I feel kind of weird writing about Christmas seeing as though it was nearly 5 months ago, but I want to be sure to document it as that's my favorite time of the year (and I want to share our fun with you!)! We had so much fun being back in our house this Christmas, and even though life was still really crazy at that point because we hadn't been back home too terribly long from Korea, we had a great time being with those we love.
Now... Sit back and try to imagine the smell of a fresh Christmas tree as you look through a very condensed version of Christmas 2013 for our family (and yes, this is condensed if you consider it's a lot of December)...
Dash, our Elf, came to visit the boys again this year!
And boy was he up to some silly stuff and get into some predicaments...
We decorated our first gingerbread house this year, which was super fun!
We used this reusable house that my mom gave us (it all snaps together and you just wash all the stuff off when you're ready to break it down and store it), and it worked like a charm!
There might've been a few candies missing here and there by the time Christmas rolled around. Every now and then I'd catch one of the boys up on a chair "admiring" it. :)
I got to spend quite a bit of time on several occasions with these lovely ladies: one sister in law, one better-be-sister-in-law-one-day-or-we're-gonna-have-a-problem, and one sister. :)
(Anddddd Spencer and Holden were there too in their Mommas' tummies!)
I love being with them. :)
We went to Zoo Lights at the Houston Zoo.
We had my dad over for Christmas at our house, and the absolute BEST thing about this visit was that our sister, Savannah, came to see us! It had been 2 1/2 years since we had seen her last, so this was a pretty emotional visit for me. I love her so much, and I wish she never moved so far away from us. I pray that one day she'll be closer to us, and I mean that in more ways than one. She's very dear to us, to say the least.
There's nothing like a sister. Period.
Christmas at my mom's was full of ugly sweaters (and maybe an ugly hair piece and jewelry too!). So fun!
Hilarious! When they stood next to each other (and Kaylon up on a stair), they created a Christmas tree with their shirts.
I made the three boys' ugly sweaters:
Ho 1, Ho 2, and Ho 3. :)
We had the greatest idea this year. Instead of either buying everyone gifts or drawing names, we said everyone had to buy something for $3 or less for every person's stocking. There were 11 people other than yourself, so at the very most you could potentially spend $33. Not only was it great cost wise, but it was actually fun to see what everyone decided to give. My sister gave me a picture frame of herself (ha!), we got a lotto ticket (T and I actually both won on each of ours), our favorite candy, and even a roll of designed duct tape. This was genius!
My mom gifted me with two huge scrapbooks from my wedding. I got married 8 years ago, people. Hey, better late than never. :) I love them, Mom, and they're so special, because I know how much effort and time went into them. Thank you!
The family that plays together, stays together. I think the chosen game this year was Battle of the Sexes.
On Christmas Eve before we snuggled the boys into bed, we made sure to sprinkle our Reindeer Food on the front lawn so Santa and his reindeer would stop at our house.
They also laid out their treats for Santa. We're so lucky that Talton knows exactly what kind of treats Santa wants every year...because it has been known to change from year to year. :)
Connar also wrote Santa a note. This is the first time he's ever signed his own note to Santa. Precious.
We couldn't forget to tell our elf, Dash, goodbye until next Christmas before we went to bed.
C was not pleased with saying goodbye.
But P kissed and hugged him. :)
After the boys were in bed, Mr. & Mrs. Claus set up Santa gifts and stockings.
I get giddy every year when we do this. I love this tradition and knowing that our parents once did this for us and theirs for them. :)
We're taking advantage of how we can get away with small, cheaper Santa gifts while we can.
This Bat Cave is the one thing C asked Santa for. How easy is that?!
And Mrs. Claus knew that P would love his own Thomas the Train track.
Don't you just love a Christmas tree all lit up at night?
Just standing there with my boys in bed and Santa having already visited made me excited to get to bed myself so I could see my kids' faces as they rounded the corner in the morning to see their new toys. Isn't it funny how you can get the same excited feeling on Christmas morning to watch your kids open their presents as you use to when it was you opening gifts as a child? Love that.
Santa even left a note for them!
Our family picture on Christmas morning. Classic. That's our life though, right there in that picture. Silly boys. :)
Poor thing was just asking about these glasses like two days ago. We're now in May, so these babies are long gone, dude. He did have fun using them with his GrammE though.
We like to stay home on Christmas (we don't like the idea of asking the kids to sit in a car driving to various places and leaving all their new toys behind), so after opening presents, we had our annual pancake breakfast and played lots of games together.
It was a great Christmas! It's hard to believe that we'll be back at this same time in 7 short months. Crazy how time flies!
