Another Christmas season has come and gone. This year, it all seemed to fly by even faster...probably because of the fact that there was one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Regardless, we crammed in all of the favorite traditions and added in some extra fun along the way.
The kids loved their matching jammies from the elf. They were also especially excited that our elf brought a reindeer friend with them this year. Joel had been desperately wishing for the reindeer and the look on his face when he found him in the morning was absolutely priceless!
Caleb and Leah both enjoyed fun activities with their church groups. The junior high kids had a fun party at their leader (Miss Amy's) house. They had tons of fun and Caleb came home full of junk food and memories. Leah's 4th/5th grade group spent an afternoon baking at the church. It was sweet to watch so many kids and adults have fun together in the kitchen. This woman, Miss Sherry, is one of Leah's 45 teachers and she connects in the most magnificent way with the kids. We are so thankful for our church family and for how much they pour into our kids!
I enjoyed some memorable moments with friends throughout the holiday season. Some of our coffee gals got together for our annual ornament exchange. It's always nice during this season to take a morning off from the busy, hectic, run-around and just catch up over coffee. I also hosted our annual mom baking day where we got together and baked tons of yummy treats to share.
We loved getting to watch another band concert. We could really see how much these guys have improved in a year. I hope Caleb sticks with band, because he definitely appears to enjoy being a "little drummer boy"!
One of our favorite moments from the Christmas season was getting to celebrate with Nyla, Nikko, and Brighton's mom and grandma. They came down for dinner and we had so much fun hearing stories about these amazing kids when they were younger. We laughed and talked and ate and genuinely enjoyed being one giant family for an evening. We ended the night with very fun gift exchange!
I had the pleasure of volunteering for Caleb's very last holiday party. To go out with a bang, the 6th graders get to have their party at the bowling alley. It was so fun to watch all of these kids who have been buddies for many, many years. They're all still just as silly as they once were, but have much bigger bodies! By the end, I had a whole new appreciation for 6th grade teachers and what they deal with on a daily basis. I think my junior high theory that I adopted many years ago might still be valid....they should all be shipped off to an island together for three years and returned when their weirdness wears off.
We enjoyed carrying on the tradition of our neighborhood scavenger hunt as well as playing "Reindeer Games" with friends. In this picture, the kiddos are showing off their socks they won at the kid sock exchange. It's quite entertaining to see kids get so intense with SOCKS!
Our Santa brunch was, once again, so delicious and fun. We definitely look forward to this tradition each year! Everyone left completely stuffed and feeling heavier than Santa himself!
We had a great time getting together with the Lamont family for cookie decorating. The kids spend the evening loading up on way more sugar than they should and adults even get in on the fun. It has grown to be a favorite activity for the kids, and it makes me so happy to see one of my childhood traditions living on.
In the middle of all the fun and chaos, Joel came down with a nasty bug right before Christmas. It gave us all an excuse to slow down a bit and everyone enjoyed the pj days and rest. Joel was a champ and kicked whatever he had right in time for Christmas!
We spent Christmas Eve lounging around before heading to church and then out to dinner. We made sure to sneak in a quick cookie baking session, too....had to get those cookies ready for Santa!
Christmas morning started with just the six of us. Grandpa, Grandma, and TiTi came over for a yummy breakfast and more presents. We then spent the day hanging out and enjoying all of the new toys and treasures. In the afternoon, we headed out to Indiana for a wonderful get together with the Lamont family.
The sadness of Christmas ending was met with the joy of a visit from one of our favorite guests...Aunt Denise! She flew in on the 26th and stayed for almost a week. We loved getting to spend time with her. One of the highlights was taking a trip to the city to see A Christmas Carol. The performance was great (even though a few parts left the younger two scared and probably scarred for life)!
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