Christmas Morning

We don't go overboard with presents for our kids for Christmas. We leave that to the grandparents. We try to get them some of type of experience instead. The gifts from us we wrap and put random numbers on them instead of their names. They have fun trying to guess which number belongs to who. The last gift each of them opened was a box of 12 different clues that led them to different Christmas objects around the house with a letter sticker that matched the letter on the clue. They they had to unscramble the letters to spell out the gift. Shane is taking the boys to the Big 10 basketball tournament in Indianapolis in March and Ali and I are going back to the amazing children's museum while we are there. It was fun to watching them try to solve their message. Bryce is getting too old and he said he had it figured out after the first 2 clues. 

Christmas with Grandpa Bill and Grammie Gale

 Christmas with Grandpa Bill and Grammie Gale was on Sunday, December 22nd. We enjoyed a yummy taco lunch and time with family. These kids sure are spoiled by all their grandparents! 

 

4-H Awards Night and Hannah's Wedding

 On Thursday, November 7th, both boys were honored at the annual 4-H awards night. It was held at Lake Storey Pavilion this year and they served a really yummy lasagna supper. They both received a medal and a silver award certificate for their involvement in 4-H during the past year. Bryce had to come straight from basketball practice so he wouldn't let me take his picture. On Saturday, November 9th we were honored that our whole family got invited to Hannah and Austin's wedding in the Cities. It was a beautiful ceremony and such a fun reception. The kids had a blast on the dance floor and it was nice to see everyone all dressed up! 

O Christmas Tree, Christmas Cookies, and Decorations

 We traveled to Swedona again for the perfect Christmas tree. This year we went on Sunday, December 1st after church. We decided to put our tree facing the East windows this year instead of facing South. I think it worked much better and I could see it while I was working in the kitchen. Blaine was upset because he found what he thought was the perfect tree but we didn't get it because it had a crooked trunk. He pouted pretty much the whole time! We decorated sugar cookies on Saturday the 22nd this year and the kids got super into it, even Bryce. This year we ended up putting up 7 different trees. Blaine and Ali each have one in their rooms, Bryce's sports tree we moved to the kitchen this year, and in the living room we have the farm tree, nativity tree, the real tree, and a small little Swedish tree. I also got quite a bit of Grandma Bev's decorations when she passed. I displayed those above our kitchen cabinets and a few in the living room. It was also the first year that we bought lights so that the entire Cubs village now lights up. It looks pretty cool. We sure do love decorating for Christmas!