Christmas Gatherings Part II

Our next gathering was at G and G Adamek's.  Mom and Kevin got married just a couple weeks before Christmas, and this our first time seeing them since they got back from Tortola.  Dana and Amanda and their families made the trip down from Grand Rapids, so our whole side of the family was able to spend the entire evening together.

One of our best family photos...

Drake and Carson were obsessed with the Advent house that was filled with treats.  They kept taking the treats out, putting them back in, asking other people to put them back in, slamming the doors, and on and on.  It kept them busy for a LONG time.

Santa stopped by!  He got a high-five from Carson.  Carson got a giant Kit Kat!

Izzy was hesitant, but she agreed to sit on Mrs. Claus's lap.  She again told Santa she wanted a surprise on Christmas morning :)

Cooper didn't take too much convincing.  He even gave Santa a huge hug and tons of smiles.

The kids were spoiled beyond belief, and we went home with a packed car.  Cooper, Izzy and Carson had fun playing with Laura, Leah, Drake, and Rhett.  Kevin got fondue ready for us, but I'm not real sure we'll fondue again... having all those little kids running around, hot oil and extension cords, and needing to watch and wait for your dinner just wasn't the best mix :)  And it was a lot of work to not really be able to sit and enjoy :)

We were not able to get a photo with all the cousins, but we'll keep trying!  It is crazy how the kids change so much each year.  Seeing these photos really makes me think I'll work harder next year to get more pictures of all the cousins!!

Jammie Time

Gosh I love these kids!  I didn't even need too big of a bribe to get these awesome photos.

Cooper is on a kick of loving footie pajamas, and I actually found a matching pair for him and Carson on black Friday :)  Izzy got a pair with a tutu, and Carson just loves matching his big brother.

Merry Christmas from the little gigglers!

Christmas Gathering - Part I

Our first Christmas gathering was at Lori and Gary's.  It was Eli's FIRST Christmas!

Grandma and the grandkids!

Mommy's big guy

Grandpa got a homemade ice cream maker, and he let the kids help with it.  The ice cream was really good, and naturally, Izzy gobbled it up!

Carson loves being a helper.

Present time!

One of Cooper's highlights was the hockey net set he got.  AND it's for IN the house!!

Of course he needed to play a few rounds :)

Izzy's very own floppy hat.  She's been waiting for her turn with one of these :)  

Mommy's girl

Jammie time!  Grandma got all the kids Mickey pj's.  Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Holiday Lights

We bundled up and headed down to Makato to see the holiday lights.  

Santa was there!  Cooper and Carson were not interested, but Izzy wanted to talk to him.  She didn't really want to take a pic with him...

...until we suggested a Santa selfie.  This has to be one of the cutest pics of the season :)

The kids loved the lights.  I was freezing, but they were all troopers.  Carson kept saying 'preety wights' all night long.

After we walked through, we drove through.  The kids loved being out of their seats to get the best view.  Carson was our driver.

The next night, the kids went to meet 'our Santa.'  They wrote letters, and we'd been talking for weeks about tonight being the night.  That's part of the reason Cooper didn't want to talk to Santa the night before.  He's always had a weird thing with being scared of Santa....

We love our little Santa house.  All the kids had time to visit with Santa with only our family inside.  They all sat on his lap, too.  Izzy said she wants Santa to 'surprise' her.

I had to take this one quickly, Carson lasted about three seconds on his knee.

Cooper asked for a Nerf gun.  You know, because he needs another one.  Right.

Santa and I go way back :)  He thought I better get a picture with him, too.  He asked the kids if I'd been good this year.  Izzy said yes, and Cooper said no and couldn't stop laughing.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

Leah's Baptism

We spent the weekend up North to celebrate Leah's baptism.  It was a fun and special little getaway.

We went to gymnastics with Leah and Laura...  Carson loved the ball pit.

We also hit up a Santa breakfast.  Look at this little honey!!

Home Depot hosted their monthly building project, and the kids made Gingerbread candy dishes.

...and Cooper found himself a beard :)

The girls!

Leah was a little honey.  Cooper loved his snuggles with her.

Izzy and Rhett had some snuggles, too!

We tried to get a photo will all the cousins, but Drake wasn't interested.  One of these time we'll get it!

Holiday Prep

The kids had a great time getting ready for the holidays!

Izzy worked really hard on her letter to Santa.  The first thing she wanted to do was thank him for the horse and Barbie from last year.

We decorated the tree together.  Cooper and Izzy just love finding ornaments of theirs.  They insist they can remember when they received each one.

Red came back!!  He brought all the holiday books back, too! Hopefully he's not into too much trouble this holiday season...

Cooper made a paper chain at school to countdown the 'sleeps' until Santa comes.

The Big Yellow Barn was about to close, so we had to go get one last treat and bottle of rootbeer :)

Winter Fun

Gosh, I've got a lot of blogging to catch up on!  I loaded pictures weeks ago, but now Blogger is giving me trouble on my phone, making it tricky to keep up with the typing.

Here goes!

The kids love playing outside!  This is a fun winter with them all.  They all love 'helping' to shovel the driveway.  Carson finally will keep his mittens and hat ON.  The big kids get along, and we can actually stay out for longer than it takes us to get all dressed up :)

This winter, we didn't get snow until late into the winter, and the kids were dying to play!