Christmas Day 2015

Christmas morning... yes the kids are up early (but nothing like in some houses!).  I think we started opening presents by 7:30!

Presents from Santa-a Belle doll and clothes for her doll

Santa presents-Chicago Bears Throwback football and blanket

Landon got this Yoda from Mary

 This smile says it all!  Matt and I went back and forth several times about getting Emerson an American Girl doll.  They are SOOO expensive.  But every time she made a Christmas list, talked to Santa, talked to Tricky the elf to tell Santa, looked at the magazines....this was number one on her list.  She has strict instructions to take care of her or she will be put back in the box for a week.  So far, she LOVES her!  Grace, the doll, goes everywhere with her.  She dresses her for each occasion and we even put her in the shopping cart at Meijer.

 After we played with new toys and cleaned up, we went over to Papa B and Memaw's house for lunch and more presents.  Funny how the kids never tire of opening up presents! :)  We had a delicious lunch and the kids had fun opening new things and helping their new cousin, Caleb, open his gifts!

Steven trying to figure out how those doll shoes go on! :)

We had such a nice time with family for the Christmas holiday and are so blessed to celebrate Jesus' birth!

Christmas Eve 2015

Christmas Eve morning, we spent at Papa H and Gma's house.  Uncle Nate came home for a few days so it was nice to visit with him as well.  We have a yummy brunch and then the kids can hardly wait to open their presents!

Finally getting to break the wishbone from the Thanksgiving turkey!:)

Once Landon opened this sweatshirt, he kept it on all day (not all zipped up thankfully!)

In the late afternoon, all of us went to see "Star Wars The Force Awakens".  The kiddos each got a new Star Wars shirt from Grandma and Grandpa.  Daddy had already gone to see the movie the last week and thought it'd be ok for the kids (even though it is rated PG 13)  We all had a great time at the theater and ate a ton of popcorn! :)

Opening the traditional Christmas pjs!

Love this one!!

In the new pjs, getting ready for Santa's visit.

The kids are always so excited for Santa's visit.  Landon took forever to go to sleep (that's pretty normal for him anyway) and Emerson woke up at about 11 and was still awake when I went to bed at midnight!  Thankfully she said she still missed Santa's visit!

Tricky, our Elf

Our kids were so excited again to have our Elf on the Shelf, Tricky visit for the holidays.  He was one of the reasons we ran late to school each day because the kiddos had to get up and race around to find him each morning.  He did a good job of keeping them on their toes!  Emerson loved writing notes to him and Santa.  We enjoyed having him visit each day and are looking forward to him visiting next year!

On Christmas Eve morning, I found Emerson sitting beside Tricky and the tree patiently waiting for someone to wake up and read the note Santa left (it was in cursive).  Santa explained that since they had been so good, they could carefully play with Tricky and Santa would pick him up that night and let him ride back in the sleigh.  They both took turns playing with him all day.  Emerson cried when we told her it was almost time for him to return to the North Pole! :(  This girl loves deep!!
I love this magical time of year!

Christmas at church and with friends

On December 13th, the kids had their performance at church. Landon was content to just do a small amount while Emerson wanted to be in the whole show!  They both sang duets to "Little Drummer Boy." 

Emerson had a Bible verse she had to memorize and recite  (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

We got to fill in for Melanie and the kids in a play at church about the early Brethren Christmas.  The kids had a lot of fun, although Landon was disappointed that he didn't have more "big" words to say in his part!

Christmas Sunday at church

Sunday night, we went to the Davis family's house to celebrate Friend Christmas.  We had pizza and decorated cookies for Santa.  The kids had a ball running all over the place!

We're all getting pretty excited that Christmas is just around the corner!

Purdue Star Wars basketball game

We went to our Purdue basketball game for Kids Club and it just happened to be a Star Wars inspired game, which made Emmy happy!  We stayed with the Bergers, who are always so hospitable.

Emerson had to get her picture taken by another Emerson!

These girls have so much fun together!

After the game, we got to go down on the court and in the locker room.  The kids got to shoot baskets on the floor.

We spotted AJ Hammons who was gracious enough to stay around after the game and take pictures /give autographs.

We had a great time with the Bergers and Shaws and another bonus was the weather.  We went just as you see, no coats or anything in December.  Crazy!  Can't wait until next year!