Christmas 2017

by Steph // Monday, January 1, 2018 // Comments off

Christmas day dawned below zero but sunny, and we were all excited with the anticipation of spending the day with David, Kayla and the babies!

We decided to do a brunch this year, and then have snack foods for the late afternoon/early evening.

It was a delicious plan!

For the meal we had a fresh fruit salad, two kinds of cinnamon rolls, egg bake, sausage stuffed mushrooms, bacon, yogurt, granola, cubed and roasted sweet potatoes and beets, and dates stuffed with almonds and wrapped in bacon.

Yummy!

It was delicious and we always enjoy sharing a meal together!

I know this photo is blurry, but I love it so much anyway!

While the kitchen crew cleaned up a bit, NaiNai (that’s me!) read some books to the littles.

These little ones are SO precious!!

This little man, who is 6 1/2 months old, is army crawling already.

He gets to the things he wants to get to!

We had drawn names to exchange Christmas gifts (I think sometime before Thanksgiving!).

We went in order from youngest to the oldest to give their gift to the name they had drawn.

Each time someone started opening their gift on their turn, it drew a crowd!

We also had those gifts from my Mom to open, and Blake had gifts for Lane, Tate and Eliza from work.

Blake’s boss buys gifts for all of his employees’ children that are under the age of 10.

Eliza got this art set from Blake’s work, and I think the smile says it all!

The rest of the day we hung out, napped all people six years old and under, played games, ate snacks, drank lots of coffee, and just enjoyed BEING together!

In a book I am reading, I read this week that the older you get the less your focus rests on temporary things, but instead it rests more on eternal things.

I must be getting old – because for me this is SO true!

The story of the birth of Christ has just come SO alive for me – they were real people, going through real things, and a real Mary delivered a real baby in a real barn – a baby who later was beaten, whipped, and hung on a cross to die for ME.

For US.

Christmas and all of the traditions that come with it are very, very special, yes!

But only if we do not lose sight of the REAL meaning.

Christ, our Savior was BORN!

To give us LIFE!

Eternal LIFE!

I hope you all had a beautiful Christmas….and have reflected on its TRUE meaning as well!!

Christmas Eve Gingerbread Houses

by Steph // Sunday, December 31, 2017 // Comments off

When Blake and I were on date night one Friday night this month, I told him I would love for us to make gingerbread houses for a fun family activity sometime over the holidays.

We searched on-line for a gingerbread house kit – but more specifically a gluten-free gingerbread house kit that also had dye-free candies in it.

I wanted the kiddos to be able to at least taste what they had made!

There are kits like that out there, but they come at a pretty high price.

Instead we ordered a set of gingerbread house cookie cutters for a smidge over ten dollars, and I started the hunt for the candies and other decorations every time I was in a co-op or grocery store.

Once our plans for Christmas with all of our favorite people were set, we decided on Christmas Eve afternoon, after church, to make the gingerbread houses.

We used our Christmas spice cookie recipe, but rolled it thinner than we normally do, and decided to only make 2D houses so that the project would be less frustrating for the littles!

Blake teamed up with Eliza, and Addie Mae teamed up with Tate.

The cookies baked perfectly!

All of the toppings were gathered!

It was time to get started!!

I was thrilled with how much fun this was for everyone!

They want to do it again next year!

I was also surprised at how much thought and creativity they put into their design – truly making their project reflect themselves!

Chad’s scence had himself training his dog, a fence in his yard, the sun in the sky, a cross on a hill, and such adorable details of each!

Eliza had carolers singing (with notes above their heads), a snowman, a wreath on the door, a star in the sky, and smoke coming from the chimney!

SO cute!

Lane had a fire pit in his yard, a path to the front door, a guy building a snowman and a guy ready to go sledding!

Grant had fun with this too! He had a semi parked in his front yard (truck guy at heart!), a picket fence, lanterns in the front yard, and a porch added to the side of his house.

Addie Mae and Tate had two houses with a sledding hill in between them, a forest behind the hill, a path between the two houses, and a fire pit as well!