The Christmas holiday was a little different for us this year. After being in Mansfield for a few days, we headed back to Powell in the afternoon of Christmas Eve. After a morning of lounging and then all receiving our traditional pajamas (this year we did it around the kitchen table!) we headed back home and readied ourselves for church at NPC. This was the first year we’ve attended our church on Christmas Eve. It was a nice service of songs, a short sermon, and candles at the end. I spent the last 15 minutes perusing the hallways and lobby with Reid as he was operating on full-speed and wouldn’t sit still or be quiet. 
After we had opened almost all the gifts we had a quick and tasty breakfast of overnight french toast. Then we headed to the basement to “take a few toys downstairs”. Kevin had setup a new train track and we’d covered the air hockey table and put a bow on it. I was really surprised at how low-key Griffin was. He thought whatever was under the sheet was for us, not him! Once we uncovered it everyone jumped in and played a couple of games.
Next up, we packed up some things and headed north to Mansfield to continue Christmas with Mom, Dad, and the Bethunes. Graham, Rowan, and Greta were excited to show Finn and Reid their gifts. Then a small bit of chaos ensued while everyone opened more gifts, lol. 
Before Christmas Dinner we did another round of family photos. I didn’t include any outtakes here, but believe me there were plenty of cries and crankiness between these great ones. Reid can quickly flip a switch from fussy to happy baby. 
Here are several shots of Reid and his funny expressions. As I’ve said before, he’s extremely observant and can mock and behavior, expression, or sound if he feels up to it. He is also quite in to clicking and unclicking his high chair or car seat snaps. He can easily occupy himself for 10 minutes just clicking and unclicking.
With the holidays I’ve enjoyed a bit of a relaxed work schedule. I’ve taken a few days off and the other days gone in a bit later. We enjoyed a nice french toast and sausage breakfast one morning before I left – Hannah joined us too. 
We headed to Enon for a couple days for the Armstrong Christmas. This year the Christmas gathering was at Jim and Pat’s house. Not long after we arrived Griffin was pretty excited to open gifts, so we opened them and then played with all the new toys. Griffin also loved playing on Grandma and Grandpa’s mini-trampoline. It’s a good way to expend some energy 🙂
We headed to Enon for a couple days for the Armstrong Christmas. This year the Christmas gathering was at Jim and Pat’s house. Not long after we arrived Griffin was pretty excited to open gifts, so we opened them and then played with all the new toys. Griffin also loved playing on Grandma and Grandpa’s mini-trampoline. It’s a good way to expend some energy 🙂 The next day the many of the Armstrongs came to the family gathering. Reid loved playing with everyone and Brutus warmed up to everyone after the first 15 minutes. 
The Wyndbend crew at the bus stop! Brian texted me this picture and I thought it was a great one. It was one of the coldest mornings yet waiting for the bus! This week Griffin’s school had their Holiday Sing-a-long concert. It was on a Thursday, and Griffin doesn’t go to school that day, but I took him so he could participate with his Kindergarten teacher and the “blue” class. I was surprised, only one of his classmates from his “yellow” class came! The kiddos sang through numerous songs which highlighted many different winter holidays and Griffin’s favorite, “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas”.
Happy Birthday Daddy! Kevin’s birthday was on Wednesday this week so enjoyed a midweek visit from Jim and Pat (Brett wasn’t feeling well) to celebrate Jim, Brett, and Kevin’s birthdays.
Thursday I was scheduled to be off work though I ended up going in for a short bit. We are giving the Millcreek website a makeover and as a part of that we’re featuring video on our homepage. As it turns out, the best day to shoot the video was Thursday (a very last minute plan!) so I wanted to be sure things went off ok. It turned out to be a fun visit as the weather was nice and the construction workers were also doing a lot of earth moving and our team was busy with hut construction. 
This group of succulents are from the millions of babies I brought back from Mom and Dads patio planter. The plant is appropriately named Mother of Thousands, or something like that! These suckers grow quick!
The weather was unusually warm this week and we had been wanting to go to Wildlights at the zoo so we made a last-minute decision to head there after work on a weeknight. We got to see Bumble, ride camels, ride the train, and see tons of pretty lights!
Next up, forming all the buckeyes and then after a bit of chilling we had a dipping party. 
