23 People, 9 Days, 1 House

It was a McAllister year for Christmas, which equates to nonstop excitement and nonstop "What About Bob" quotes.  We loved it!  

Since John's parents moved to Manila, the McAllisters don't have a home base anymore, so we decided to rent a family reunion house for the week.   The 7 McAllister kids checked out at least 100 different homes in places like Denver, Moab, Austin, Phoenix, Dallas, Santa Fe, Anaheim, and San Diego.  Ironically the house that won was in Gilbert, AZ, just 15 minutes away from the McAllisters' old house!  The size, weather, price, and accessibility of the place were all perfect.  6 of the 7 kids drove there (we took a plane), John's parents flew in from the Philippines, and the party began!  

When we first arrived at the house, Benson walked in and gasped, "This must be a palace!" (A quote from his Corduroy book.)  The place was pretty huge.  It actually fit all 23 of us. 

Here's some of the cast from the Christmas Eve pageant.  We didn't have our usual costumes and props this year, so we made do with what we could scrounge up around the house.  Pictured above are two Marys, no Josephs, baby Jesus, a donkey, an angel, 3 wisemen, a star, and a bunch of shepherds herding the kids.    

If you couldn't tell, here's the Star of Bethlehem and King Herod.  (Mark was a versatile actor and doubled as a wiseman.) 

"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart."

Marcus is a pro with children.  Here he is reading a Christmas story to the grandkids. 

 HOORAY!  Christmas morning!!!  After being awake for 2 hours and getting very antsy, I started playing the piano to wake everyone else up.  I think (I hope?) Christmas morning is the one time of year when people don't mind!  

Hopefully Benjamin didn't notice Benson eyeing his Christmas presents.  We have to daily review the 10th commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy cousin's fire truck!    

 The twins Jonathan and Justin were amazing with their new bats.  I need to get their autographs while I still can! 

 Here's Laura, Mark, and Rachel experiencing present-opening fatigue.  

Gooooo CHRISTMAS! 

John's parents ambitiously requested a picture with all 10 grandchildren. Granny Janny and Grandpa Doug are such energetic, loving, patient grandparents.  These kids are lucky.  

For dinner each night, we took turns cooking international meals.  Here we are on Greek night doing some dances and repeatedly shouting out "OPA!"  The most amazing dinner was on Mexico night.  It was better than anything you can order at a restaurant.  We also had delicious food on Chinese night, America night, and Italy night.  (Pizza counts for Italy, right?)

 There are so many citrus trees all over Arizona, and they're in full bloom right now.  Cole was the family's most obsessed and aggressive picker.  

Here's John concentrating hard on juggling oranges. 

Our favorite friends the Flemings came over one night.  They're basically family.  Sorry about my face, I was busy saying, "John, take off your glasses!"  

Here we are on our daily constitutional.   Another perk to the house rental was weeklong guest passes to the local gym, so each morning we pumped some iron.  We embrace the scientific fact that after you exercise you can eat whatever you want.  (At least, during the holidays.)

 The game Wackee Six is a family addiction.  We did at least 20 rounds during vacation. 

The grandkids played a lot of Candy Land. 

My sister Elise also celebrated Christmas in Arizona with her in-laws.  We met up one day on a  mountain scavenger hunt.  Our team lost (turns out the ranger wanted more specific answers than "cactus") but had a great, informative time anyway!  We were excited to meet our new nephew Brooks, and also to catch up on the latest with Caleb, Chase, Oliver, and Elise.  

The 4 Amigos: Benjamin, Justin, Benson, Jonathan.  

 We sure do love Christmastime in the desert!  Bing Crosby got it wrong-- it should be "I'm dreaming of a brown Christmas!"