Christmas came. It was amazing. Now it is gone. I always feel bittersweet when Christmas is over. I am sad because I love the anticipation and the many nights spent baking, cuddling among all of the beautiful decorations and twinkling lights, and watching every Christmas movie we love repeatedly. Yet, the day Christmas is over...we have most of the house packed up, cleaned, and organized and I love the feeling of starting a fresh year with lessons learned, goals, and prayers for what God holds for our family.
This was our first Christmas in the new house and it was perfect. I wasn't sure how it would feel after spending 7 Christmases as a growing family in our old house but filling it with friends, family, and making memories with our family of four made it just right!
The last week of work before Christmas break was a bit of a whirlwind. We were finishing up last minute shopping, prepping for parties, and I celebrated another year. 32 came fast! Yikes!
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| Flowers from my sweet work family, lobster ravioli with the family at Napoli's, and a new wedding band! |
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| Grayson and Joey getting festive |
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| Reppin' their Brother Bear and Sister Bear shirts from Lone Star Ginger Boutique! |
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| Wrapping a present for Sister |
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| Yes, I made my sweet boy homemade hot chocolate every morning! My bff spoiled him when she made it at my party! |
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| Ella wrapping Brother's gift! |
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| Perks of helping as a room mom....being at this boy's class party |
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| Daddy came to the party wearing a scarf one of his students gave him. |
We also went out to dinner with my family for my Grandma's birthday and also to see our Uncle Dave who flew in. Then they had a party that weekend. Since she is over 100, they wanted to do it big!!!
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| Aunt Bing and Uncle Dave |
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| Me and my guy |
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| I found a baby! My new nephew Falcon |
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| Grayson and Grandma |
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| Mom and Dad |
Before we knew it, it was time for Christmas break. Joey and I made plans to not make a lot of plans if that makes any sense...lol! Usually I pack in play dates and organize our week. We decided to take it easy and just focus on Christmas stuff with the family and the second week of break, we would try to run errands and hang out with friends. Best advice ever and I am so glad Joey was right (as usual). Staying in our pj's and just laying around and enjoying the kids was the best decision ever. I am so thankful for every minute.
We spent a lot of time in our sweet little town and around the house!
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| Ella reading me stories |
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| Love finding this face in our bed |
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| White Christmas and a "living room" sleep over |
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| Wake up, eat, paint |
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| He melts my heart |
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| Giving is way more fun |
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| Hanging out in downtown |
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| Crumbzz |
We finished some shopping and had lunch and then I went with my sweet in laws to the Arboretum's 12 Days of Christmas exhibit. It was gorgeous and Lauren and I may have had a little too much fun!!!
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| Me and my ever so lady like girl at lunch |
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| Making a Barnes and Noble stop |
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| My favorite one...the first day! |
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| We may have thought the "people" were a little creepy. Too bad you missed Lauren's scary movie commentary |
The next evening, we met Nana and Young Grandma for a local church's candle light service. It was absolutely beautiful and it helped slow things down and remind us of the miraculous reason of Christmas! Then Joey, the kids, and I headed to dinner! It was a wonderful evening!
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| Candle stick sword fight...of course! |
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| Us girls at dinner...the boys didn't feel as photogenic |
I will be posting Part Two tomorrow. I already feel like it is picture overload. I hope you and yours had an amazing Christmas!!
