Family Holidays in Tucson

We were thrilled that everyone was able to come to Tucson for Christmas!!!  Ten adults and ten children in our not-so-big home was a tight squeeze, but with everyone being kind and helping out, it worked out great and we had a wonderful time.

Dec. 24
Taking advantage of family members being home, I brought out many items we have been keeping for 20 years to see who wanted to take them home :).  Michelle and Camille looked through their dolls and decided what to keep and what to give away (almost everything).

On Christmas Eve we gathered in the living room to sing carols and read the story of the Savior's birth from Luke 2.

Grandpa MC'd a great Christmas program with everyone participating.

Okay, so maybe the program went a little long....

The children acted out the nativity story using wooden figures.

Finally it was time for the little ones to go to bed, so Santa could come!

Dec. 25
The children woke up early but patiently waiting until their parents were up so everyone could go together into the living room to see what Santa had brought!

The tree was glowing, the stockings were overflowing, and the room was filled with gifts!

After a beautiful, musical sacrament meeting, we gathered again in the living room and Grandpa introduced our family rap, "TBTI!"

And the children opened a special family gift...

...a TBTI bag for everyone!  Grandpa designed the TBTI font style and colors, and machine embroidered each person's name on his/her bag.

Ben, Tytan, and Max had fun helping each other build models with their new Lego sets.

Grandma managed to snap a photo of Zander--not that he was standing still!  One of my favorite memories of the reunion was watching either Camille or Bryan trail Zander as he wandered from room to room, never pausing more than a few seconds.  Handsome boy!

Camille and the family surprised Grandpa and me with Christmas and 20th anniversary outfits...

...and tickets to see the John Pizzarelli combo and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra!

We were so glad that Ken could join us!

It was a wonderful, memorable Christmas Day for us all.

Highlights of the rest of our wonderful reunion:

Monday, Dec. 26

Cousins bonding with Aunt Rashida--Ava, Ethan, and Brie

Ana Moreno Ortiz took family photos in our backyard.

We love our beautiful family!

Dec. 27

We all got to celebrate Kaitlyn's 12th birthday with her!

Ava leads a Werewolf game

We had lots of fun in the pool and hot tub at the Ventana Vista Condos!

Dec. 28

Grandpa arranged for a round of golf at Ventana.

Racquetball at Udall

 

Dec. 29

It was great weather for a hike at Sabino Canyon!

What a handsome group!  Tytan was especially prepared with snacks in his TBTI bag.

Watch out for mountain lions--or was it crazy hikers?!

Dec. 30

I'm sure we did lots of fun things on this day, but we captured only the wonderful organizing project Camille, Michelle and Dad carried out in the guest bathroom--thank you very much!

Dec. 30

What a fun way to spend New Year's Eve day!

Max and Tytan made photo IDs. Good thing they were both wearing their BYU t-shirts!

We finished of the day with a rousing performance of the TBTI rap!  Alas, the video is too big to upload.  Here's a link.

Thank you for coming to Tucson for a memorable Christmas holiday!  We love you all!!!