New Years Eve

My parents were in town to bring Ella home after she had stayed a few extra days with them after Christmas.  And I was really in the mood to stay home and spend the evening with my family so it all worked out perfectly.  Michael cooked an amazing steak dinner, we put together a puzzle and stayed up late all together.  It was a perfect night.

Asher's plumber's crack is almost always showing so this picture was a must for the memory book!  Waaayyyy past his bedtime, 9:07pm on New Years Eve...eating ice cream on the kitchen counter.

We watched the ball drop on TV at 11pm and then took the kids to bed.  Michael and I crawled into bed right at 12am just in time to see the clocks turn to the New Year!

Snow Day 1

The next day was freezing cold and it did actually start snowing!  The precipitation was very icy and mostly freezing rain but it definitely looked like snow and the boys were excited to play in it.  

REAL Snow

We went to bed with "blizzard" still in the forecast and were thrilled to wake up to tons of fluffy white SNOW!!!  Easton especially, couldn't wait to get out there to play.  The 4-wheeler sled rides were the most fun for the kids, they could have ridden all day!  We made lots of fun memories and had the best weekend!!

It's always great to warm up by the toasty fire with hot chocolate!

Christmas at Kim's

After a full Christmas Day we headed to Aunt Kim's for our annual Christmas dinner with family.

We always choose a theme for the adult sibling gifts and this year we chose the "Gift of Words".  Each family shared words about the other families.  There was no money or shopping needed, but tears and warm hearts were felt all around.  It was a great idea!

Christmas at Mimi and Papa's house

The day after Christmas we drove to Mimi and Papa's house.  The weather forecast showed "blizzard" so we were prepared for the cold and were praying for SNOW!  The boys wanted to ride the go-cart as soon as we got there and before the weather got bad.  We had a nice dinner and then celebrated Christmas together.

^^ The best I could do trying to get a picture of all the grandkids.  At least Ella and Bailey are looking and smiling.^^

^^Since Ella had received a charm bracelet for Christmas, I was sad remembering that I had sold mine at some point in college.  I wished I still had it.  Surprisingly, my mom DID still have it!  She remembered keeping it when I was ready to get rid of it and found it just in time to wrap it up and give it back to me for Christmas!^^