Here is a look at our Lewis Family Christmas in Yakima this year! I was down with the flu the week before the kids came, willing myself to be well when they arrived. Aaron finished his last final at BYU, then flew to Yakima on the 22nd. Adam, Heidi and little Clark arrived late on the 23rd, flying into Pasco. Claire and Graham also flew into Pasco, arriving on the 27th. We celebrated our Christmas on the 28th and 29th as a family.
Here I am waiting for Aaron’s arrival, trying to feel well:
Aaron went right to work sorting food for the missionary Christmas Breakfasts:
Aaron was so helpful as we worked on Transfer Planning and had a couple missionaries returning home.
Adam’s family joined us late on the 23rd. They brought our Best Christmas Gift Ever: little Clark! He’s 15 months old now, and he is ADORABLE!!
I worked on Christmas Stockings upstairs in the wrapping room:
And we all entertained and were entertained by Clark:
On Christmas Eve, we attended Church together in Yakima, then had a nice ham dinner. We set up the Mega Bed downstairs and watched The Nativity movie. Our Christmas Day was peaceful and fun, as we waited for Claire and Graham to arrive on the 27th. We fixed a nice dinner and watched the Disney movie Moana that evening. Gifts waited.
On the 26th the boys had a Lord of the Rings/Hobbit marathon. We also had games and a puzzle going on throughout the day. On this afternoon, we went to see the movie Coco and we Loved it!
Wednesday the 27th, Claire and Graham flew in to Pasco. The other kids went to pick them up while John and I worked on Transfer Planning. 
Claire and Heidi:
That evening, we had our Christmas Eve family time, reading from the scriptures, singing and we opened our family gifts.
We left all the paper and wrapping out so Clark would discover it in the morning when he woke. (He’d gone to bed before we did our Christmas Eve celebrating.) It was so fun to watch him the next morning running through the wrappings! He squealed with delight!
We opened our stockings this morning and enjoyed another day of family fun.
Dinner out on this evening at Zesta Cucina.
The kids were working on mathematical equations after dinner. Who does that??
Then home to the Mega Bed to watch the movie Concussion with Will Smith.
The 29th we stayed at home. More books, games, puzzles and movies.
Dinner this evening was at Miner’s–Yakima’s famous burger place.
We stopped at Krispy Kreme Donuts afterwards!
Then home to some ice skating down our driveway. The boys had a blast. The whole driveway was covered in a thick sheet of ice!
Claire is finishing the Book of Mormon before the end of the year.
Saturday I took the kids shopping!
Our favorite stop: Carter’s for the after Christmas sales. Clark and future grandkids are set for the next few years!! It was SO FUN.
Dinner this evening at Cowiche Kitchen. We had a room to ourselves and it was perfect!
Then back home again.
Graham learned how we make Christmas Sticky Buns:
Aaron is our puzzle Meister, up late every night working on this Nativity puzzle:
Sunday morning: Adam loves making buttermilk or Kodiak pancakes for breakfast.
Aaron finally got his hair cut!
And then Claire took family photos!
New Year’s Eve Day:
Aaron stayed up late last night finishing the puzzle:
New Year’s Day–heading to the airport with the kids. Their bags are packed and bulging with Christmas and diapers stuffed in every crack! They are all off to Utah for the next few days.
Farewells are Hard. This has been our last Christmas in Yakima. 
We headed home to welcome the next group of departing missionaries. They fly home tomorrow and our next new group arrives tomorrow. The good work continues.
