Family Traditions!

The holidays are full of traditions for my family. This year it was so great for everyone in my family to be together. With 11 people ( and one that is prego) it made for some interesting sleeping arraingments! We had a blast being together, laughing, watching movies, caroling, and trying to check off all 10 items on my dad's Christmas Wish List!

So Here is a glimpse into some of my family's traditions during the holiday season:

MUSIC: gotta love the piano recital! The best part was the old man who was snoring and then all of a sudden singing out loud.

FOOD: Making food to give to others. These cute snowmen are Chelsea's amazing idea!

CHRISTMAS TREE: Always the beautiful tree and the presents!

GINGERBREAD VILLAGE: For some reason this year I was all about the gingerbread houses. This year we changed the tradition a bit and hot glued the houses together (saved time & frosting) instead of using icing. Everyone decorated their own houses and I did Grant's. The village turned out great and we had a blast doing it!

Ooh! Look at all the choices!

CRAZY DINNER: We have this really weird/awesome family tradition called Crazy Dinner. This is where we each pick anything we want for dinner (1 item enough for everyone). We hide our items, give our food to dad, and he buys them all so they stay a surprise. Then mom takes the food items and prepares them. Then we all come into the kitchen to see what we'll be eating. I think Clay wins (hands down) for the most creative choice of food! What a blast!

CHRISTMAS MORNING/AFTERNOON: I think we're getting better with the amount of trash we leave all over the house. Mom is getting better on surprisingly, perfect, and amazing gifts (the year of GPS). The breakfast keeps changing (but is always delicious), the activities during the day were hilarious (loved the karaoke), and of course just hanging out with each other.

FORMAL CHRISTMAS DINNER (new tradition): I love this new family tradition. Thanks for making the amazing napkins mom! Dani & Kati thanks for making them look awesome! The food was great but the crakers (poppers that have little gifts inside) were a hit. The paper crowns were fun. I like it!

SHIELDS FAMILY CHRISTMAS PARTY: The food, basketball, games, elephant gift exchange, lots of catching up, some people always feeling sick, new babies, and so much more. This year we added some really fun games! Being at the Shields Family Christmas Party is always a blast/adventure!

Chow time is always fun--we are such a big family and still growing!

The family had no idea what we had coming. We rocked the talent show

2nd place-not so bad! This was so much fun/hilarious!

So we didn't win this competition but we had fun! (thanks for being a good sport Cam)