Christmas

Ahhh...Christmas. How I LOVE Christmas! And this was one of my favorites ever!!! The reason? This should give you a clue:



It was one of my favorites because of this awesome sister:



And because of this awesome brother, sister-in-law, and nephew:



They all came for a visit and we had so much fun! Playing games, making and eating food, making crafts and more holiday pillowcases and pajamas, going places and just being together and celebrating Christmas together.

(One of the places we went was the Children's Museum. Other places included Rudys, Lulu's, downtown to see all the Christmas lights on the Riverwalk, a train ride by the zoo, and a fun lunch and gift exchange with some of Chris's co-workers. We also made Kip D record himself and make a cd of Christmas music for our parents. But I also have copies for the highest bidders.... :)

Chris made us all a couple of nostalgic gifts. Our family would always play Christmas songs on the chimes. One of us would be the conductor and call out the notes and the rest of us would have one or two chimes hanging on our fingers that we would hit when they called our note. Very sentimental.

You can also string them on a broomstick between two chairs. :)

Chris also made for each of us the infamous marble game! My dad made one long ago that we LOVED playing growing up. I had to go by memory, so I'm not sure I told him exactly right...but it is close enough. Caleb and I have had hours of fun playing together.



Other favorites? The holiday pj's and matching pillowcases.

Isn't my sister awesome? She didn't know what kind of pjs I bought, but they matched almost EXACTLY! The boys LOVE their pillows now!

Another favorite was Caleb getting to play Joseph in a nativity scene for Joy School. They did a little nativity scene and some songs at a local nursing home and again at a Christmas Party for the families.



Yet another favorite? A sweet friend made us this little cradle and baby Jesus. It came with a very cute story and some pieces of straw. We drew each others names out of a hat and then did acts of service for them. Each time we did something nice, we got to put a piece of straw in the cradle. Caleb is still doing stuff for his person and trying to guess who has him. :) Apparently it has not ended yet.

I'm still not sure why we buy toys when boxes still seem to be the favorite:



Santa finally broke down and brought a Wii. But the family rule is that you have to play with someone else. No playing by yourself. That doesn't seem to be a problem though...


And I may or may not have pulled a little muscle while bowling on the wii.

All of our family had to leave on Christmas Day, so Santa came a day early at our house. All of the festivities were over for us by Christmas. So we may or may not have eaten dinner on the actual Christmas day at McDonalds.



Thanks to Kaylyn, Kip, Bridget, and Elliott for spending the holidays with us. We LOVED having you and reminiscing and playing and creating new memories with you. I love how much my boys love you and keep asking for you. We love you lots and miss you already!!