Christmas Celebrations

Christmas is such a magical time as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  It was so nice to have Nate and Sara here this year to celebrate.  We all went to church together and got pictures beside the huge Christmas tree in the narthex.

Our "perfect" tree! :) 

On Christmas Eve day, we always go to the Hahn's for a brunch and to spend the day.  We had a nice time eating, playing games, talking, going to the Christmas Eve church service, and just being together.

Landon and Emmy were so excited to be asked to be a junior groomsman and bridesmaid in Nate and Sara's wedding!  Emmy said it was her favorite gift of all! :)

Then that evening, the kiddos had to open their new Christmas pjs, get Santa's cookies and milk ready, and say goodbye to their elf, Tricky, for another year.

Emerson picked out bracelets and charms for all of the special ladies in her life and wrapped them up.  She has such a giving heart!  Mine has  a mom charm, palm tree, flip flops, and sunglasses!

Christmas morning, the kids were actually quiet until 7:30 when they insisted we get up so they could open presents!

Emmy got a school set for her American Girl doll and Landon got a Madden '19 NFL video game.

They were also excited about the illustrated books of Harry Potter.  We are reading through them together (currently we are on book 5....which is taking us literally FOREVER to finish...it's long!) but Landon said he wanted to start reading them on his own too.

We went to the Clarks for lunch and got to spend time with my side of the family.

Emerson got a camper for her dolls, which she loves!

The kids enjoyed helping Caleb and Brooklyn open presents too.

Phew!  Well, I think that is all for our December!  It is always such a busy time, but I look forward to spending time with family and friends and watching the kids get so excited.  Especially Emerson!  She always talks for days about how she can't wait for Christmas!  I hope you all enjoyed the holiday as well!

Thanksgiving and Purdue Basketball

We went to dad and mom's for Thanksgiving this year.  It was nice to have Todd and Cathy join us too!  We had a great day with LOTS of food.  The kids enjoyed watching the parade and playing together!

 Landon played us some Christmas songs on the piano.

 Cathy brought some ornaments for the kids to make.

 The next day, we headed down to West Lafayette for a basketball game.

10 year old boys are so silly!

 The kids were so excited because we came down on a Friday so they had all day Saturday to play with Gunnar and Clella!  The girls enjoyed dressing up and boys played Mario Cart.

Purdue Kids Club Game and Tailgating

When I heard that the Purdue Kid's Club football game was November 3rd, I was NOT excited (remember the weather over Fall Break a few weeks earlier?).  Well, we ended up with a beautiful, sunny day to cheer on the Boilers vs Iowa.  We went down early to tailgate.  Todd and Cathy drove down with us and we met up with the Bergers and some of their friends.

The game was packed and the Boilers pulled out a last second field goal to win the game.

It was so exciting!  The crowd rushed onto the field.

Then we went back to spend the night at the Bergers.  The next day when they headed off to church, we went to campus to walk around, showing these future Boilermakers around! :)

We had a great weekend and although it was cold, we made some great memories!

Cousin Time and Dawning Generation Clinic

We also got to watch Caleb and Brooklyn the same weekend.  We went to church at mom and dad's church to celebrate the ending of their vbs.

 We also got to go to the Fall Fest at the Davis's church where there were carnival games, blow up slides, yummy food, and candy.  Poor Caleb only got a short nap so he wasn't too happy,  but I think everyone else had a good time.

 Emmy went to the dawning generation clinic on a Saturday morning where she learned a song/dance to perform at the concert the following Tuesday.  She enjoyed being on stage.