Christmas from the Children's Perspectives

Gma & Gpa Young gave the children cameras for Christmas this year!

They have had a blast taking their own photos.

They documented some of their other favorite gifts:

Recorded evidence of Scott visiting:



Captured silly poses from Uncles and Aunts:

Practiced taking pictures for cooking blogs:

Challenged themselves with motion shots:

Occasionally got some cute poses:

Experimented with any type of photo subject:

Including a shot of the Wii game they played at Nancy's house:

Documented Amelia's ordeal of opening presents from Megan (remember these girls have challenges involving choosing random types of gifts and wrapping them in multiple layers of paper, bubble wrap, packing tape, duct tape, and whatever else they can come up with):

And Erin captured the photo that we
felt best marked the end of our 100 posts for 2009!

Christmas Vacation Memories, 2009

Playing with the Bucherts
We spent an afternoon talking, playing, baking cookies,
and trying to keep Dallin from taking too many ornaments off their tree.

Christmas Eve Party
We ate a delicious dinner at the Young's house, visited, and played games.

Aunt Andrea strives to be the favorite aunt, and succeeds.
She kept Dean laughing on several occasions.

Great-Grandma Young was able to come.

Matt & Karrie flew across the country from Massachusetts to visit.

Mike, Janell, and boys flew in from Washington. Erin loved playing with Scott.

Tyler & Andrea made chocolate fondue and an assortment
of good-tasting foods to dip into the fondue.

The children in their new Christmas pajamas

Christmas Morning
Grandma & Grandpa with all their grandchildren

Karrie & Matt displaying Megan's drawings of their beagles, Duncan & Tobin

Andrea & Tyler snuggling on the couch

April and her boys
Dallin didn't understand what all the excitement was about.

Scott had fun opening his presents.

At Grandma Tsukamoto's house

New Cousins!
This year cousin Emmy has a new baby, Betsy.

Cousin Dagny has a new baby, Kate.

Updated Young Family Photos
Since all the children were in town, we attempted some group photos.

Randy & Barbara with their 4 children:

Children with Spouses:

Visiting Great-Grandma
We spent a few hours visiting Great-Grandma Young at her house.
Megan serenaded her with piano music, and the others played with toys.



Grandpa Young's Baking
Grandpa made some artisan bread using his new banneton.

He also baked this yummy barley flour chocolate cake.
Megan got to stay up late and eat some with the grown-ups.

Tyler's New Shoes
Tyler was very excited about his Vibram Five Finger shoes.
They are pretty cool, in our opinion. Tyler helps make us look not so strange.

Family Christmas Card

Megan designed our card for us this year, using skills learned from her photo editing class.
We just can't figure out how to make it appear bigger than this on blogger.

Getting ready for Christmas

Mom and Dad surprised the children one Friday evening and came home from their weekly grocery shopping date with a Christmas tree! We decorated it together and everyone has loved having it in the home. Doesn't Sylvi look festive?

We opted for a small tree this year due to Dallin's penchant for grabbing, pulling, and climbing. He loves looking at the lights and relocating ornaments that are within his reach.

April and her visiting teaching partner, Liz, made some holiday cookies

to share with the sisters we visit each month.

Since we've been decorating a tree with service ornaments in Primary the past month, we decided to give our Primary children some "helping hands" gloves for a gift. One of April's counselors wrote a poem to go along with the gloves.

Christ’s helping hands made burdens light.
By serving others, He chose the right.
The Savior’s hands helped blind men see.
They calmed the storms on Galilee.
His hands were clasped in humble prayer
When He plead for us with tender care.

So to show Him love with all my might,
I can help others who are in my sight.
My own two hands can also serve,
And these two gloves help to preserve
The warmth and love my hands supply
When I serve others by and by.
~Lacey Dahlgren

Our washing machine broke while doing the last load prior to our trip to SLC. With advice from a neighbor who repairs appliances, Kevin was happy to be able to fix the pump problem. The rest of the family was happy too.

Not pictured: loaves of pumpkin bread and finished cookie plates that we shared with neighbors and friends.