The Festivities

We had a fabulous Christmas this year. We traveled back to Utah to spend it with the fam. We were nervous about making the drive with a 9 week-old, but Benny did great! Graham and Lucy on the other hand....

Of course, the highlight of the trip was celebrating Christ's birth with our family. We had a Christmas Eve filled up with our family traditions. Our camera didn't cooperate very well, so I don't have any good pictures of our nativity play, but I got a few others. Here's some of my favorites:

George, Abby, Ollie, Benjamin, Lucy, Ella, Graham

Here are all of the Hickman grandkids in their Christmas Eve jammies. Aren't they adorable!!

Blaine and Lindsay are starting a "birthday cake for Jesus" tradition. We all took part this year. We sang "Happy Birthday" and the kids blew out the candles.

Every year after the nativity play is done, different people in the family get up and sing songs for everybody. Lucy and Abby sang, "Silent Night". My sisters and I always sing, "Oh Hush Thee My Baby". Blaine and Lindsay always each sing a song (they have AMAZING voices) and the program always ends with my Dad singing, "O Holy Night" and a family prayer. I always look forward to this part of our celebration.

Here' s Ben-O and I with his new jammies on.


I was a huge slacker in the photography department on Christmas morning. I did catch one of Lucy with her new Easy Bake Oven. She asked for that along with a toy dog that barks and walks. I figured since it will be a very, very long time before she gets a real dog (if ever), Santa could come through on her request. She also wanted a new dress for her American Girl doll, Kit. Jason and I gave her some scrapbooking stuff that she's been wanting for a while. It's been so fun to watch her journal and put it together. Graham asked for a Buzz Lightyear (big shocker). Santa surprised him with Buzz, Woody, RC and some toy story soldiers.

Here's just a few of the highlights I want to remember:

-Christmas Eve dinner with all 18 of us at the same table.

-Mom's cinnamon rolls

-Our night out without the kids to see Avatar (thank you Elvis!)

-Playing games at the kitchen table

-Hearing Lucy laughing with Abby and Oliver

- Shellie and Grandma Ray at the party. I feel lucky that they get to spend it with us each year.

-George walking in the door and asking for Graham right away.

-Ella's jabbering

-Lucy's explanation for why Santa HAS to be real. "Because you and Dad would NEVER buy me and American Girl doll!"

-The American Girl doll photo shoot the girls requested

We really enjoyed our holiday. We saw many of our friends and we were able to catch up with Jason's family as well (more pics of that to come). We always wish we had more time to spend. There were many people we didn't see this time around. Maybe they will all just have to come see us! I have to say, after spending 10 days in the cold, I was ready to head back to my 70 degree weather here in Southern California. Come see us at the beach!