Jason and Jen's Journey

Christmas Eve

We went back to Mark and Kate's Saturday morning for our traditional brunch and then present-opening.

Isaiah got a little drum set, which he LOVES.

It was a very Barbie (and Ken) Christmas for the girls.

(I forgot to mention in the last post that Zoe was wearing a hat because she wanted to save her new hair for Christmas. We had to do a lot of convincing the girls that Friday and Saturday were also "Christmas" even though those days were not December 25th!)

Greysen got this guitar, but Abram is trying it out.

Miss Mya

Zoe loves to play the drums also. She is usually drumming up some beat with her hands in the back of the van anytime we are in it.

Putting together a set of ramps the boys got.

We took the girls' bikes with us and that turned out to be a good idea. It was so fun to watch Claire, Zoe and Mya ride their bikes together for the first time.

Pretty little (or not so little anymore) Sydney Jen.

It was fun to see Brady in there with the little boys helping Jason.

Playing cards again!

And so were the girls.

Kate and Mya

We were there from 10:00a-5:00p and the kids did well. Again, better than I expected. I am so thankful! We left at 5:00p to go to Cornerstone's Christmas Eve service and that is where we hit our limit. Isaiah didn't have a nap and was very fussy on the way. One of the girls had a very hard time during the service. It was darker than normal and we sat in a different place where we could (unintentionally) see the masses of people who were there. Those new elements plus a full day away from home = too much! Fortunately, she recovered shortly after the service was done.

As soon as we stepped foot in our house all of the kids were so much more comfortable. I was exhausted! And very grateful we were home to stay for awhile.

The Eve of Christmas Eve

Too stinikin' cute!

We brought up the extra mattress for Jason's mom and husband to spend the night Friday night. On their own initiative the girls ended up taking a nap on it while the boys also napped. I was very thankful they all took naps before our first big Christmas celebration this night.

Uncle helping the boys with peanuts.

After dinner the kids all watched Esmerelda (yes, our girls' 4th time this week!). It was so fun to get a picture of all the cousins (except Brady, who was with the adults playing cards) watching a movie.

Afterward Isaiah helped Grammy work on the eggbake for breakfast the next morning.

The kids did really well at Mark and Kate's with all the family Friday night. The night was not without some crazy (i.e. scared) and mad (i.e. sad) behaviors but overall, I couldn't have asked for it to go better. The girls interacted with Kate's girls the best they have so far. After dinner there was an all-out game of chase by all the kids around and around the house and then a huge wrestling match which ended in Zoe and Brady taking on one another. Fortunately no one got hurt. :)

Thursday Before Christmas

Isaiah got in the box that holds blankets and said, "Baby Jesus." I love that he he figured out that box looked like a manger bed.

Jason took Thursday off which gave me the motivation to let the kids make almond bark covered pretzel and cut-out cookies. The kids and I didn't participate in my family's annual Christmas baking because we are still staying close to home so it was fun to be able to introduce them to a little bit of Christmas baking.