End of December - Middle of January

Time to finish up 2015 photos and start on 2016! I remember my Grandma had one of these marble things and me and my cousins spent hours playing with it. Now my kids play with it at their Nana's house! These 2 girls colored and sung spontaneous made-up songs and it was SO cute to watch them! It was at this point that I realized Haley believes in Jesus as her Savior as she was singing about it!! Story time with Nana Apparently Art makes a good pillow Art, Jenene and Sophia left in the morning on December 30, so I woke up early and made a waffle breakfast. Blake and Haley had a tea party on New Year's Eve Haley's got her own style

I woke up to this sky on January 19 and couldn't help but give praise to God!

2015 was a wonderful year, full of good health (for the most part), an incredible trip to Florida and we got to celebrate Christmas with Art, Jenene and Sophia, which made it extra special! There was a lot to look back and smile about and I look forward to all that God has planned for the rest of 2016!

Post Boxing Day

On the 27th, we hung out at home during the day and then had my Dad and Tannis over to celebrate Christmas. In the afternoon, the kids bundled up to go play outside.

They enjoyed a snack of cheese strings (it was my first time buying them).

For our Christmas supper with my Dad and Tannis, I made slow cooker lasagna, homemade garlic cheese breadsticks and I made my first ever real (not Paleo) peanut butter cheesecake! I was SO relieved that it turned out! Waiting to open gifts

Kiera got an Anna dress

Haley got an Anna doll (do you sense a theme)?

Of course, Blake got more Lego.

Sophia loves doing crafts and she likes the Avengers...her interests are broad.

Kiera really wanted a battery-operated toothbrush, which she is still enjoying.

My Dad + Tannis with all the kids

The 3 princesses My Dad was doing Sophia's coloring activity book Once again, it was another fun day!

Boxing Day

On Boxing Day, it was double family gathering day. We had my Mom's side in the late morning for brunch and then we had my Dad's side 25 minutes away in the late afternoon for supper. My Mom's side was held at our church. Enjoying treats after brunch An interesting conversation with Uncle Mel Jenene and I attempted to do matching updos. I like the way this vegetable wreath looked! We played "The Game of Things" which Jared + I got for Christmas. We laughed a lot!

Then it was off to our next gathering. These newlyweds win the "most Christmas spirit" award.

I got pictures of the girls with their great-Grandpa. Selfies with my girls

Haley and Sophia played with a gift that one of them got.

Kiera got pink and purple put in her hair (I think from hair markers). The only picture of me and Jenene (besides the back of our heads) from this Christmas. 2 peas in a pod

My Dad and Tannis sung some duets and it was my first time hearing her sing (I've known for years that she's a singer) so that was a treat!

That was by far our busiest day over Christmas but it was great to spend time with our extended family! I love them all!

Christmas Day

Now that Valentine's Day has passed, I figured I should post about Christmas Day. ;) On the morning of Christmas Day, we had our own family Christmas. I actually had to round up my kids and tell them that it was time to have our own family Christmas and their reaction was, "What?! We get to open more presents?" They would have completely forgotten if I hadn't told them! We bought the kids each one thing that they wanted and one thing that they needed (I use that term loosely as I think of air, water, shelter and Jesus when I say the word "need"). The "needed" things were: Haley got new pajamas, Kiera got 14k gold earrings (she has metal sensitivities and hadn't been wearing earrings for a while) and Blake got his very first Bible (the NIRV Adventure Bible).

We bought Blake these Nerf guns that ended up not being great because it was super hard to pull the top back to shoot and the darts went flying SO fast!

I bought the girls Frozen dresses when there was a sale before Halloween and I kept them hidden.

In the afternoon, we relaxed and I got ready to host 13 people for Christmas dinner. It was a finger food buffet and it was delicious!

Since we were hosting Art + Jenene over Christmas, I was very happy that they were able to join us for our Christmas with Jared's family. :) After supper, we moved downstairs where there was more room for people and the copious amount of gifts. We teamed up in pairs and played a Christmas Bible story quiz game. Art + Jenene won! This was my cute partner! After the game, it was time for gifts. This was the first gift Haley opened. We all pitched in to buy Charlie (my sister-in-law's friend from England and someone who we now think of as family) some new boots. She has had a lot of trouble finding ones that fit her and these ones fit, so we were all very happy!

The beautiful sign that Amanda made for Dad + Mom

My boys can play catch together now!

Charlie bought the kids a box of candy from England, which was full of candy they had never tried before, so they were pumped!

This was one of my favorite gifts, which is supposed to go up on our living room wall but hasn't been hung up yet.

My princess playing with her princesses

Steve got a new watch

Amanda got a nice sweater, which at the time hid her baby belly quite well

Our lawn chairs have been falling apart for the last couple of summers and we got 2 new ones given to us, so Jared was pumped about that!

Lindsay was happy with her mini trampoline

I got new moccasin slippers which I wear every day now!

United States meets England...I was very glad that my sister and Art could meet Charlie. Being able to celebrate Christmas with them and the rest of our family all together was a wonderful gift!