Christmas Part 1

The first part of our Christmas holiday break, we headed to Jackson to spend time with my side of the family. And the highlight of the trip was getting to see Erin and James for the first time in a YEAR! They also got to finally meet baby June. :) Friday night, we had a little birthday celebration for my birthday. It was a nice low-key birthday party for a pretty low-key birthday. I mean, 31 is sort of a boring, somewhere-in-the-middle kind of year. But, that being said, I have it pretty good for just 31 years. 3 kids, an amazing husband, a wonderful family, and time to spend with all of them! Not too shabby!!

Saturday morning, we woke up and had "Christmas." The kids (both grown and young) were all spoiled with wonderful gifts and goodies.
Afterwards, we headed out to the ice skating rink. And oh what fun?! At first, I wasn't too sure that it was going to work. It had been years and years since Dan or I had been on a pair of ice skates. But, we got the hang of it and then so did Will. Andrew....well the positive is that he wasn't scared. The negative is that we spent a lot holding onto him for dear life and swinging him between our legs. Talk about a workout! And June slept soundly on the sidelines with Nonnie.

Sunday, after mass, the whole gang went to visit Amma.

That evening, Natalie and Jesse brought Miles down to hang out with June.
Can you believe that these two are a month apart...and Miles is the younger of the two? They are definitely on different ends of the size spectrum. :)

And Monday, we made a quick stop by the Kirks' house before heading back home to Stark-vegas!

Getting back into town in time for our Christmas Eve mass was quite the challenge. We had to stop no less than 5 times on what should have been a short 2 hour trip. Oh the joys of traveling with 3 young children. Our tires were literally squealing into town at 3:55 and the boys had to be dressed and ready at church for 4:15 to sing in the children's choir before mass. (I realize this isn't the best picture, but running in and out of the house in 5 minutes didn't allow me too much time to grab much other camera, so my phone was all I had. But, hey! At least it is documented!)

That night we ate pb&j's and popcorn and watched Christmas movies together as a family. It was not at all what I pictured our Christmas eve looking like being the meal-planner/somewhat anal person that I am, but it ended up being absolutely perfect and a wonderful way to spend the night.

On Christmas morning, Santa had arrived and brought more gifts for everyone!

We had a really lovely Christmas and hope you and your family did as well!