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!

Another Eaglebots Win, Matt's Birthday, and Christmas Concerts

The Eaglebots did it again!  Got 1st and 2nd place in their second tournament on Dec. 1 with a combined high score in the state!  It is so fun to watch all their hard work pay off.  Congrats!

We also celebrated Matt's 41st birthday!  He is so special to our family so we were happy to celebrate him!

We have been going to Nappanee Missionary Church since August, but the kids REALLY wanted to take part in the Christmas Play at Union Center.  So, for most of October and November they had practices on Wednesday and Saturday.  They both played the part of toy farmers in a toy shop.

The kiddos did a great job and the set was amazing as always!

They didn't have big parts, but they enjoyed being a part of the production.

2 days after the church performance was the school concert.  Emerson had several lines that she had auditioned for.  She did a great job speaking.  This will probably be her area of expertise!  She's a great performer!

After the concert

Oh, Christmas Tree...

Our annual trip to the Christmas Tree Farm was a little different this year.  We were worried we wouldn't have time the first weekend in December so we went a week early on the way home from West Lafayette.  We stopped in a little town called Idaville on the way home.  The place was really cute!  The kids were disappointed that we couldn't see Santa and Landon even asked if we were still going to Eby Pines.  So, I guess we'll go back to the normal place next year.  But it was a fun change.

The kids are always so great with decorating (and undecorating) the tree each year.  They always like to put on their special ornaments and I have gotten much less OCD when it comes to the "perfect" tree.  Ours was a little too short, a little bald in a spot, and ornaments were way too close together.  But it was perfect for us!

The finished product....let the Christmas season begin!

Basketball, Snow, and Serving

Landon always wants to do ALL the camps/sports/whatever is offered through the school, so he had fun doing the Panther Baskeball camp for 4 nights.

Last Friday (Nov. 9th), we had our first snowfall of the year.

On Saturday, we had the opportunity to make meals with NMC for Feed My Starving Children.  We worked together to fill bags of food to be delivered all over the world.  It's always a great time serving others as a family!

I turned 40!

My 40th birthday weekend was full of surprises starting with my lovely school picture :) displayed around my door and on all the bulletin boards down my hallway on Friday, my birthday.  There were balloons in my room and my favorite Heath bars from the best coworkers!  I love those ladies!  My students were also quite generous with gifts!  They were so excited to give everything they bought/made for me.  So cute! Matt had the day off so he got to come for lunch with me and the kiddos and brought a bouquet of flowers.

Every time we have a birthday in the family, the birthday person gets to pick a restaurant to go to.  I picked Colombo's.  They have yummy pizza and we hadn't been there in a long time.

Then on Saturday, I was under the impression that Matt and I were going on a date for my birthday.  He didn't tell me where we were going, just that the kiddos were going to grandma and grandpa's for the night.  When we got to the South Bend Casino's Kankakee Grill, the hostesses were having trouble finding our reservation for 2.  That's because all these people were there to surprise me:

We had a nice dinner together and then walked around the casino a bit.  A few of us played some slot machines.  Matt put a $5 in one machine and I ended up winning....

Then on Sunday, I celebrated at mom and dad's.  I certainly felt loved and everyone made turning 4-0 a little easier! ;)

We have a 10 year old

It is so hard to believe that this young man is double digits already.  10 years ago we were in a hospital in Virginia waiting for this little guy to be born.

Now we are running him to every sporting event he wants to participate in, piano lessons, and robotics club.  He is a sweet, smart, kind kiddo who is thoughtful and a little forgetful and disorganized.  But we wouldn't have him any other way!  We love you, buddy!

Landon by his birth tree

 Landon's birthday party for his friends was on a rainy, windy, warm Saturday.  His flag football game was cancelled because of thunderstorms, but a beautiful rainbow appeared.

Landon with his buddies: Tyler, Sebastian,  Karsten, Kaiden, Micah, and Kyler 

 The boys had a good time, beating up each other with pool noodle lightsabers, playing in the barn, and playing football.

Cornhole and the ball bucket game 

 The next day, we had Landon's family birthday party.

Someone got their face smashed into the ice cream cake! 

Nice helmet Emmy

Is it cold in here Brooklyn?