Christmas Eve in Ankeny

After spending the night at Chad and Shay's and really getting the chance to catch up with them before we went to bed--that is in b/t taking turns going upstairs making sure Karys and Nathan were staying in bed and working on getting to sleep! (we heard them moving up there and figure they didn't get to bed til after 10!)--we woke the next day to a freshly fallen snow that was continuing to come down! We loaded up the mini vans and formed our caravan with the Pella VL's and took off for Ankeny. Chad commented that it really felt like we were going, "Over the hills and though the woods to Grandma's house we go!"

We got things underway with the kiddos checking out the goodies inside their stockings...Jammies for all and some fun plans were revealed for a future family VACATION next Thanksgiving....so EXCITING!We then headed downstairs to take time for the kiddos to open their gifts...this was interesting just b/c Gracie was running a fever and we were trying to control the pattern that the kiddos opened their gifts in. Everything went really well with a few breaks of course ;) our kiddos are beyond blessed and it is fun to watch the faces of the family members when they open the gifts from them.
Before we got started, Grandpa and Grandma grabbed a picture with the older kiddosThen all of the kiddos piled on Nathan's new sled that Seth redid for him for a picture all together! Addy's first gift she opened was a new baby...of course she wanted it out of the box right away!She was SOOO excited and carried it around before she would even look at another gift to openSee...I told you it was exciting to watch the face of family members ;)Karys LOVED the fairy wings that she got from Heather and Seth...she also loved the guitar that we gave to Aaron Paul ;)And sticking with the theme of "swooping"...Karys soon had Addyson's baby off to her area of the room and was playing with it...on no, this is not good ;)Gracie showing off her new Toy Story 3 Leapster gameThis was ADORABLE--Addyson wrapped up her baby in wrapping paper as if it were a blanket and carried her around and rocked her! So precious!I don't know who was more excited to open this, uncle Rob or Nathan...Rob had text Chad in advanced to get approval for buying Nathan a Marshmallow shooter; I didn't think it was a good idea but to my pleasure/surprise Chad was for it! Nathan really wanted a gun for Christmas--this would be a GREAT compromise ;)The Comfort's with Nathan and his fast as lightening sled!After the kiddos opened their gifts we headed up for a wonderful dinner of turkey/ham and all the fixings ;) This was one end of the table...And this was the other--couldn't fit every one in one shot!Addy loving her food--typical Addyson too, always a finger in the mouth while eating. Nathan gives a smile as he takes a break from his breadGracie, full cheeks and eating like a Rock-Star!and a Fairly princess who also ate very well ;)After dinner it was back downstairs for the adults turn to open gifts...Grandma got us going :)Brent and Doreen--Doreen opened a willow tree nativity and Brent a KleenKanteen Heather with her new Cricut cartridge and Seth with the WinterOutdoor Games for the Wii.Chad and Shay pose for a couple picAnd Rob and I as well ;)After all of the presents were finished, we looked out and it was gently snowing again, so we sent the big kids out to play in the snow!Weird to let them go out on their own, but with strict instructions to stay away from the street, they had a blast climbing through the drifts and up and down the small mounds of snow in the yard.My first attempt to get them to pose for a picture for me :)
Finally a good one--so nice to see the cousins get to do things like this together despite the miles! We had a GREAT day with the Stroud/VL/Comfort/VanWyk families!!! After last year our goal was to slow things down and really focus on spending time together...this is so hard in the season that our family is in, but I really thought it was successful in so many areas. I had good conversations, was able to sit and just be with ppl and then enjoyed the chaos all in one day!

Christmas in Pella

On the Thursday night before Christmas we celebrated Christmas with Rob's Dad, Ron and step-Mom, Kris. Chad and Shay so GRACIOUSLY hosted for us and Heather and Seth joined from Des Moines. It was so fun to hang out at the Pella VL's house and we even spent the night there with them. It did not take long after we got there for the kiddos to get their play on and jump right into exploring and hunting for lions, tigers and bears, oh my!We got them to gather on the couch while they were discussing what supplies they needed and were packing their backpack to head out for the hunt...Also didn't take long for the silly faces to show themselves! It is so fun to watch them get older and just really see them interact and play with each other!Addy found a chair and a cell phone...I decided she thought it had GPS capabilities and she was monitoring the animals and reporting back their locations to the older kiddos ;)We don't get to spend much time as adults with all of the kiddos running around, but it was nice to congregate in the kitchen with the aromas of the soup cooking on the stove filling the room...mmmmm. There were so many good options! Lasagna, green pepper chowder, and a lovely chicken tortilla!!! It was so hard to choose :) We then all headed down stairs to get ready for presents. Once the kiddos were settled, a surprise guest came walking down the stairs!!!Gracie and Karys turned to check it out...love the faces they have here!Fun to watch everyone's reaction as "Santa" came into the room. I was wondering what the girls reaction to this would be b/c we don't necessarily 'teach' so to say or put an emphasis on Santa at our house. Gracie came home from school this year and quickly informed me that there was no Santa. "How do you know?" I asked...I don't know, Mom...everyone at school just knows." Well ok, I guess that was that. But she and Karys both did get excited about Santa being in the room--as you can see in the background of the above picture--Addyson was not so sure. There was fear and there was tears every time Santa looked or moved her way...oh my...Santa did have gifts for all!Both girls were definitely excited about this!Santa really did an ok job of keeping his cover, but Nathan was just too smart for his own good. When he was giving Santa the full look-over he paused when he saw his boots. You could just see Nathan thinking this all through in his head--wait a second, Santa doesn't wear cowboy boots! "Your not Santa!!! You're Papa Ron!" Shay and were slightly surprised to see "Santa" pull off his disguise and reveal his identity...but there were laughs by all and the general thought of it was fun for everyone to experience.Present time then quickly followed...Maggie even managed to get in the mix--Go figure :)Seth got a vice (I think that is what it is anyway) from Ron for Christmas...at this point Rob was trying to convince Nathan to put his nose in the vice...Again, Nathan was too smart and quickly realized what Uncle Rob was suggesting...."No way! Not my nose!" Wish I would have been closer to really get the facial expressions in this picture ;)Gotta love the little man!Grandpa and Grandma with the little kiddos--this was the best picture we could get ;)Addy hanging out on the steps just being a ham! She is such a little entertainer ;)Karys attempting to pick up Aaron Paul...She quickly decided it may be more effective to have him push her on the chair instead, and he was eager and willing to do this. Grandpa Ron hanging out by Addy, seeing who she is chatting with on her computer :)

All in all we had a GREAT evening! Great food, interesting conversation, and laughs for all!

Gracie's Class Christmas Party

It has been a little hard for me this year to not be able to help out at school as much as I would like to. I would love to go to the parties and just be in the classroom with Gracie at every opportunity, but with school schedule and the other girls it just hasn't been as feasible. That is why I was SO EXCITED to be able to go to Gracie's Christmas party. I LOVED just being able to take it all in ;) Rob and I often say to each other how we would LOVE LOVE LOVE to go to school with her (or Karys too) and just see how they act and interact with the other kids. Gracie LOVES school so much and it is so fun to hear all about her experiences each day and the friends she played with. She is a very smart girl who loves to learn and it is fun to be in her environment and apply what we know about her to that setting!

The Christmas party was on the Wed before Christmas. It worked out really well b/c i was able to go while Rob loaded the van at home and right after the party we launched the 'Christmas Tour' bus :) The girls and the boys in the class were split up into groups. The girls did their gift exchange first while the boys made snack and then the two groups exchanged places. Hopefully you will get a glimpse of Gracie in this setting, some of the friends she interacts with, and just the expression that is on her face when she is at school (she was pretty proud to have her momma there as well ;)This is her friend, Kinzie....she was the first to start off the gift opening time.Next up was another friend, Anna...And then it was Emma's turn...she opened Gracie's gift and they were sitting next to each other so they shared a hug =) Gracie and Emma are also 'lunch buddies'--they both bring cold lunch everyday so they sit by each other daily for lunch!Shelby was next to go...Mrs. Aalbers has told us that Shelby and Gracie can often be found playing "school" during their free choice times.Then it was Gracie's turn. She got some very fancy princess bracelets from Emma :)The girlies waiting patiently to switch stations with the boys....Gracie calls all of the girls in her class her friends and tells stories about all of them too! As a mom, that is just one of those things that you love to hear...she seems to get along and care for everyone, she is shy though so obviously she is more drawn to some personalities more often. Starting in the left hand side Maddie is in the purple shirt and then heading clockwise it is Mia, Emma, Gracie, Ashlynn, Vanessa, Kinzie, Sydnee, Shelby, and Anna.These are the reindeer cupcakes that they made....such a CUTE idea!!! Pretzels for ears, M&Ms for eyes, a tootsie-pop with the stick trimmed down for the Rudolph nose, and a piece of pull 'n peel licorice for the mouth ;) SO FUN!And FUN to eat!Back at her desk with all of her snacks ;) she was so proud to sit and have her picture taken at her desk!Gracie and Ashlynn with the Rudolph hats they made earlier that day. Gracie's didn't quite fit on her head so her nose was more of a head lamp ;)Gracie and Kinzie in the group picture...everyone had their reindeer hats on!LOVED this picture of Anna's face! She was definitely excited for Christmas Break and had lots of energy from all the sugar ;) It was such a fun day in Kindergarten!!! I LOVED the opportunity to see Gracie with her classmates as well as participate in the Christmas festivities! Hoping for lots more parties in the years to come!!!

Two sleepy heads and one ball of fire :)

During the last week of school, the girls were starting to feel the anticipation of wanting to be on Christmas Break as well as just the fatigue of the season. They were EXHAUSTED from a busy weekend (dance recital, parties, etc) so they got all cozied up on the floor after supper...6:30 to be exact for a movie! Gracie was out before the movie was even over 715pm and Karys made it to her bed but was definitely asleep by 745 ;) Addyson on the other hand had taken an almost 3 hour nap late that afternoon and got to bed on time all weekend. She laid still long enough to take this picture but ran all around the living room until we finally wrangled her in to get her jammies on and head for the hills around 9pm. So funny to me how you can have three little ladies on such different pages sometimes ;)

Christmas Program at Church

On the same night that we made the Christmas cookies, the girls had their Christmas program for church. My parents arrived just as we were finishing up the cookies and in time to order some pizza, get ready and head over to the NWC chapel for the program. The girls were THRILLED that they were able to come and watch! And it was just good to see them before Christmas as well since we would be going to their house on the back half of Christmas this year.We tried to get Addyson in the picture with everyone but she wasn't having it...I wanted to get a picture of her though b/c she wore the dress that Gracie wore when she was a flower girl in Auntie Heather and Uncle Seth's wedding ;)Karys even tried to help distract her ;)This is as good as we got ;) But this pose is SOO Addy! She is always holding her arms out this way :)Gracie had a speaking part this year and she was the first one of the entire program to go! SHE DID GREAT!Just so hard to believe she is old enough and brings you back to the days of standing up there for so long, folding your arms and playing with your dress....she did these things too as well as A LOT of yawning! She was so tired from baking all day with no down time and the program was a little later as well ;) Bless her heart!Karys also got to take part in the program this year. Her group got on stage and recited John 3:16 together (which Karys knew after the first week ;) and then they got to sing a song together as well about Baby Jesus birth!It was so cute to watch her walk up onto stage right past Gracie, they smiled at each other so big and gave each other 5...I love that they get to do these things together while getting the chance to have their own parts and shine as individuals as well! After not getting a nap that afternoon, Addy was definitely a little restless throughout the program; however, between playing with Bruce sitting behind us and bouncing back between laps she had such a GREAT time watching sisters as well!!! WE had a great night, the girls did GREAT and THANKS SO MUCH to grandma and grandpa for making the trip!