Family for Christmas

This Christmas, my brother David got married in Houston.  For the occasion, all of the siblings got together at my parent's house and had a great vacation.  Since we are spread throughout the US, we don't often have a chance to all get together under one roof, and we barely fit under one roof.

It was fun to be together.  We don't really need a lot of activities to have fun, just being a family together.  I am grateful just to be family (mormon message on the topic). So here are some semi-random shots of us together.

Here's my mom with her three granddaughters.

Dan and Jack making lemonade

Paynes and Andersons playing legos on the upstairs balcony.  My parent's house has two big buckets of legos, and that makes a home for my boys.

David found that he could easily entertain kids with videos of kittens

 Mark and Naomi

 One of the things that my mom likes to do is tell stories.  So she gathers all the grandkids on her bed and invents some winners.  I heard my boys retelling parts of the stories throughout the trip.  It's great for me, because it's like a hour of peace and relaxation, time I can spend reconnecting with my siblings without constantly checking on my kids.

 Mark was very excited to play backgammon.  I think that he played nearly everyone in the house.  Maybe he will grow up like Dan, and be a total backgammon pro.

Monopoly, star wars style.