The rest of Christmas Vacation

It's hard to believe that 2019 is over; but here we are, several days into 2020 already, at the end of Christmas vacation and ready to head back to school. We've spent the past week and a half since Christmas busy playing with Christmas gifts, getting together with friends, and preparing ourselves for the next year. 

On Thursday, the day after Christmas, we were able to get together with some good friends who were in town for the holidays. John and Mandi Potter, along with their kids, came over for lunch. It was Keziah's birthday, so we were able to celebrate that as well. It's always amazing to watch how the kids just play together as if they see each other every day! 

Annaliese and Keziah

Haleigh and Faith

The girls requesting lots of art supplies for Christmas, so there has been a lot of drawing, painting, coloring and creating happening around here. We also tried making bath bombs which turned out rather disappointing. But we have more supplies, despite what Lydia spilled all over the carpet in her room, so we can try again!

We inevitably came to the point where nobody could decide what to do. Kyle came up with the idea to set up the tent and camp in the living room! Nobody spent the night in the tent, but there was lots of pretend-sleeping and it kept them entertained for hours!

Last weekend I was sleeping/working and Lydia wasn't feeling well, so Grandpa and Grandma took Annaliese and Haleigh up to Mt. Baker to go sledding. It sounds like it was a beautiful day, everyone had fun and even Grandma got on a sled!!

One of our other goals for the vacation was to get to the Trampoline Zone. We've never been there before but Annaliese received some free jump coupons for her birthday (Thanks Auntie Laurie!) and we were finally able to make it there. We went on New Year's Eve, which was probably a terrible day to go because it was so busy (nobody had school, Tuesdays are 'buy one hour, get an hour free' day) but they still had so much fun! We invited Savannah, one of Annaliese's friends from school to come along and her family was able to join us. Most of my pictures are blurry, but I guess that's what happens when they are jumping!

Annaliese flipping into the pit.

Kyle, throwing Lydia in...you can see her head amongst the foam!

Lydia

And, of course, we tried to get outside and do a little hiking. We tried to go to Point Whitehorn but once we arrived, we realized that dogs aren't allowed at all. (Kyle and both thought they were allowed but had to be on a leash. Wrong. No Dogs Allowed.) Close by is a road closed to cars on the refinery property that is open to walking/biking on; someone at the trailhead recommended we head over there so that's what we did. Shelby was able to run off-leash, the road wasn't muddy, we could soak in the sunshine, and walked until we had a beautiful view of the water. 

Tomorrow we head back to school; we get back into the routine of getting up early, making lunches, gymnastic classes. We've implemented a new way of getting the kids to stop whining/arguing/being annoying and new tactics to encourage them to start doing the things they should be doing (like making beds, taking showers, getting ready.) Thanks to the suggestions in the book 1-2-3 Magic, we are hoping for a more positive household, less time saying no and more time saying yes, and overall, the ability to have more fun together as a family.

Christmas Day Fun!

Christmas morning, Haleigh woke up sick, but by about 8:30 was feeling better and we were able to open the rest of our presents and still head over to Mom and Dad's house. The girls had no idea what they were getting and were super excited about everything they received! We've spent the past few days doing lots of art projects, coloring, and playing with legos.

Make a funny face!

Lydia with Llama Llama

Just before lunch, we headed over to Mom and Dad's house for the rest of our Christmas celebrations. We all opened stockings, the kids opened their gifts, we ate, and then we ate some more. Several weeks ago, the kids all went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house and prepared our devotions; they put together a Christmas Story puppet show, narrated by Elias.  They ended their devotions by singing 'Es Navidad,' one of their school songs. 

Pin the Nose on the Snowman

They put together an apple juice stand!

Loving that sunshine streaming in the windows! CHEERS!

Lydia and Auntie Kim

Owen and Auntie Kelsey

Haleigh and Malachi

I have no idea what was happening here...but this face makes me laugh every time I see this picture!

Mary and Joseph in the stable

Grandma made all of our presents into snowmen this year!

The night ended by surprising all the kids with a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They were all astonished that we had packed toothbrushes and sleeping bags without them knowing! We helped get them ready for bed and then headed home while they all got cozy in the living room and watched The Grinch. 

I always love Christmas and it is becoming more fun as the girls realize more and more what it is about. Hearing them tell and re-tell the Christmas story, sing Christmas songs, and want to get gifts for others is so neat and such a blessing! 

Christmas Eve

I had to work the night before Christmas Eve so I spent a good part of the actual day sleeping, but Kyle took the girls out to the park and to Wood's for hot chocolate. In the evening we went to a candlelight service at church where the girls all joined the other kids up front to sing a song together. Once we were back home, we all picked out one present to open. 

I asked them to put on Christmas pajamas and this is what they picked out!

"Dad's with Beards are Better." 

The Adult Christmas Party

This year we decided to do two separate Christmas parties with my family. The first one was just the adults and the second one included all the kiddos. We each found a babysitter and met up at my parent's house on the Saturday before Christmas. We enjoyed fondue for dinner and leisurely opened presents and played games. It was amazing how nice it was to have some uninterrupted conversations!