2 days before Christmas I FINALLY found/bought our very first Christmas tree!!! We were super excited to get it up!! AND THEN I couldn't find regular Christmas lights for it!!! All I could find anywhere were net lights and icicle lights. no thanks. Then finally on Christmas Eve days I called my mother-in-law and was able to borrow a bunch of lights. Woo-hoo!!!! So Christmas Eve day, after my Cross Fit workout, we spent the afternoon decorating our very first family Christmas tree.
Needless to say there was an area with a large concentration of colored bulbs and another of candy canes and the bottom half was void of any decoration due to a very curious 13 month old. The kids were pretty proud of their tree.
The weekend before Christmas we were able to have a dinner get together with Trent's mom, step-day Wayne, and his siblings. Unfortunately my camera was on the spritzed and I have no pictures of that night but it was sure fun having everyone over again.
Christmas Eve we loaded up 32 members of the VanderVille clan into the family RV and headed out to deliver Christmas turkeys to friends around our spread out country neighborhood. Its been a family tradition for years and it's a lot of fun.
That night I was up late putting some finishing touches on gifts and then setting presents on the tree. It was about 3 am before I finally went to bed. I was grateful when my kids didn't wake up until nearly nine.
Enoch has quite the attachment to phones and anything resembling one. By the end of the day he had opened 4 of his very own!!!!
Kiari is all girl and LOVES ballerinas. She was pretty thrilled when she opened these tidbits up.
Ethan has been talking a lot about Pirates of the Caribbean that last while so I thought a new game was appropriate. He's pretty excited to play this one with Daddy!!!
Kiari loves Sleeping Beauty!
Thank you hugs!!!! We let the kids pick out a gift for each other and they were so excited to have each other open them up. Totally precious.
After church we headed over to Trent's mom's house for a bit then to his dad's where we dressed up all the little kids to act out the story of the birth of Christ, also a family tradition. After lunch we headed up to Rexburg to spend some time with my parents. It's always a whirlwind of a day but really great to see so much family.
While at my mom's a few weeks ago I found some of my old dresses. She thought it would be fun to give them to Kiari. She calls it her princess dress and loves it. Trent kept referring to her as "the little girl from the 19th century."
The Bat Cave!
We attempted to take a family picture before leaving my parents' house and none of them were fabulous. I did however crop this little beauty from one of them.
Since he was a kid, Trent has always wanted a remote control plane. This year my Dad picked out a helicopter for him and Trent thinks it's pretty darn cool. The kids all love to watch him fly it around the living room.
The day after Christmas I met up with some of the girls at Target to take advantage of their sales on Christmas decor. We all did a pretty good job of filling up our carts.
Christmas this year was wonderful but different.
We missed Brian.
It wasn't until a few days after Christmas that, while reading a sweet acquaintance's blog, I found a sweet poem. This beautifully mommy lost one of her children unexpectedly early on last year and a friend of hers shared this poem with her. So I've borrowed this from her blog. sunshinepromises.blogspot.com
It made me cry a little bit but more than anything it made me happy.
We love you Brian and we miss you.
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM HEAVEN
I still hear the songs
I still see the lights
I still feel your love
on cold wintry nights.
I still share your hopes
and all your cares
I'll even remind you
to please say all your prayers.
I just want to tell you
you still make me proud
You stand head and shoulders
above all the crowd.
Keep trying each moment
to stay in His grace
I came here before you
to help set your place.
You don't have to be
perfect all the time
He forgives you the slip
if you continue to climb.
To my family and friends
please be thankful today
I'm still close beside you
in a new special way.
I love you all dearly
now don't shed a tear
cause I'm spending my
Christmas with Jesus this year.
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas filled with lots of love, laughter, and family.
I also hope that your new year is off to great start!!
