Christmas Gatherings

There were several days where we celebrated Christmas with family.  Lots of pics too!

Christmas at Nanny & Papaw's house

Peyton loves for Alivia to carry him around, but she won't be able to do this much longer!

Ayla was definitely entertained!

Starting to see some smiles!

A new camera from Nanny and Papaw!  Now she's taking pictures just like mommy. :)

Crafts from Aunt Michelle and Uncle Jamie

Drew loved his game table from Nanny and Papaw.

Aunt Michelle and Uncle Jamie found Drew a magic set!

 Christmas with Mamaw, Aunt Leslie and Stephen

This girl loves clothes!

Aunt Leslie always makes sure she's in style. ;)

New bags for sleepovers from Mamaw.  The kids were excited to take these to their slumber party over break.

Can you tell he's excited?  He's worn this outfit three times in a week!

Jurassic World legos from Aunt Leslie

The kids are always excited when we get to see Stephen.  Alivia wanted to show him every game on her tablet.  Thankfully he was a good sport!

Christmas at Dad and Karen's

Drew got a bow and arrow set and a slingshot.  He's looking forward to using these outside when the weather gets nicer.

They LOVE getting legos!

Drew got two new sets!

She loves jewelry!  She got new earrings and a cross necklace.

Let the building begin!

Chrismas with Uncle Craig

Uncle Craig spoils them too.  A minions building set!

What?!?  She was pretty excited about this.

This one was challenging for Drew, but he loved having to use tools to put it together.  He and Uncle Craig did half of it one night, then we finished it in the morning.  I think Drew will look for more of these.

Christmas Morning

One of the best parts of Christmas is spending the day at home with each other.  We don't make any plans other than to stay home.  The kids had so much excitement when opening their gifts.  Their facial expressions are priceless!  Merry Christmas!

Drew opening his Santa gifts that were in his stocking.  He was so excited for Lifesavers and M&M's.

You can tell she's a little excited too.

One of his favorite gifts - Daddy got him receiver's gloves for playing football.  He can't wait to use them!

Each of the kids got Amazon Fire tablets from Santa.  This will be great when working on their school work too.

He's wanted a lacrosse set for months!

These aren't just new boots, they're boots with a wedge heal.  A very big deal for Alivia!

Drew's big gift - a 700+ piece lego set.  It took us awhile, but we finally got it together.

Alivia's big gift - an American Girl doll she named Julian.

Indiana weather proves to be crazy once again.  We were able to play outside with just sweatshirts on in the afternoon.

Jersey Girl ended up with a new blanket, stuffed animal and some treats.  She will carry her dog all throughout the house.

Drew got me some new shoes and Alivia picked out some earrings and the latest Adele cd.  I love that they get excited about giving, too.

Daddy got lots of nice things too.

This was all we did in the afternoon and evening.  Brad and the kids love pop-tarts, so this puzzle was quite fitting.  After several hours, Brad and I finally finished 999 pieces.  Jersey got ahold of #1000. :(  

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

I'm not sure who was more excited on Christmas Eve - the kids or parents!  Brad and I went to bed so excited for morning just like the kids did.  We sat out cookies and carrots and the kids left notes too.  I just love that Alivia adds "USA IN" next to her name so Santa knows who she is!  And the question about whether or not Santa has an Elf named Eddy is because Drew's classroom had an Elf on the Shelf with that name.  We're letting them be little and loved watching their excitement.  It was a great year for all of us!

I should also mention there was some concern that Jersey might start barking when Santa came to bring presents.  At 6:10am, we heard her bark like crazy!  The kids are just sure she had just seen Santa leave.  ;)

Merry Christmas!

After dinner at Mozzi's with the Greulich's and the Christmas Eve service at Park Chapel, the kids are finally tucked in to bed.  Merry Christmas to all!  We can't wait for the excitement in the morning. :)

Christmas Jammies

The kids opened their new pajamas tonight.  They love getting a new pair just in time for Christmas.  We usually go ride around and look at lights, but the rain is keeping us in this evening.  We're going to have some popcorn and watch a movie instead.

Christmas Program at MCE

The 2nd graders put on a great program at Mt. Comfort before Christmas break.  Alivia's class was in green as Christmas trees.  She and several others had speaking parts.  We were so proud of her for memorizing it, but she got a little stage fright and chose to look at the paper instead. :)  She did great!

Quick Trip Downtown

It was a bitter cold night downtown, but we wanted to make sure to take it in before Christmas.  After Alivia's birthday dinner at Riviera Maya, we headed to the circle to see the lights and Santa.  Alivia loves any opportunity to see and pet the horses and reindeer.  We weren't there more than 30 minutes before heading back to the car.  It was a little too cold for us!

Not only did Santa have his motorcycle, he also had toys on the back!

Deck the Halls - Finally!!

 After a few months without a family room, we finally moved back into it today.  It's been a challenge to live and play in one space.  We're thankful our house was big enough to make it work, but a functioning family room and living/play room are a must to keep our sanity.  Once we moved the furniture, we spent time decorating the tree.  The kids love looking at their ornaments from over the years, then pick and choose the perfect spot to hang them.  We're looking forward to a fun week leading up to Christmas.