Calvin's First Christmas

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!

Powell Family Christmas

We just returned from a beautiful snowy Christmas holiday in Utah. It was so fun to visit family and celebrate Calvin's 1st Christmas together! The day before Christmas Eve, Mom Powell took Megan and I up to Salt Lake to have a girl's outing. We watched the Nutcracker Ballet, which was stunning! Afterwards, the boys met up with us for dinner and a little outing to see the lights on Temple Square. Even though it was cold, the snow falling and all the lights glowing made it a beautiful evening!

On Christmas Eve day, Grandma and Grandpa got to enjoy some little one-on-one time with Calvin so Jake and I could go on a movie date with Vince, Megan and Mitchel. We watched Avatar in 3-D. It was such a great movie, definitely a must-see! Later that evening, we gathered together for the Annual Powell Family Christmas Eve dinner. (No oyster stew unfortunately :)And after eating till we could eat no more, we played a challenging game of Christmas jeopardy. The Jordan Powell family won!! Woo-hoo! (Way to go, Dad, pulling out that '1965' answer!) Then before we tucked Calvin into his bed to wait for Santa to come, we had him open his first Christmas present...Christmas Eve jammies. Just the start of our new little family tradition! But Calvin wasn't the only one to open pajamas on Christmas Eve, Mom Powell got some for the whole family!

Hooray for Christmas Eve pajamas! (Calvin is taking the picture. Heehee, just kidding! He was in bed.)

Christmas morning was a little more special for us this year, it being Calvin's 1st. I think we were more excited on his behalf than he was! We ended up accidentally waking him up while talking outside his bedroom door trying to decide if we should wake him up. Problem solved. :) So we took him upstairs to see what Santa had left in his stocking. And what a surprise he had waiting for him! A rocking horse! This horse even made noises and moved his head and tail. It might have been a little too realistic for Calvin, who was very hesitant to ride it much less go near it! He had the same reaction to T-Bone when we first arrived, but by the time we left, it was difficult to keep Calvin away from him! T-Bone ended up trying to avoid Calvin instead. :)
After opening gifts and a waffle breakfast courtesy of Vincent and Megan, we all bundled up and headed outside to go sledding. Another first for Calvin, life is just more fun with a baby around!

Sledding on Christmas Day

Daddy teaching Calvin how to drive

Cowboy Calvin atop his trusty steed

Calvin checking out what Santa left for him in his stocking

Christmas Eve


Chilly winter evening on Temple Square


Santa Calvin


"Go, Grandpa, go!"

All in all, we had a great time being together with family. We would eat lots of yummy food, do some P90X and then eat some more! :) Jake continues to hold his title as "Emperor of Catan" after beating the rest of us soundly...not once, but twice...at Settlers of Catan. But we were able to get back at him playing 'Ticket to Ride' and 'Yahtzee'. Vacations are the best, especially when you're with family!