Christmas

As soon as everyone woke up on Christmas morning we loaded up to go to Omah and Papa's to spend the day there with G.G., Aunts, Uncles, cousins and of course Omah and Papa. 

 

We were in a mad rush to get out the door and right after Daniel got the kids loaded I made him unload them because I needed a picture of them by the tree :) 

 

I love how Levi thinks he is one of the big boys.   

 

 

Aunt Anna led a kids devotional complete with prizes.  The kids all loved it.  It was so sweet hearing them all answer questions about the true meaning of Christmas. 

Listening to Papa read the Christmas story. 

 

After the kids woke up from naps we loaded them up to head Holyoke.  (3 hour car ride)

Joshua has pretty much stopped napping and just does a quiet time in his room.  He found some time on the ride to Holyoke to sneak in a little sleep. 

Levi checking our his littlest cousin Jeremiah. 

Levi saying hi to Great Grandpa.

These two had such a blast playing in Holyoke and played so well together the whole time.  They spent pretty much a whole day playing in Grandpa's room making a pound for all the puppies.  Great Grandma would be so happy to see them getting good use out of all the Pound Puppies she collected.

 

Their pound.   

This is "the" table in Holyoke.  By that I mean when we go to Holyoke this is where everyone sits all day.  Everything happens around this table.  This is where endless hours of games are played, discussions take place, lots and lots of laughter happens and where we all gather to eat.  I have been taking trips to Holyoke since Daniel and I got engaged in 2004 and I remember so clearly my very first trip.  Seeing my babies sitting at this table is so crazy to me!

Arm wrestling with Uncle Andrew. 

Papa with his youngest grandchild and oldest grandchild. 

 

Perhaps the most exciting thing that happened in Holyoke was Levi taking his first stretch of long steps.  Before this he would occasionally take 1 maybe 2 steps at a time.  It was the day after Christmas and he just randomly stood up (he's been doing that for a few weeks now) and took about 4-6 steps.  He just got up and walked liked he has been doing it his whole life. And he hasn't done that since :)  He will however stand up and try to jump.  #jumpingbeforewalking

Brother selfie. 

 

Joshua adores these big cousins of his! 

Driving home from Holyoke and of course we have a fort in the car. 

 

Merry Christmas to all!  My heart is full!

Christmas Eve

Can I just say that as a kid I thought Christmas was the best ever and couldn't get any better, but being a parent at Christmas time is way more fun!!!  We almost did our family Christmas a few days early simply because Daniel and I were so excited for our kids. 

 

We did our family Christmas the morning of Christmas Eve. 

 

The kids coming down in the morning.  

 

 

 

We started the morning off by finding baby Jesus for our manger scene.  You can't have Christmas without baby Jesus. 

 

Placing Jesus in the manger. 

 

Kayla insisted on eating breakfast before opening presents.  She must take after her Mama in that eating comes first in life :)  If you eat first you are in a much better mood. 

So we ate our oatmeal and true to our tradition we added colored sprinkles.  We also started a new tradition of monkey bread.  YUM-YUM!

Opening stockings. 

Kayla squealed with such excitement in notes that the human ear was not meant to hear. 

Levi found some puffs in his stocking and enjoyed them on the stairs.  Probably so nobody could take them away before he finished them off. 

 

Waiting to open presents. 

 

Every year we have the kids get a present for each other.  They both really like picking out presents for the other one.  While opening presents we could really tell that Joshua enjoyed giving gifts rather than opening them.  He also is a very thoughtful gift giver.  When talking about what we should get Daddy for his stocking he said, "tree seeds."  Then he said, "chocolate tree seeds so he can grow a chocolate tree."  Daddy's two favorite things, plating tress and chocolate. 

 

Kayla's excitement always tied in to her babies somehow.  Her new bike came with a baby doll seat.  She didn't say one word about getting a bike but she did shriek with excitement that it had a seat for her baby!  I put one of her old baby dolls on the changing table of her new nursery set she got.  She got so excited at the site of that baby even though it was an old baby. 

 



Trying to climb in Kayla's baby doll swing. 

Levi thought Kayla's new baby doll nursery was a jungle gym for him. 

 

Kayla with her real life baby.  

 

Later in the afternoon My Mom, Mark, Aunt Brooke and Aunt Sydney came over for dinner, games, and presents. 

Christmas ornament hunt.  I love that they still like this game.   

Loving on the bear Mimi gave him.   

 

Blessed to live so close to family and to spend such special days with them. 

December 2015

A look back on our December.   

 

Joshua loves to sit by the heater vent in the morning and will sometimes eat his breakfast by it.   

Kayla loved playing with the manger scene.  I love the audience that Baby Jesus has.  

 

They had a blast making "bow" soup.  They would pretend they had their own cooking show. 

Feeding Bear some "bow" soup.   

Levi enjoyed it too.  

Joshua stayed busy making rockets out of empty TP rolls. 

My boy is such a genius.  He tied this rocking house to a ride on car.  Every time he tried pulling the horse with the car the string broke.  So I discovered him upstairs taping empty TP rolls to the bottom of the horse.  When I asked what he was doing he told me he thought it would glide better when pulled by the car if it had wheels.  I love his ideas. 

We hosted our 1st annual cookie exchange and it was a lot of fun!

 

Joshua still enjoys tent building.  He steaks the black tarp (trash bag) down with golf tees.   

The higher the better for this little guy.  The higher I pushed him the harder he belly laughed.  No fear!

 

Story time. 

He just crawls around story time making friends. 

 

Happy Birthday Jesus party!

 

Levi's new thing is to make a high pitched noise and shoot his hand straight up in the air as a way of saying hi.  He does this when he hears Daddy walking in the door before he even sees him.  He also does this in the morning as we are walking to Kayla's room.   

 

Watching one of their favorite shows about David and Goliath. Kayla is excited, can ya tell?!

He got cold so he doubled layered his pj's. 

 

The ultimate fort with air mattresses. 
 

When we have a long stretch of frigid weather we have to get creative on how to burn energy.  One of their favorite things to play is the mattress game.  I couldn't believe how Levi got right in there with them and played like he was 3 years old.  He was climbing up and rolling down and just having a blast.  Apparently the mattress game makes them all hot ;)

 

Levi learned how to stand unassisted this month.  He gets so proud of himself and starts clapping mid squat.

This sweet boy signs more, all done, and please.  He also plays peek-a-boo, gives kisses, and loves to give hugs.  It warms my heart when he randomly crawls up to J or K and hugs them. 

 

Levi took off his hat and when I told him to put it back on his head he carefully sat it on his head, held his arms out very stiff like and wouldn't move so the hat wouldn't fall off.  Goofball!

 

He is such a climber!

This boy is into everything and is fast!  He discovered how to take the vents off.  I have even found a picture down one vent.  He also wiggled an outlet over off of the wall.  He loves the stairs and will climb half way up any chance he gets, waits for me to come get him, and then beelines it up the rest of the way laughing when I go to get him. 

 

The Blancs came to visit for Christmas and stayed several days with us.  The cousins all has so much fun together.  They loved waking up at the same time and would always give each other a hug first thing in the morning. 

 

Omah and Papa's Christmas train is always a favorite.

 

Aunt Anna Changing Levi's diaper and Mama Kayla (as she makes us call her) changing her baby's diaper.

 

full house =full heart

   

 

All the girls went out for coffee and as you can tell from the look on her face Kayla was tickeld.   

 

Cousins sledding. 

 

Perhaps the best thing about December was that Daddy had close to 3 weeks off from work!  His work gives their employees a big chunk of time of for Christmas and he usually takes a few vacation days up against that and it is soooo nice.  It is always so hard when he has to go back to work after the 1st of the year.  As Kayla said the day he had to go back to work, "When Daddy goes to work I be sad.  When Daddy comes home I be happy."