Afterward we opened Christmas eve gifts via FaceTime with family, had Susan over to open her Gma gifts with us, went and played an incredibly fun few hours of Ultimate Frisbee with all our friends (gorgeous weather; 45 degrees!), and then participated in our family's nativity reading; we are always the wisemen from afar. Then the kids were all given their special pillow cases that have a special poem about Christmas eve dreams, Travis read them the Night Before Christmas in front of the fire, they set out cookies, and then went to their rooms for a very RESTLESS night's rest.
Travis and I cleaned, wrapped, and prepped for Santa's arrival until 4am-
As tradition dictates, we always start off by putting on Christmas Vacation in the background while getting everything ready :D Next, we ended up watching Christmas with the Kranks and Travis decided that he REALLY doesn't like that movie anymore; he views the daughter as spoiled and out of touch with real life, and that the mom coddles her too much!
"I mean, why is she even engaged after one month? It's not even like she's Mormon."
I died when he said this.
"At 4am, we'd snuggled in our beds, and dreams of sugar plums were soon to dance in our heads. The glowing house was silent and still, when the sound of a jingle caused the children to squeal.
Bright and early the boys burst in our room with a yell, "Santa has been here! We even heard his bell!
While mom and dad could barely open their eyes, they knew all the work was worth this Christmas surprise.
The day was spent unwrapping gifts and being lazy. Many treats were eaten and the kids played like crazy. We watched our new movies in our Christmas pajamas, then spent time FaceTiming Grandpas and Grandmas.
By the end of the day, our energy all spent. We slept, super grateful, for the gifts we all did get."
*Boys each received Mountain bikes, and Travis took them out on a ride to test them out.
*Addie and Avery received an indoor trampoline for the toy room and they love it!
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| My new coat |
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| Santa left their stockings downstairs under their special 'Kid's tree." |
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| She read so many of the Christmas books from our collection |
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| Maddix was very worried about whether he was on the naught list, no matter how much we assured him he couldn't possibly be; he had to hear it from Santa. This was the note he wrote, and the answer he received. |
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| We are so grateful to have "Gma Susan" to celebrate life with. |
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Ringing in the New Years
I couldn't WAIT to get all the decorations down this year; normally I enjoy letting them linger awhile, but this year I found so much joy in cleaning and packing them all away.
We've had a lot of quality time. There as also been more screen time then I typically enjoy; however, I'm sure the boys will always remember the year we set up the t.v. in their lego room and let them play video games on the Wii! They are so cute; they sit up in the top bunk, in the dark, snacking on treats, and playing games. They've also had a lot of opportunities to play with friends. And on New Year's Eve we went to a friend's house and rang in the new year at their annual party, which we always enjoy; I cannot believe we kept the girls up though!!!
Needless to say, we all slept in the next morning.
I will always find it funny that the New Year is when goals are set to wake up early, sleep earlier, eat healthier, and exercise.... but we start these goals off by staying up late, eating junk, and being too tired the next to day to possibly exercise! :D
But it's pretty fun.
Happy New Year 2020!
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| Organized and baby proofed again!! |
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| Received a new hook to put our bags on |
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| Family Twister on Aaron's new game |
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| And of course Addie is into EVERYTHING and climbed the shelf to get all the finger paints.... it was such a mess. |
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| Missionary work is so important, and I know the importance of sharing the missionaries with different areas each time there is a transfer, but I sure hate saying goodbye! This has definitely been my favorite duo since Poland! We will miss you E. Butler. |
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| Just happy about life, and how blessed we feel. |
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