Following up on the success of our Provo Thanksgiving, we had another family get-together in Provo for Christmas. We rented a townhouse– slightly larger than the one we had a month ago– and everyone gathered for a few days. And by “everyone” I mean “including Mom and Dad”. Or Grandma and Grandpa, if you’re our kids. Or Great-Grandma (“GG”) and Great-Grandpa, from Ollie’s perspective.
At nine months, Ollie is very fond of shoving things in his mouth.
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He’s also fond of his Mickey doll, who he drags around and apparently punches when he’s in his crib just before naptime. Here he casts a wary eye at Great-Grandpa, who just wants to pick up the little bugger.
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On Christmas morning there were piles of gifts, in a dizzying assortment of wrapping papers.
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This year I enjoyed making labels that were more than just “To: You, From: Me”.
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Everyone loved their gifts. Mom and Dad were delighted when they opened their box of “100% Authentic Flathead Lake Rocks”.
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(In truth it was just a way to disguise the fact that I’d given them a gift card to Outback. Adding a bag of rocks made the wrapped present feel so much more intriguing, you know?)
New shirts were a thing.
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After the boxes were opened and the wrapping was cleared, we sat down for some nice family portraits. This is the first time we’ve all been together in years!
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Here’s a cool one: four generations of Schroeder men!
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My amazing parents…
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… and my beautiful offspring.
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We played Sheephead and Skull King and Zackjongg (Zack’s mostly accurate but partly made-up version of Mahjongg). We watched a movie and went on walks and ate plenty of food. We talked and laughed and just thoroughly enjoyed a few days together. Good times all around.