Christmas Morning!

I've talked about how we handle Christmas before.  I won't get into all of that again. 

From Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve the kids take turns opening a Christmas book every night (ones we already own).  It is such a great build-up to Christmas.  A fun tradition we have been doing now for years.  This year we added a wrapped Bible to open first and read on Christmas morning. 

We also started another tradition this year- the kids had to gather a big bag full of toys to put under the tree on Christmas Eve night for Santa to "Pass On" before he would leave gifts for them.  (Yes.  Of course they know the truth, but it is so fun to pretend!)

We also do the 4-gift thing, although it's not as structured as some people (such as the want-need-wear-read system).  JD and I get them 3 gifts, and they pick one out for one another.  With stockings, we believe this is PLENTY of presents!

Cookies for Santa

It was a messy affair.

And they turned out... well... very decorated.

Isaac's monster-man was my favorite:

Santa politely took a bite of each, and left a thank-you note.

Ha!

 

Mema's House

We love you, Mema!

Christmas in Batesville

We love all of the versions of Annie.  The new one was great.  Halle said her favorite thing (besides the songs) was that Miss Hannigan turned out to be not AS bad at the end.  Ha! 

We got to be at Parker's official/friends birthday party.  Isaac was pretty fearless and determined to master the slides this time.  :)

Parker and Ty aged about 20 years while we were there:

The girls' puppet-babies were a big hit:

Kristi and Josh and their family recently moved in right across the street from JD's parents, which is AWESOME.  We get to see them a lot more, and the kids (well, all of us!) loved getting to hang out at their house!

One evening was spent  making pizzas and playing!

Nerf gun shooting range!

Parker and Ty spent a TON of time playing one on one:

We LOVE these boys:

(Caleb, Jake, and Parker)

Christmas Baking with Aunt Kathryn

They spent the afternoon with Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Scott, and came back with a pan full of a Parker family specialty- Carmelettas... YUM.  :)

Thanks, Kathryn and Scott!  The girls loved spending time with you!

On The Road: Illinois

We played the last three games of the trip in West Frankfort, IL.

We won two, pretty handily, and lost one ugly one.

I love being able to be at road games, win or loss.

In between playing days we got to go to a really nice church gym/youth building in Carbondale to play and hang out.  JD reconnected with an old FCA friend who let us use his church's facilities.  Crazy-random connection.

We all enjoyed it!  :)

The kids are pretty good at hotel life any time, but having Nana and Papa only an open doorway away was just the icing on the cake.  Between playing hide and seek in the hotel (it was fairly large) and racing stairs vs. elevators, the kids (and my parents) found plenty to do!  :)

Because this trip was also our Christmas with my side of the family, my mom made sure to make it special.  She and the girls created a paper Christmas tree, complete with ornaments and a paper garland:

And my dad strung lights around to make it extra festive!

They also made a gingerbread village:

 

Our Christmas party was complete with stockings, gifts, snacks, and toasts with sparkling grape juice!

Even though I can hardly stand missing another Christmas in Iowa, it really turned out to be a great holiday.  We are SO grateful that my parents spent the time and money to be with us! 

On The Road: Gateway Arch

On the way to our second game in Marion, IL, we stopped to see my Grandma's sister, Glenda, and had a nice lunch visit with her.  Then we made a slight detour through St. Louis for the kids to see the Arch.  It had been 20ish years since my parents and I had been though it, and it was WAY better than I remembered.  Of course when you're (almost) 13, and it's hot, there are long lines, and you have a 10 year old brother, it doesn't make for the greatest memories.  Ha!

Halle was very unsure about going to the top.  One of the workers saw her trying not to freak out cry and said, "I'll see your smiling face when you come back down!"

He was right.

Her patented "I'm terrified" move:

(fingers in the ears)

 

Yeah... Isaac had no problem with the idea:

At the top!

 

We went at a great time of day- the city lights were gorgeous!

 

After we went to the top, we went through the museum and the kids filled out their I-Spy papers to earn a Jr. Ranger badge.  (They were very serious about the whole thing!)

This thing thoroughly creeped me out.

It was a robotic mannequin display (one of several), but it was broken and moved in a halting and disturbing way- he never raised his head, and his face was always shadowed...  shudder.

One more thing to find!

Hooray!!

They are still SO proud of those badges! Ha!

(Obviously, I am not including Isaac.  He couldn't care less.)

 

It was such a fun and memorable stop.

Thank you, Nana and Papa for taking us there!!