We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma Chris & Grandpa Mike's (Josh's parents). The kids were so excited to see snow as we drove over the mountains and through the woods to Grandma & Grandpa's home, even if there wasn't very much of it. It was enough to elicit joy! :)
Grandma & Grandpa's backyard... the bend in the river is so lovely.
After dinner the kids put on their pj's that Gr. Chris & Gr. Mike gave them and we took our annual cousins photo. I love this little bunch. They've outgrown the bench and graduated to the hearth.
Then it was time for the Christmas story...
...and then the long awaited time to open presents!
Cute little cousin Hans...
His favorite place to play was behind this curtain... I love that little smile!
I always love chatting with Great Grandma Fegles. The snow kept them from visiting other family, but I was glad we got to have them there with us.
The exciting gift of the night was when Selah got this chicken from Gr. & Gr. She was SO happy! It's been by her side each day since. Our animal adorer.
Cheesy smile? No problem, unfortunately I've got that dialed in. ;)
Caleb and Chloe...
Gr. Mike & Gr. Chris...
Thank you for such a lovely Christmas Eve!
The next morning we woke up in our beds and the kids followed the little trail of chocolates down the stairs... then they busted through wrapping paper to "unwrap Christmas". Jude had some sweet ninja moves! Josh took some slow-motion videos, which were a lot of fun to watch after.
Group pic before we opened presents... I thought for sure that Selah's two front teeth would've fallen out before Christmas, but she doesn't want to wiggle them at all, so they are holding on . But Jude just lost another tooth!
Onto stockings!
Days before Christmas, the kids individually went with me to the store to shop for their siblings, so they had a lot of fun exchanging gifts with one another.
After all of our gift opening we did our traditional scavenger hunt for their final big gift, which this year was a group gift. Josh made up the clues this year and did such a great job! They were giddy running all over the place finding clues in places like the dryer, or where Lucy the cat sleeps... :)
And the sweetest, most thoughtful gift ever that Josh got me was this viola. As long as he's known me, he's heard me say that I want to learn to play. It was such a huge surprise, because in the back of my mind I figured I'd never really learn to play... it was always one of those things that I figured I'd say I wanted to play until I was 85, at which point I'd then say I always wished I had learned to play the viola. But it was like Josh took note of this desire of my heart and turned it into a reality. He's amazing! I've had so much fun playing it! But we think this one is too large for my frame, so we'll need to figure that out next. I can't wait to learn more & more, and thankfully because I've played guitar since college this doesn't feel 100% foreign, which is nice. Just 90% foreign. ;)
Then we loaded up in the car to head to my grandparent's house.
With each progressive Christmas I felt myself slacking and taking less photos. :)
Granny got each of the kids an Olaf, and Nora was so funny, she didn't want anything to do with him, even though she loves Frozen! She was brave for a second and touched him. She was also given a doll which she didn't want anywhere near her. :)
Jen made these beautiful plates with each of our fingerprints in the shape of hearts...
It was an emotional Christmas with Uncle Jeff having just passed away, but it was very special too.
Since Christmas we've enjoyed some quality down time together and it's been so nice having Josh on vacation. We've been playing games with the kids, doing puzzles, resting, reading, cleaning, getting outside to soak up some vitamins from the sun when it appears!
Days with no pressing agenda are such a treat! Josh snapped this of me this morning and I thought it pretty much summed up our vacation mornings.
I suppose it's time to take down the Christmas decorations...
I'm so thankful for such sweet memories made with our families,
and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!
xoxo
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