Merry Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas! I hope your holiday season has been filled with as much love and fun as ours has.

 We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day at home but prior to that we made a flying trip to see my husband's family. It was good to spend some time with them and watch all the cousins playing. It's amazing how large the family is (we definitely contribute to that) and how much each child changes as they grow a bit more between the previous visit. Riley stayed hyped up on sugar most of the time and Payton was obsessed with using her cousin's camera to take pictures. Jayden was extra attached to his mommy and shy with his extended family. Mom and dad came home exhausted.

Payton really wanted to make gifts this year as she has in the past. She loves the Little House on the Prairie books and I think that plays a huge role in her wanting to create things for others. I just love her giving heart so much.

 So, Payton and Riley went out to the shop with their daddy and crafted away. This was the better part of a weekend. When they aren't crafting, we are playing hard.

We made one more trip to see Santa and do some fun activities making puzzles, snowman bags, and gingerbread houses. The kids also took another opportunity to send a letter to Santa. 

We try really hard to make time for each child 1 on 1. I snuck away with Riley earlier this week to grab groceries. He then convinced me to go to the park. We had a blast and ended up surprising him with his daddy, brother and sister meeting us there!

We had a great time as a family playing the afternoon away. We came home to what we thought would be a burned pork roast. It was all edible so we called it a success!

That night we also crashed hard and Monte took a picture of Riley and I asleep together. This is rare any more as Riley is generally pretty insistent that Daddy lay with him. Some days though he still asks for me.

It is sad how quickly time goes and kids start to decide when they want you. It breaks my heart when I'm not chosen but my heart definitely sings when I am picked.

We have been busy making and handing out salt dough ornaments with our family Christmas cards and baking, baking, baking. We love to bake and (more importantly) to eat.

Here is a picture of the big kids making cookies for Santa.

On Christmas Eve we drove around looking at lights as a family and opened our gifts to each other. I was so surprised and honored to receive the gifts the kids made for me with their daddy:

They are some of the most creative people I know!

The kids went to bed early and fell right to sleep, despite thinking they could stay up all night. Santa arrived but put their presents in our basement play room. Sneaky Santa.

The kids spent the day playing with their gifts. We had some friends stop by in the afternoon to bring us a dessert and they ended up staying for dinner. It was a great Christmas for us and we feel so blessed.

Today, we splashed in the puddles after getting a cold rain. I wanted to get outside before the snow. Now, we are snug in our home, cuddling and waiting to be snowed in.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!