* Holiday Festivities *

We did A LOT of traveling within a week's time, but it was all fun. First we went up to Lafayette for church with Kent's family the Sunday before Christmas because his brother, Kevin, came down from Wisconsin with his family and new baby. All the grandkids wore their Christmas outfits Kent's mom bought them. I should have gotten a picture of all of them together in their Sunday outfits, but it was a little crazy, so I didn't. But it was fun sitting all together and I know Carol (Kent's mom) loved seeing all of them all dressed up. Then we went back to his parents' house for a turkey and noodles dinner. Yum! We got Kevin and Erin's baby an outfit that says "I've got my mommy's good looks and my daddy's bad gas!" It was hilarious and we knew Kevin and Erin would love the humor! We also got him a cute brown shirt with a bear in a fisherman's vest and hat. My eye started bugging me a lot, so I decided to wear my glasses the rest of the week.

The next day we drove to my parents' house where we had Christmas Eve. Staci, Julie, Isaiah and we went to the Children's Museum which was a lot of fun. We went down the big slide, played in the Winder Wonderland, explored the Robot exhibit, and rode the carossal (sp). We then went to Mom and Dad's for Christmas dinner. We had these shredded chicken tortilla things that Kent LOVED. We acted out the Christmas story, of course. Morgan wore her white dress and was an angel with Jules, Tyler was a wiseman, and of course Kent, Harrison and I were Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus. Seems like I am always Mary! Maybe b/c I either have a baby or am pregnant! My sister-in-law, Staci, sang this beautiful song before hand to set the stage and I wish I would have gotten it on camera, but I didn't! I didn't feel the most attractive with my glasses, but oh well! Harrison was fussy and wouldn't go to anyone else except Kent or me, but after we gave him so Tylenol he started perking up.

Isaiah fishing in the Winter Wonderland

Tyler and me hanging out at the diner with a robot

The cast of the Nativity Story

The mug we got Mom and Dad with our picture on it

quillows for the kids from Uncle Andy and Aunt Staci

Harrison's favorite part of Christmas!

Tyler's Nerf gun that is as tall as he is!

Morgan's princess bike and helmet

The next day we opened presents from Santa and us at home and then headed back up to Gary and Carol's for Christmas day. Carol has been having knee problems so she stayed off her feet as much as possible, so Gary did the cooking. I'd have to say (and Kent even agrees!) that we've had better food, but Gary has been having back problems so neither one was really up to par, so it was understandable. It was still nice to visit with family and relax. I was getting really worn out from Harrison though b/c he still was very fussy and didn't act like he was feeling good, plus my eye was really bothering me. I really wasn't feeling very festive and I don't think I looked very festive either!

Macie, Grandpa Allen, Morgan

Finally some relief from Harrison! He looked so cute in Carol's arms!

All the brothers got neck Gaitors and spot lights - boy version of Charley's Angels!

Then on Friday we thought Jen and the kids (Aaron's wife) were going to come over from Ohio, so we planned on going back down to my parents' house. They didn't end up coming until this week, but we went down anyway. We had a game night and LOTS AND LOTS OF DELICIOUS food!!! We had veggie pizza, BBQ on rye bread, bean dip with tortillas, and razzleberry pie and a variety of cheesecake. Talk about a little piece of heaven! The food was extremely tasty! Then we enjoyed a rousing game of Pictionary. It was quite loud with all of us yelling, but it was a blast! My favorite part of the game was when Staci, who is pregnant with twins, was drawing and Andy guessed gargoyle, which is what she was drawing, but her card said argyle. When she realized what she had done, she let out this hilarious laugh! It was so funny! I would blame it on the pregnancy - makes you do funny things! :) We put in Star Wars, but I was so tired that I fell asleep (or tried to sleep but it was BLARING and I kept saying it was too loud but nobody heard me) at the beginning. The next morning Kent and I were able to go on a shopping spree - and I mean MAJOR shopping spree! We brought Harrison, but he was an absolute angel! It was a lot of fun going with just Kent and me because we were able to go a lot faster and enjoy time together without the kids. We spent most of our Christmas money, but got some REALLY good deals. I got a couple blazers, a couple skirts, a couple button-up shirts, a couple white tank tops, a pair of pjs, and some lotion and soap from Bath and Body Works. If you couldn't tell, I was in need of some winter Sunday clothes. Kent found an awesome deal on some dress shoes and got a nice shirt and tie. He also got a great deal on a video game he was wanting b/c it was marked wrong - gotta love when that happens! That happend to me last Christmas when I bought my brown boots! We were gone about half the day, but it was so nice! Thanks to my mom, dad and Staci for entertaining Tyler and Morgan! Good times, great food!

We ended up staying home New Years Eve and just put away all our Christmas decorations and hung out with the kids. We rented the Bourne Ultimatum and watched the ball drop then were in bed by 12:30 a.m. It was a great flick! We both had been ready to just relax at home with all the traveling and stuff we had done, so it was nice to just spend time here. On New Year's Day we ended up going up to Lafayette to finish up some shopping and then we decided to help Kent's parents put away their Christmas stuff since they both were sort of out of commission. Carol made some yummy chicken strips for lunch and then we just hung out with them during the afternoon. It was nice to be able to visit without all the chaos that goes on when all the family gets together.


And to finish off our Christmas break, we had my family, Jen and the kids included since they came over on Thursday, up to our house Friday night for chicken tortilla soup, French bread with cheese dip, fruit with dip, veggies with dip and leftover desserts from the holidays. It was quite crowded with everyone here in our limited space, but it was a lot of fun. The soup, fruit and dip, and bread and cheese dip were a hit! Another great meal! I had made a cheeseball last week but no one really ate it b/c there was so much other food and last night was kind of the same thing, but it did get eaten more. My poor cheeseball - will it ever get eaten? :) I'm sure Kent and I will finish it off soon! Tyler and Christian had a blast with Tyler's Nerf gun and Star Wars PS2 game and Victoria loved taking care of Harrison. Faith found the Cinderella dress right off the bat and didn't take it off until it was time to go. It was funny watching Faith and Isaiah go at it a few times! :) It was the first time Jen's family saw Harrison. Everyone couldn't stop talking about how cute he is, which I couldn't help but agree! :) I really enjoyed them coming over, but it sure is a lot of work when hosting a get together! I had a lot of great help when they got here, so that was nice. Glad we weren't the ones having to drive home! It was nice to clean up a bit and then relax.

So now one more day until we get back into the routine of school and work again (at least for Kent - I've been working the whole time). It was a fun Christmas break. I liked not having to get Tyler everyday from school and I loved having Kent home to help out with the kids and chores. Although it was quite a busy holiday, we still had time to relax and enjoy time with one another. Today we didn't leave the house and just relaxed, did a few things around the house, and got rested up for the coming week. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years!