Christmas Eve

 

 

 

 

We held the traditional family Christmas Eve gathering at Meme and Grandad's house (now Trey and Patty's). We had dinner, the nativity play, musical performances and caroling, and then Santa came. After that we went to Nana and Pop's for gifts and stockings. Addi was not in a great mood and so we did not take many pictures unfortunately. We had a wonderful evening though and are so grateful for everyone's generosity!

The Week Before Christmas

 

 

 

We had such a busy, fun week preparing for Christmas. There was piano recitals, band concerts, shopping to finish, 4H parties, caroling, and many other things to do. What a fun time of year this is!

What an Amazing Young Woman!

 

 

 

 

I feel like the luckiest mom in the world to have Hailee as a daughter. She is truly an amazing young woman! I have always known this, but she just reiterated it to me yesterday. She went to a movie, dinner, and slumber party with a lot of her friends yesterday to celebrate the beginning of Christmas break. At the last minute the girls all decided to see a PG-13 movie which Hailee knows she does not watch. She really struggled at the beginning because she did not want to be embarresed. She bought her ticket and sat down for the movie. She said that she felt awful inside and knew she just could not watch it. She got up and walked out and ended up seeing a G rated movie with the mom and little sister. I am soooooo proud of her! I know how incredibly hard that was for her to stand up for her values. This experience made Jason and I feel a little bit better about her growing up and approaching the teenage years - but wow, we know there are many more to come. I am so proud of the example Hailee is to her parents, siblings, and friends!

Seeing Santa

 

 

We went down to Grandma and Grandpa's on Saturday for Grandparent Workshop Day. This is where they take all of the grandchildren for a few hours and do Christmas activities with them. The kids LOVE it and look forward to it every year (as do us parents). Addi even stayed and had a ball! Jason and I so enjoyed having a few hours out alone together. Before the workshop started though we all went and saw Santa together. Addi is still not sure what she thinks about him but she loves to look at him and can now even say "Santa". My children are so blessed to have such amazing grandparents!

My Megan

 

 

 

 

My sweet little Megan - she is FULL of personality! She is such an incredibly fun little girl. She has a amazing sense of humor and finds most everything funny. She is very friendly and caring and all children love to be around her. She is always the favorite playmate of all. She loves to still snuggle up in our laps and can seldom be found without her pink baby and a book. I am so grateful to have her as a daughter and cannot wait to see the things she does as she gets older!

And She's Off!

Today Addi turned 14 months old and how appropriate that today she started walking. She has been taking small steps for a while now, but today it all clicked. She is now walking all over the place and only stops when the room runs out or she gets to a tile floor. The kids love it and argue over who she gets to walk to. She is SO cute walking!!!!

New Room

 

 

 

 

I love this new room! For Christmas this year my parents gave each couple some money to go towards furniture. How kind and generous that was! Thanks Mom and Dad. Jason and I went back and forth on what we wanted. We knew we wanted to redo our music room but did not know with what. We finally found exactly what we were looking for. I knew I wanted to paint the walls green but had no idea how hard it would be to select the right color. Wow! Jason did a fabulous job painting, especially with the incredible amount of trim in that room. We now use this room all of the time and love it!