Provo Friends Christmas Party

Last week we had our first Christmas party of the season-

we had our good friends from our Provo days over!

Let me just say that we had the best group of friends in Provo,

we still keep in touch with all of them and miss them all the time.

Only a few of us are left in Utah now

and we were so excited to have Chad, Alyse and Ryder Bennett

and Russell, Ashley, Brooklynn, Kynlee

 and new baby Ella Virgin over for a little Christmas party.

*Caldwells, Alders, and Goodyears- know that we missed you and the only thing that would have made this night better was if you were there too!*

The weather was crazy snowy that night- and freezing cold-

but everyone made the longish trek up to our house and we were so glad they did!

We had soup in bread bowls, salad, and then a hot chocolate bar and Christmas cookies for dessert.

I turned on The Polar Express for the kiddos- who were all dressed in their jammies-

and they had a blast watching it and generally running wild all over our house.

They entertained each other so well!

Chase and Ryder were both sporting sore noses at the end of the night-

both being victim of the other boy pushing a dump truck down the stairs

straight into the other one's face.

Ryder has taught Chase all about the "turn about is fair play" concept.

(Last time Ryder threw up on Chase after Chase stole toys from him)

 These kid group shots never turn out like you hope-

although the result is fairly entertaining.

This is the one where Chase is obviously all out rebelling against photos.

 And Chase and Ryder both seem perplexed at Ella's crying-

we put Hudson to bed several hours before these were taken,

so he's dreamily sleeping away in his bed upstairs.

 Chase was surprisingly very interested in Ella...

 Can I just say how much I love Alyse and Ashley?

Because I do.

 The boys were super psyched (NOT) about posing together.

I went to bed that night with a big smile on my face from our fun night.

I love that this holiday season gives us an excuse to see old friends.

We feel so fortunate to have such wonderful friends in our lives!