Christmas

Favorite new decoration addition: paper fireplace! It made our living room so warm and cozy, I love it! And yes, I did fix Brian's stocking and made one for Ezra.

Ezra discovered how to open cupboards and drawers... even climbing inside them! And he got his first haircut... I just trimmed the back.

We went to the ward Christmas dinner party and the kids sat on Santa's lap. Ezra wasn't interested.

I took the boys to the Children's Museum with some friends for playgroup. The Yule Slide and Jolly Days continue to be a highlight of the season! Thomas particularly loved taking care of the reindeer, he has been playing Santa and turning his Buzz Lightyear ride-on toy into reindeer all month, so grooming and feeding stuffed reindeer was very exciting for him! I made lots and lots of cookies and cream popcorn for friend/neighbor gifts this year... 

We met up with the Maxwells and Pulhams at Christmas at the Zoo on one of the last warm weekend nights. We had a lot of fun... the dolphins were really active and fun in the underwater dome and I especially loved when we sang Christmas carols with the kids while we walked back to the car at the end of the night.

One Sunday night we watched White Christmas while we cut out paper snowflakes. We made it snow in our living room since Indiana didn't bring us any this year! We hung them up on the kitchen cupboards and windows.

On the last Friday of the semester we had a Christmas party at the Maxwells. We just did appetizers and dessert... and man was there a yummy spread! We had a great time visiting and relaxing, celebrating another crazy semester down. Andrea made sugar cookies for the kids to decorate, which they always love. It was a great night! Love these friends!

 

Maybrie wanted to do a Christmas activity one night so Brian sat down with the kids and drew nativity pictures with them. Super cute!

 Brian and Thomas went and ate lunch with Maybrie since Brian's school let out for the break a week before Maybrie's. I had to stay home with a sick Ezra. They found this sweet paper of Maybrie's displayed in the hallway.

I found out I have tendinitis and a stress fracture on my left foot, an ear infection and a hernia all on the same day! I get to wear this lovely boot for 6 weeks... it has been such a pain!

 I got to go help out with Maybrie's class holiday party at school. She's always excited when I come and I love getting to know her classmates and their parents.

 Brian and I splurged and went to a really nice restaurant called Iozzo's Garden of Italy for our anniversary date. We got a groupon and while we loved the atmosphere and appetizer, I was a little disappointed by my main dish. It was fun to be in such a fancy place... we felt a little out of place! haha

 We took the kids to the Indiana Historical Society Festival of Trees. It was our first time going there... such a beautiful building. We enjoyed looking at the decorated Christmas trees and helping the kids with some free crafts/activities. We even got to pose in The Christmas Story living room!

 

 

 The kids made me this button soup and brought it to me upstairs to help my foot feel better!

  
We decorated gingerbread houses... boys against girls. The pre-made houses are the way to go... so much faster when you skip the building step! The boys is on the right, girls on left. 

Maybrie and Thomas helped me make stockings for the Elders and Sisters serving in our ward. We had them over on Christmas day for dinner and our internet service so they could each talk to their families back home. The kids enjoyed the activity and the missionaries thought it was really sweet!

Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve. Maybrie was so excited to get "Elsa" pajamas and the boys looked really cute in their blue snowman pjs. Right after we took these pictures we heard a knock on our door and were surprised with this load from a secret Santa. The kids were so excited and I just cried through the whole gift unwrapping. It was so generous and obviously someone who knows us/me well because the things they got were totally our taste. It was a very overwhelming and special experience. I felt like we didn't even need anything Christmas morning after everything we received.

Santa came! I love to look at the magical scene of new toys and gifts all laid out in the cozy living room! Simply magical!

 I love sitting back and watching the kids play after all of the gifts have been opened. Once again, we were truly spoiled!

We ate a delicious dinner of ham, BBQ ribs, mac n cheese, cheesy potatoes, corn, asparagus, rolls and jello. We had the missionaries and our middle-aged single neighbor Terri over. It felt good to provide a home for people while they were away from family. Thomas became buddies with Elder Busby, it was pretty cute. They got permission to watch Disney and Christmas movies so we played Frozen and It's a Wonderful Life while they waited for companions to talk to their families. It was a neat Christmas. We enjoyed lazy pajama days and playing with new toys, watching movies, eating way too many treats and just being home together. Daddy had to study for boards basically every day which was a bummer, but we enjoyed the moments we got with him and made the most of them. We had a very Merry Christmas indeed!