Seems like I can’t ever catch up – 2016 is already almost a month gone and I’m still working on Christmas pictures.  But here goes! It was a nice holiday season – certainly lots of nice time spent with family and friends! December was super busy with something on the calendar almost every day. Fun things, of course. We headed over to chez Bethune for a cookie making party on our first day of school break for Griffin (and thankfully, it was a Monday so I wasn’t working!). Lots of fun was had making cut-out sugar cookies and frosting.  There were sprinkles *everywhere* but the kiddos really had a fun time and the results were delish!  And endless fun complete with dragon tails too.  For Kevin’s birthday Griffin got him tickets to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 3D.  We headed to Easton for some date night fun that included dinner and drinks at the theater. Kevin really enjoyed the show which made me happy. In all honestly the plot was kind of lost on me, not being a Star Wars follower, but it seemed pretty good!And a *huge* transition around our house this week too – Finn is moving on up and is now sleeping in a big boy bed! We were putting him to bed on Tuesday and and Kevin started looking at his crib and decided to take the front off.  I was rather surprised (and sad to be honest) as I wasn’t at all prepared to do such a thing. We hadn’t even talked about doing it.  But Finn was so excited he just kept saying “it is perfect!” and he had the biggest smile on his face. He laid down with his blankie and animals and we told him that he had to stay in his bed and call mommy or daddy when he woke up.  He did just that. And for the next naps and nights of sleep he stayed right in his bed.  He hasn’t missed his crib one bit.  He loves his big boy bed and it was probably long overdue, but it was a sad night for me and I shed far too many tears than I would have ever thought! Griffin was really excited to open his gift from Sammy and Debbie.  Sam was at his dad’s house so he wasn’t here when Finn opened it – but he just loved his Doctor dress up set! And he loved helping Debbie open her gift too. Next up was our Traditional Christmas Dinner party at the Howard’s. It is always a fun-filled night spent with friends. Each year Christie gives each person their ornament (it is always the same ornament for each person that is marked with your name and the first year it was put on the tree) to put on the tree. And there are so.many.kids! This year we snapped a couple group photos of the kids and adults. And then there is the famous gift exchange with the prized posession being the Christmas sweater that comes back year after year. This year’s winner was Jennifer Assaf and though she doesn’t look too excited in the photo – she assures us the sweater will travel well in 2016.  Kevin was pretty happy about our take home from the gift exchange. He promptly set it up when we arrived home at 1 in the morning!  The next morning was Christmas Eve so we woke up bright and early and completed our Advent calendar by putting Baby Jesus up and reading the last scripture verse. Finn really enjoyed our readings and being able to choose where to put the piece on the calendar each day! After our traditional day of Christmas shopping with Dad, Amy and I wrapped gifts and then the whole family headed to Christmas Eve services at Linden Road. We always enjoy the service and the candle light at the end. We were again successful in capturing family photos after church too.  

Christmas morning was a lot of fun this year. All of the kids are at a fun age for opening gifts. So much so that sometimes (or fairly often to be honest!) the gifts didn’t always make it to the appropriate recipient before it was opened! Each of the kids had fun giving out the gifts and of course opening and playing with what they received. Santa did bring Griffin a very cool helicopter and a trumpet! They were the first things he found by his stocking (along with Abominable – which was another favorite) and he was pretty excited!

We took a bit of a break to have breakfast. Each of the kiddos helped Grandpa make our pancakes and Kevin made scrumptious mush! Finn wanted to be right the the whole time and he was helping protect everyone’s hands and keep them all “safe” from the heat of the griddle! One of our most favorite Christmas gifts was this nativity set that dad made for our family!  Isn’t it just beautiful! Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, and the three Wise Men each stand up on their own are and it’s just so unique, a one of a kind! Papa is using his new seedling watering mister! On Christmas evening we came back home, dropped off the dogs, and headed to Christy’s birthday dinner hosted by Jennifer at her new house. It was another fun and cozy evening with yummy food, fun friends, and goofy kids.   On Saturday we headed to Enon for the Armstrong family Christmas at Cookie and Steve’s house. But first, a stop at Young’s for some Ice Cream! Griffin always enjoys playing with Ora and soaking in all the attention from Grandma, Grandpa, aunt’s, uncle’s, cousins, and such! After the extended family gathering we hung out at Brett and Missy’s house for awhile and opened gifts (and played with them too, lol!).  Earlier in the week before Christmas, Debbie took Griffin downtown to the life-sized nativity. He really enjoyed being able to walk up to all of the animals and people. We love that he learns about Jesus and the story of Christmas not only with us and at school, but also through Debbie! <3.