Idiart/Nadauld Christmas Party

Half of our extended family traveled to Utah this Christmas, so we had a BIG party last Weekend. We all ate at Tea and JustTea's house and the food was divine. Tea really is such a great cook. My niece, Rachel's Bosom BFF, had arranged a well thought out program . . . I'll scan and post her outline in the next few days, it was really quite comical. She WILL have a party planning business someday, I'm sure of it.

After the delicious food, the kids presented their program. We borrowed a few family traditions from my sister-in-law Christine's family (to try them on for size).

The first borrowed tradition was playing Christmas Songs on homemade chimes (bell wanna-bes). The kids enjoyed practicing and learning new "instruments" and were much better at it than the adults that tried a few days later. Rachel was so good, she played in ALL the musical groups. (More about her musical genuis in tomorrow's post!)

Here she is with her Bosom BFF looking so musical and cute.

Katrina and SpideyHulkMr.Incredible were very good at this too! It takes a lot of concentration and they did GREAT!

Our next borrowed traditon was an interactive play. Christine read a story from her childhood titled "Santa's Noisy Christmas" and each child in the "audience" had a musical instrument that they played at appropriate times. Ben took his drumming position very seriously. He might just have a future in the marching band!

These are all the talented actors/musicians, watch for us on the BYU Channel someday:

Back row: Emma on Wood blocks, Christine as Narrator, Damian as Whistle Lips.

Middle row: Bosom BFF and Rachel on Kazoos, Josh and Ben on Drums. Front Row: Mary, Marcus and Pie on Bells, Katrina on Sandpaper Blocks, SpideyHulkMr.Incredible on cymbals.

(For those of you that are confused with my nieces/nephews names, my sister-in-law "Tea" went "PRIVATE" on her blog to protect her children, so I have given them code names to protect them, on my blog.)

My favorite borrowed tradition of the evening was a beautiful poem about the meaning of Christmas, written by Christine's mother. The kids took their parts very seriously and I paired up "Big Kids" with "Little Kids" to help those that couldn't read. I loved watching Katrina help Pie read her "lines."

Here is the whole poety reading bunch (minus Mary, who had Grandma's help and ran off before the picture!)

Then, A NEW TRADITION! What to my wondering eyes should appear? Santa, an elf and a tiny Reindeer!! Rachel's Bosom BFF came tromping down the stairs (when she was SURE all eyes were on her!) with a Jolly Tenor Voice. . . Ho, Ho, Ho-ing. She proceded to pass out gifts to all the "Good Girls" and "Do we have a Good Boy named Josh in the house?" and "Oh, Here is a little something for a Good Boy named Grandpa." We were all rolling on the floor. If she doesn't plan parties, she WILL be an actress. Of that I'm sure!

Another NEW TRADITION . . . we did our first cousin exchange. There are 13 Idiart/Nadauld Grandbabies and each chose a cousin to buy a gift for. So far, this was our best Christmas Tradition. It was such fun to think about our cousins and figure out what they would like. We shopped, made coupon books, wrapped and had a jolly time. And the cousins that chose my kids did a great job. Everyone was so thrilled with their presents!

My next favorite part was watching the parents get all fired up for the gifts their kids recieved. I thought Christine was excited about the stroller because SHE wanted her little girl to have one. Oh no, she was thrilled because she KNEW Elise would be SOO happy about it. And she was right.

Right away, Elise climbed in her stroller and her cousin, Noah ran over to push her around. When he wasn't pushing her, she was pushing it herself. It was the perfect gift for her.

Marcus REALLY was hoping for some HOT WHEELS and so we bought him a pack (the spending limit was $5) and then Ben donated some of HIS Hot Wheels so Marcus could have A LOT to start his collection. Of all the grandkids, Marcus was the most excited about opening his gift. Luckily, we wrapped his in a partly see-through box, so the anticipation wouldn't kill him. He loved all his cars (he even counted them and informed me that he had 10!!) He played with them the rest of the night. I loved watching him run over and give hugs to the cousin that chose his name.

Mary always wants to share Katrina's baby collection, so we bought her a little baby doll of her own. I think her Mommy and Daddy were just as excited as she was! Katrina and Rachel sewed her a little baby blankie to wrap her new baby in, too.

You can't see Mary's face very well, but she seemed very happy about her new baby! I love to see her little hand, cradleing her dolly so carefully! What a fun night! We tried some old traditions and made some new ones and it was great!

I'm typing this at midnight on Christmas Eve, after the stocking have been stuffed (thanks Emma and Josh for all your help!) I'm getting ready to pre-publish for Christmas Morning and thinking of all those friends and family members that are far away. . . Merry Christmas to you all. . . and to all a Good Night!