Our family attempts to get together every other Christmas. 2023 was to be hosted by Connie and I in the mountains of Montana. Our three children, their spouses, and 12 grandchildren were able to travel here to celebrate the holidays. Our grandchildren range in age from 14 yrs to 19 months. So obviously we had the potential for an extremely chaotic, hectic, busy Christmas holiday.

Connie is a Christmas fanatic, so when she has the opportunity to have all her grandchildren on the mountain she goes all out. She started her holiday baking in October and filled our freezers with all kinds of goodies. There was a hot chocolate bar and a goodie bar that was within reach of all the toddlers. Sugar highs ran rampant.

Skiing the big mountain at whitefish was on the agenda, but our snow conditions this year have been very inadequate. Most of the mountain has been closed, but the kids did get one day skiing.

These kids were so busy with activities! Building gingerbread houses,

rollerblading in the shop, and some horse time were a few of the activities for the week. But the biggest hit for the kids had to be sledding down our driveway. We have a stretch of incline that is about 250 yards long and they spent hours upon hours wearing out the snow and ice.

We were also able to attend Christmas Eve church service with the whole clan in tow. Luckily Connie had warned the pastor so they had an overflow section set up and we were all able to sit together.

We even got in a trip to Moose’s Saloon on our last full day together. Imagine 12 kids and 8 adults marching into a busy beer and pizza saloon. We were quite the tribe

When it came time to say goodbye there were lots of tears and hugs, and our mountain home became outrageously quiet. No more little feet running in the hallways, no more morning and bedtime hugs, no more slow down cuddle time. We are extremely blessed that our children make the effort to all be together this time of year. Hopefully we can do it again in 2025.

Wishing you the best in 2024!