Christmas at Grammy & Grandpa Brown's House

Our final stop for Christmas festivities was Christmas Day, as we headed to Grammy and Grandpa Brown's!  We were so happy to keep the fun going.  We exchanged gifts with family and enjoyed the traditional delicious Swedish meatball dinner.  We spent the next few days enjoying an outing to the park and to Brookfield Zoo, spending time with family and relaxing by the fire.  It was wonderful and we are so grateful for so many blessings.  Here are some photos of our visit.  What a great Christmas season!

Look at Grammy's adorable strawberry snowmen!

I couldn't get enough of Tyler in this red velvet john-john.

 

Cousin fun!

Snuggle time with Grandpa

Making "snow" with Grammy!

Fun at the organ, as always!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning!

We arrived home from Brown County on Christmas Eve and started preparing right away.  We lit the final candle of our Advent wreath, talked about what the next day is truly about, and then made sure we got some milk and cookies ready for the big guy!

 

Nothing like a peaceful, warm Christmas tree in the quiet hours of Christmas Eve

On Christmas morning, Cassidy and Gavin awoke first and came out to check their stockings.  Soon after, Tyler woke up and joined in the fun.  At some point things really got festive and crazy and our living room floor became barely visible.  Such an exciting morning when you're a kid!  And a blessing to watch the magic of it all when you are a parent, too.

Christmas at the Cabin

We started off the Christmas celebrations with the Reder crew at Big Sky cabin in Brown County, IN.  It's really fun to have everyone under the same roof, enjoying big meals together, playing games and having adventures around town.  We pick 1 day to exchange gifts and have a holiday meal, and the rest of the time is spent doing whatever sounds fun!  Here are some pictures from our visit...

December 2014

The month of December was all about enjoying the Christmas season!  Gavin's Kindergarten class put on a play of the Nativity; Gavin was an amazing shepherd!  We were so proud of him and his great singing efforts as they sang Christmas songs for the audience.  Cassie's class had fun getting in the spirit as well - her teacher sent out this great class picture as they posed with their classroom tree.

We also enjoyed a Breakfast with Santa event on a Saturday morning at the kids' school where they got to play games, make crafts, enjoy a breakfast buffet and of course meet with Santa (although Tyler would have none of that part!).  I had volunteered to lead this event for the kids' school, so it took up a large chunk of my spare time throughout the fall months.  It was very fun and rewarding to see all the kids enjoying it and getting into the Christmas spirit!

The day after, I unfortunately came down with a respiratory virus that stuck with me for a good 3 weeks, so right up to the Christmas holiday.  It was not an ideal time to be so sick, especially with Erik traveling each week for work.  (Christmas cards - teacher gifts - wrapping gifts - oh my!)  Some days were truly comical as I tried to drag myself out of bed and function; I remember one evening when I finally succumbed and dragged all 3 kids and myself over to my doctor's office to beg for any prescription they would offer me  - we were like our own traveling show of crazy as we made our way through the halls of that office.  Somehow we held it together and only through the magic of Christmas did we get everything done in time.  But - magical it was, as Christmas break finally did arrive and we were off to start our Christmas travels and celebrations!  More on all the fun in the next post!

Wally, our elf, made his annual appearance for the month of December, moving each night to another sneaky spot!