Christmas at the Merricks was ALL about the nieces and nephews! Rochelle gave birth to two healthy, beautiful and VERY sweet boys on December 13.  We were SO excited to be coming home just 10 days later so we could meet them.  It was a darn good thing there were two of them so I didn't have to share.  Lee thinks I held one or the other for 10 - 15 hours over the course of the weekend.  Never have I seen such cute, healthy, sweet and quiet preemies before (They came just a day or two past 36 weeks).

We spent Wednesday night with the twins and Zach and Rochelle.  Lee had to literally pull me away from those cute babies on Thursday so we could go to Bruneau to visit with both sets of grandparents. But first, we stopped by my dear friend Jen's house on the way out of Boise for an hour or so.  I wish it could have been for longer - but so glad we got to connect at all.  Then it was an hour or two with the cute Merrick grandparents before meeting the Steiner grandparents in Mt. Home for dinner.  The day ended in Twin Falls with Lee's mom.

Lee's mom has moved to Twin Falls recently with the family business (Tuff Bucket) that is growing like gang-busters.   It was a little strange to not sleep in Bruneau for even one night, but so fun to be near Bryce and Elaine and their three darling kids.  On Christmas Eve day we met in the local grocery store in the candy isle (prepping for gingerbread houses) and caused quite a commotion.  Cute Kate (6 in February) was SOOOOO excited to see us (especially me, it makes me feel so good every time!).  She jumped up and down shouting "We're going to the movie!  We're going to the movie!!!"  I couldn't help but join in.  All candy shoppers couldn't stop laughing.  The movie was darling [Tangled] and Christmas Eve was tons of fun holding baby boys (yes, they made the trek from Boise) and decorating gingerbread houses.

Christmas morning was also wonderful.  We ate the largest ham I've ever seen (20 pounder), opened gifts and played with all the presents the kids got for Christmas.  It brought back all the excitement of Xmas morning.  We LOVED it.  

The weekend ended with dinner and hanging out with all the family that was still in town on Sunday (pretty much everyone but Zach, Rochelle and twins).   We LOVED seeing everyone and wished it happened more often.

Pictures from Christmas and all the cute kids are in the gallery.