Christmas

Ryan and I actually had the conversation as to when your kids reach the point that they no longer sleep because they are so excited. We learned that this was the year. Braden woke up at one and had apparently peeked out into the front room enough to know something was different. He was asking if we could wake up yet. We of course sent him back to bed, but it took him probably a good hour to fall back asleep. Then he was up again at 4. Then at 6 Kegan was up. I had set my alarm for 6:30 so I could put some cinnamon buns in the oven. Didn't need that alarm! At 7 we finally ate some breakfast in our room. Elise usually eats right when she wakes up and we wanted her to be happy and enjoy the morning instead of being hungry. We did the same thing with the boys for a few years. After a delicious breakfast we headed out. The rest of the morning was magical. The kids were so excited! We were worried the boys would plow through opening their presents way before Elise, but she kept up surprisingly well. We enjoyed the rest of the morning together playing and enjoying each other.

The boys were sure to check out the plate of cookies and egg nog that was left. It was so fun to see their reaction to it being gone! They even checked outside to see if they could see the reindeer footprints.

Elise's main gifts were a princess castle, a cinderella doll, a purse, and books.

Braden and Kegan asked for Paw Patrol toys from Santa and he delivered. They also got superheros, a batcave, superhero costumes, legos, and books.

For lunch we headed over to my parents house and were spoiled there again. We missed my brother Jeff and his wife, but it was fun to have John home for Christmas again.

In the evening both sets of grandparents came over to see what the kids got. It was an exhausting day, but so much fun. It is sad to see it pass by so quickly.

Christmas Eve

I love Christmas Eve! This year didn't disappoint. We went to the Eastman's for dinner. The kids acted out the nativity which is always fun to watch. This year we had a lamb, the donkey, and a wise-man.

Grandma Eastman did a fun present passing game for the kids

Ryan and uncle Neal got to help too

After the party, we headed home and let the kids open the presents they picked out for each other. We didn't want them to get lost in the chaos of the following morning. They sure appreciated the gifts that they each picked out.

Then Santa came. The past 2 years I've been worried that Santa's cover might be blown, but again this year there was not a single question asked. Kegan was the first to hear something out the window. He suddenly got nervous and asked us to look. They finally were brave enough to peek out the back door and see him walking around. They just didn't know what to do or think. Kegan was sure to tell him they were good though! Elise actually wasn't nervous just having him in there. Getting her to sit on his lap was a different story.

Santa sang some songs with them and gave them new jammies. (Best picture we got) Then he had to head off but promised he would be back. The boys were beyond excited. I couldn't help but smile just watching them.

Before bed we had a little family night. We talked about Jesus' birth, sang songs, and read books. That is honestly one of my highlights. I always hope that we will be able to help our kids make that the focus of Christmas.

December

In December Ryan found out he passed his PE exam!! It was such a relief! I really didn't doubt whether he would or not, but it was sure stressing him out. We blew up a bunch of balloons and put them in his car (luckily he had driven to a different bus stop). We are very proud of him!

We made salt dough ornaments with some friends one day then painted them on our own. Elise just thinks she is so big sitting up there by her brothers.

Indoor soccer ended

One day the boys were watching a movie, Elise was napping, Ryan was working in the basement, and lets be honest I was dozing off on the couch. I kept hearing a dog barking and thought "did our neighbors get a dog?" It just sounded so close. Finally I got up and went and looked outside and lo and behold there was a dog in OUR backyard. It was my parents dog. She was wearing this little Christmas tree necklace that said Merry Christmas from Santa- haha. (we have been playing around with the idea of getting a dog). I got a good laugh. I went downstairs and asked Ryan if he heard that dog. He said yes, and I told him to come look outside. His eyes suddenly got huge and kept asking "did we get a dog?" I couldn't help but laugh as he kept asking over and over in disbelief. Once he looked outside he laughed pretty hard. The boys were so excited and didn't quite get that it was my parent's dog. They said "maybe we can call this dog Shasta since it looks like Shasta!" (my parent's dog). They all played with her outside for a bit before "Santa" came and picked her up after grocery shopping.

Elise has to be doing whatever her big brothers do

Tis the Season

We started off the season by attempting some pictures in front of the tree for Christmas cards (those never happened). I love the ones we got!

Most of them looked something like this though...

They started up the Festival of Lights just down the road from us. We piled in the car and checked it out one night. It was fun.

They had "Santa's Workshop" set up in the building there. We decided to go check it out. When we first walked in there was a family right in front of us visiting with Santa. While we stood there waiting it literally only took about 30 seconds before each of the boys whispered to me separately "That's not really Santa" I assured them it was not. This Santa was kind of struggling to get into character. The boys were good sports though and sat on his lap to earn a candy cane. I wasn't about to make Elise because I knew she would just cry.

Pictures of their Gingerbread houses

We attended our first Christmas program at the boys' preschool. It was sure cute!

I kept trying to convince Braden to move closer to Kegan for a picture but he wouldn't. He was frozen in that spot

We went down to Utah one weekend for the Atkinson and the Dahl family Christmas parties. It is always a weekend I look forward to. We decorated cookies and this is the best picture I could get. At least Ryan cooperated!

Christmas Preparations

 After Thanksgiving we were all pretty excited to get ready for Christmas. The kids really loved setting up everything. We put "kid friendly" ornaments on the bottom 2/3 of our tree and they were rearranged daily.

 We wrote letters to Santa one evening then dropped them off in the huge Santa mailbox downtown. I remember taking my letters to Santa here, so it was fun to take our kids to do the same thing. The boys were so excited and asked a ton of questions about Santa and how it all works. Elise wasn't quite sure what was going on. It was a great way to start off our Christmas season.

November

 The boys started playing indoor soccer. They didn't just love it like they did playing outside. There were a lot more kids and I think there is just something about being outdoors that made it more enjoyable for them. They were pretty cute though.

 One day after our first real snowfall the boys headed out and wanted to make a snowman for Dad. I was surprised to see that they did it all on their own! Elise and I prefer watching from inside. She isn't a huge fan of the snow and neither am I!

Thanksgiving

 This year we skipped out on the Thanksgiving Day race. It didn't sound too appealing to me since I couldn't really run it. It ended up being snowy and cold so I didn't feel too bad. We stayed home in the morning and baked and watched the parade. Elise helped me clean off the whipped cream from the spatula. I just love that little girl!

 My parent's had this little turkey set up at their house when we went over there for dinner. It was delicious and just a nice day to spend with family!

Ryan's parents are gracious enough to host their Thanksgiving the Saturday after. We feel lucky that we get to see both families and not feel rushed during our time there. We also get two yummy dinners! We made ginger bread houses at the Eastmans which the kids really enjoyed! We certainly have a lot to be thankful for!

Happy Birthday to Me

 Family selfies are sure getting hard! For my birthday we went out to Outback Steakhouse and came home and opened presents.  A few days later we continued the celebration by going to the museum. I have such a great family!

 I love having these three helpers for my candles!

Braden Date

 For this date we took Braden to Leo's place and placed some arcade games. He thought it was pretty fun and loved that he earned enough tickets to take home some "treasures"