Christmas in Holden

Since the girls spent Thanksgiving with their dads, they both missed being At Grandma Jill's and Papa's so they begged and begged for us to spend part of Christmas break in Holden. I was glad to oblige!

When we got there the kids had presents just waiting for them to open! 

While there, we celebrated New Years, played late night games, had a sleepover with cousins, ate lots of good food and relaxed! We always look forward to going to Holden and the time there seems to fly by. Especially when the next anticipated trip isn't until summer ---Boo!

We did make the most of every second there and always look forward to next time!

 

 

 

While we were there I decided that I needed a little bit of help cutting Tanna's hair. It was so long on the top and out of control.

 

 

Apparently I didn't get an after picture, but it was much better.

 

A trip to Holden wouldn't be complete without seeing this sweet boy!

Fa.la.la.la.la.la.la.la.LA....Tis the Season

It is so hard to be blogging about Christmas right now, when all you want  is green grass and a warm sunny day!

We have had quite the winter this year!

At least we celebrated a White Christmas.

TIS THE SEASON

Tis the Season , to take sides...To Elf or not to Elf? Fake tree or real? Listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving or no way? Black Friday or Cyber Monday? Holiday baking from scratch or from the store? And the big one...Santa Claus or the Savior?

I am certain either way...as long as we remember in our home--The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.

So with the mix of teenagers, tweenagers and little's the most important part of Christmas this year was to have the Magic of Christmas in our home the entire month of December. I may have failed at times to complete this goal of mine, but to date, this was one of the best ones yet!

CHRISTMAS EVE

We did our usual baking of goodies and delivering to friends and neighbors. That consumed so much of our time that we had to postpone our bible themed meal til the next night. 

We did have our traditional Christmas program and of course the kids begged to open a present or two.

The gift is always anticipated, even though most of them already know what it is.

This year we started a new tradition where we each drew a name and bought a gift for that person. The kids talked me into opening those presents as well. But who could resist these cute kiddos?!

 Of course, Clay and Dakota did not want to stop at just those few gifts "because Momma, there are still presents under the tree."

 

 

 

 

Jeslyn drew Tann's name and instead of buying her a gift she probably wouldn't use, Jeslyn wrote her a letter to save and open later on in her life. So thoughtful and so sweet!

 

CHRISTMAS

I was excited for Christmas to come this year. 

I knew it was going to be fun with the little's. 

The one request that I had for Christmas was to sleep in a little. And that they all did!

8:50 am! I also made the kids open 1 present at a time. Which was hard at times for Clay, but it made our Christmas last longer and was more enjoyable.

 

Christmas 2015 was a success.

Here's to a new year...happy and healthy...and full of family and fun!