Christmas 2014 - part 2

We started our Houston Christmas with a party at Oma and Opa's house.  The kids were so excited to see everyone!!!  We had a nice time visiting, exchanging gifts, and enjoyed a delicious dinner!

 

 

Hannah and Colton

 

Hannah and Tante Soo Jin

 

The BIG guys

 

The next day we went to Emmy and Gumby's house to celebrate Christmas with the Griffin family.  It was a sweet afternoon of gifts, lunch, and fun time with family.

 

Daddy and Luke

 

Isaac was the trash man this Christmas...every gift exchange we could count on Isaac getting a bag and picking up all the trash for us.  I love his servant heart.

 

Daddy and Gumby

 

The girls!

 

Aunt Ana and Isaac

 

We even had a day to play with Taylor, she and Kristin came to Oma and Opa's house to play for the afternoon.  The kids had a blast, and the grown ups enjoyed the time to visit.  Everyone was sad when it was time to leave.

 

Me and my parents...I'm so thankful for them!!!

 

CHRISTMAS 2014 was busy, but so fun!  I am thankful for the love surrounding us and the time we had to share with everyone.  Life is definitely different now that we live up north, but it sure makes the time together sweeter.

Christmas 2014

 

Dressed up for the Christmas Eve Service at church.

 

 

Making Jesus' birthday cake...a Christmas tradition.

 

Isaac got to come to big church for the Christmas Eve service.  He did great, sat nice and still, and listened so well.  He enjoyed the message and loved the songs!

 

Silent Night...his favorite part of the service was definitely holding the candle.

 

 

We let them open one present on Christmas Eve this year...

 

...so exciting!!!

 

Christmas morning!!!

Isaac was the first one up and he had to wait almost an hour for Hannah to wake up!

 

Batman PJs!

 

A real watch for our big guy!

 

He needs this warm hat for this cold winter!

 

Frozen coloring kit for our Frozen loving artist.

 

A giant box of princess barbies!

They all enjoyed this one...they had to name each one.

 

Both of the boys got remote control helicopters, after all that is what they told Santa that they wanted.

 

This Christmas was much different than past Christmases, but it was very special.  We really enjoyed having a quiet Christmas Eve; going to church and then we went out to look at lights before bed.  It was a sweet day with my precious family. 

Christmas morning was not too crazy, the kids weren't up too early, Isaac had to wait for Luke and Hannah to wake up.  Daddy made us yummy Rudolph pancakes to start our morning, then we opened stockings, before heading to the living room for the big gifts.  The kids were very excited, but not too crazy, so it was a lot of fun!  After opening gifts we just played and enjoyed the time together.  Then we had a quick lunch and hit the road for Houston to visit the rest of the family.  It was a perfect Christmas Eve and Christmas morning!

North Park Trains

My kids love trains, especially Luke, he loves everything about trains. We had heard about a train display that was set up in a mall and thought it would be fun to check out.  It was much more elaborate than I ever imagined.  The kids enjoyed looking at every detail and watching the trains go by.  It included scenes from many of the big cities in the USA, so it was fun to talk about all the different places.

This was a memorable family outing, a special one, and I hope it becomes an annual tradition.

 

 

First Lost Tooth!

 

Isaac lost his first tooth on Dec. 22, 2014!  It was wiggly for quite some time, so there was a lot of wiggling, pulling, and it finally came out!  The Hendersons were here when it fell out which made it extra special!  The tooth fairy made her first visit to our house that night, and she left him $2!!!  He was a happy boy!!!

School Christmas Celebrations

The school Christmas celebrations are always such fun!  I especially love the preschool programs because I love hearing their little voices singing about Jesus!

Carl was supposed to be flying out the afternoon of Luke's program, but due to many delays elsewhere his flight was cancelled that evening.  He was able to make it to the church just in the knick of time to see it!  Luke was thrilled to see him after the program.

 

 

Our boy in the red sweater, top row.  It was a precious night.

Funny story...when Isaac was in preschool I remember one program when he would clap after the songs, along with the audience.  A classmate kept telling him not to clap.  Well, this year the girl next to Luke was clapping, and Luke kept telling her not to clap.  How funny that they reversed it.

 

Eating cupcakes at Luke's class party! They also decorated small Christmas trees (ice cream cones).   Hannah loves going to the parties, and his teacher is so sweet to always include her.

 

Isaac's class party!  They had snacks, decorated a cookie, and had a fun book exchange!

Christmas Card Pictures

I LOVE Christmas cards, they are one of my favorite things about the holiday.  I love receiving them and displaying them, and I also enjoy making ours.  This year we dressed the kids up and headed out to one of our favorite parks, which happens to be right by Isaac's school playground.  It was not easy to get three kids to smile at the same time, but it was fun and I got some good pictures!

 

 

Luke was not in the mood to smile when we first got out there.

 

Tex loved being a part of the fun!

 

Isaac reading the story of Jesus to the little ones...they love listening to him read to them.

 

My big 6 year old...dressing up is his favorite, so the bowtie was a big hit with him!

 

Our silly 4 year old, Luke!

 

The princess (2 years old)...don't let her fool you though, she plays rough and she does it in her pretty dress.

 

Monkey bars are his favorite playground activity!

 

READY, SET...RUN!!!