to take down the holiday decor tomorrow. I will post a slide show of the holidays later tonight. I apologize for the lack of photos. I was so busy enjoying myself, that the camera was neglected most of the holiday.