Christmas {part 3}

It was our first Christmas Eve and Christmas without anywhere to go which was fun!  On Christmas Eve, we went to the 3 o’clock service at church.  Here were the cute shirts I made for the kids.  Owen’s was made using vinyl and Ellie’s is made with ribbons glued on.  Owen didn’t want to pose at home: I printed off some Christmas activity pages for the kids (and the DeAtley boys) in case they got bored in the service. Here are all the boys in red:

And here’s how Owen ended the service (just like last year):We drove home and looked at some Christmas lights and had a great dinner.  Each kiddo got to open one gift too.  Then the rest were saved for the morning! Some of Owen’s favorite toys were Peppa Pig and George, some Automoblox, and several duplo sets.  Ellie loved her new tent, bracelets, and princess Duplo set.  Sam’s family also gave us their trampoline which was a huge hit:

We spent Christmas in our pajamas playing with all the new toys.  What a great holiday season.  Here’s a closing shot of all the cards we got.  Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas {part 2}

This year, most everyone (minus Jenna) was able to gather for Christmas at my parents house, just a bit earlier than on the “real” day.  On Friday, December 20th, William took the afternoon off for our gender ultrasound.  We took the kids with us since we would be leaving from there to head to Peoria. After getting the exciting news (more on that in another post), we headed to my parent’s house.  They opted for a non-traditional tree this year and last and I love it! We have a yearly tradition in our family to do a fondue dinner every Christmas Eve.  So on Saturday we got out everything ready. Check out these vintage fondue pots: The kiddos only lasted for a few minutes into dinner, but the adults had a lovely time.  Blurry picture, but the flash one was terrible.After a very yummy dinner, my dad did his traditional telling of the Christmas story.  He also gives each of us the next chapter in his book “Thing I Wish My Father Had Told Me.”  He reads it to us and we all cry. Then we go around and share something we are thankful for this year and something we’re looking forward to in the next year.
Finally, the kiddos got to do what they were itching to do – open gifts!  My mom spoiled them rotten! Sunday morning, we got to go the Peoria Vineyard which is always a fabulous time! My cutie: I could not love this picture anymore of Ellie and her Grandpa. It was such a wonderful weekend with our family!

Christmas {part 1}

There’s so much to write about for Christmas this year, I’ll need to break it down into several posts.  First, here’s just a little of the decor we did this year: On Sunday, December 15th I put the kiddos in their fancy x-mas outfits so we could get 2 wears out of them, one here and one in Peoria.  Owen and his Sunday school class came in and sang one song in “big church.” Not a bad family picture of all 5 of us. :)

Christmas Card 2013

Without my sister nearby, I enlisted the help of photographer Brad Hart to do a few Christmas Card pictures.  The night before/morning of our shoot there was a huge blizzard.  Our streets weren’t plowed so we couldn’t get out.  Brad was able to drive his 4 wheeler over and grab a few pictures for us in the freezing cold. :)

And here is the card we ended up with from these great shots:

Merry Christmas!