Merry Christmas!

Well.

 It has been a while, hasn't it. Waiting this long to blog can get really overwhelming to me as I feel like I have so much to catch up on. I'm not going to do that, though--just gonna pick up where I left off, because life flies by and there is way too much to post. I will just do a quick snippet of the past few months, and then focus on the past few weeks--CHRISTMAS!

 October and the beginning of November were spent surrounded by my favorite people. ;) We managed to get a family picture of all nineteen of us which was quite the experience! Special thanks to Devin and Sarah for putting up with us while we yelled, screamed, laughed and tried to be somewhat organized...the picture actually turned out GREAT considering how many of us there are!

Not too long after the last of them had trickled out, my best friend, her husband and baby came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. Thanksgiving gets higher and higher in my book every year, and it is just about level with Christmas. Cooking and baking and eating and focusing on what we're thankful for--the whole week is focused on our blessings and I love it so much.

We didn't go home for Christmas this year, so we were able to experience all we could here during the month of December. Of course we started off the month by picking out our tree, even though it was 70 degrees that day and didn't feel a thing like Christmas.

Traditions continue: youngest puts on the first ornament and works up from there.

Tree Lighting

Last day of school before Christmas break!

Baking with Aunt Allaina 

Trail of Lights

Young adults Christmas banquet

 Best thing ever... SNOW! They made snow at a nearby outdoor mall and even though it was a total mad house, it was such a great memory for the kids! 

During Christmas week, we rented a huge house with Nate's side of the family and stayed there for a few days. It was a total blast! The house had 2 fireplaces, 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms and was a total maze--easy to get lost in. ha! We cherished every moment spent together--talks, games, late nights, shopping and  eating and walking on the beautiful river walk.

The family picture this year... I am so thankful for my "in-laws"--it doesn't even feel right to call them that because they are truly like my own family.

When we came home from our mini vacation, I had a few hours to dash around and prepare food for our Christmas Eve party we hosted after church and Christmas brunch the next morning. It was so much fun and I promise to blog about it all soon.

 Until then, I hope each of you had a wonderful Fall and Christmas season. I am overwhelmed with God's mercies which are new every morning!

Beautiful Chaos

Fall is definitely my least-blogging time of the year because of my family being here. As I predicted before there have been way too many late nights followed up with strong cups of coffee in the morning, family talks and girl talks and kids screaming and us yelling over them and generally just beautiful chaos.

We designated a day to spend together as a family and after a little google discovered this trampoline park and it was perfect. I cannot even tell you how fun it was! The minute we walked in we all were instantly transformed into small children grinning from ear to ear and couldn't wait to start jumping. We had the whole place to ourselves, so we raced and climbed and jumped and screamed and laughed for an entire hour until we could hardly move. We even attacked my Mom and Dad who were sitting on the sidelines and made them jump for a few minutes. Best. Day. Ever.

 2 days later we are still sore from head to toe.

Look at our smiles. We are 5.

The trampolines brought out the best in us. Obviously.

Sonic happy hour was a must afterwards!

I still have a few more precious weeks and I'm soaking up every minute. Last week was our Missions Conference and it was the best ever (which I say every year) but more on that later! Have a great weekend!

Bike Rodeo 2013

This weekend was another annual church event—the bike rodeo. This time of year, the weather can be absolutely perfect, or it can be hot and humid. This year was the hot and humid year, and it doesn’t help that everyone is wearing boots and denim! Thankfully, the clouds covered the sun every once in a while and there was a slight breeze so we did get a little relief.

 The kids, however, did not mind a bit. This was Brooke’s first year doing the “real” competing on her tiny bike with training wheels. I’m not sure if getting pulled through the grass on the bike by the clowns (since she couldn’t get any traction) really qualifies, but she did go home with a few ribbons and my little city girl won first place in the sling shot competition—that’s my girl! ;)

Joe played, rode horses, panned for "gold" and raced in “For Little Bear” where the smaller kids spend their day. Even though Nathan isn’t it his class, he was able to play in there as well and loved it! It’s crazy to me that I don’t really have a baby anymore—I have 3 little independent kids!

It’s always a great time and so fun seeing everyone in their “cowboy” gear—even if it’s just a plaid shirt and jeans. We all bring yummy potluck dishes and a man in our church smokes his famous brisket for everyone. We’re so thankful for our hard working and dedicated clubs leaders who put so much time, effort and money into making this day run smoothly and tons of fun for the kids!

Today it was back to school, cleaning and grocery shopping. Hope you all had a great weekend and start to your week!