2013 Holidays

This was a our first Christmas with Drew, so - predictably - I took dozens of pictures of Drew! But what is cuter than a baby's first Christmas? 

(The correct answer is "nothing".)

Great, glad we agree! Get your scrolling finger ready! Here goes:  

We had to do a small tree this year as Drew stuff has taken over our living room

Kyle and I are the Up Time holiday party

Dinner party with some friends. My friend Eleni hosted and set up this gorgeous table setting!

She even made custom place cards. How cute!

Eleni, me, and Danna. I've known Eleni for 16 years, and Danna 12 years!

Husbands: Loren, Kyle, and Carlos. Good looking guys!

That mustache gift bag!

Drooling over the presents...

Drew and I made ornaments for all the grand-parents, and we made one extra for our own tree!

Drew and I also made these cute plates!

I think I shared in a previous post that I made Kyle his own advent calendar this year. He said he had one growing up that he loved that his mom had made, so I wanted him (and Drew) to have one of their very own. My friend Laura gifted me a bunch of felt and little felt stickers, which was exactly the kick in the pants I needed to complete this project! 

The ornaments also have little slits where I can put scripture verses, or split up the story about the birth of Jesus...or put candy inside!

This is my favorite ornament (Kaleigh, I know it's your favorite too!)

Somehow after making Kyle and Drew that advent calendar, I still felt craft-deprived. So I decided to make Christmas present tags this year. It took me several nights to complete the project, but I did get all of my crafting desires satisfied for at least a few months this time.

Christmas Eve at Kyle's Grandma Eva's

Cope with Uncle Zeke. Uncles are the best!

Drew with Kyle's aunt Marjean

Cope requested this picture. It wasn't quite in focus, but boy he's cute!

Every year we sings Christmas songs together as a family from this song book

Drew listening to songs with Auntie Karen

There were nearly 30 people at Grandma Eva's this year! Somehow we all manage to fit into her living room for song time.

Addie with Grandma Mary Ann on the piano

Grandma Eva with her song book and her Bible

Heather and Addie singing

Cousin Mark sharing a song book with Grandma Eva

More singing...

Uncle Steve, Peter and Uncle Jim singing We Three Kings. This is my favorite every year!

   Jackson reading the Christmas scripture

Great-Grandma Eva getting some snuggles from Drew

Drew and mom! 

Drew and dad!

Hi!

Family pic

Drew and Papa Peter exploring the Christmas tree

So much wonder!

Christmas morning at Steph's dad's house

Dad as Santa

Sissy getting crafting supplies

My sister made this for me, and it made me cry. Such a beautiful gift!

Dad opening gifts

My sister got me new slippers! I love them!

Dad got an iHome!

My dad and sister got Kyle a left-handed gun holster - cool!

Brooke with her new mega-craft set!

Drew amped to open presents!

Auntie Sissy had to help him out a bit...

A book!

A high chair toy

A light up lady bug

Exploring the new toy

More books!

Impromptu story time with Auntie Sissy

Christmas pic with mom!

My sweet boy!

And now, time to play with tissue paper...

"Seriously, I can't eat this?"

Dad catching up on some Christmas morning sleep :)

Christmas Day at Warm Beach with Steph's Grandparents

Chatting before presents

Great-Grandpa Bob and Dad watching Drew open presents

Great-Grandpa Bob helping Avery open presents

Christmas is fun with little ones :)

Avery loves her Seahawks! Great-grandma got Drew and Avery matching Seahawks bears. Drew doesn't quite know about football yet, but he certainly loved slobbering his bear!

Drew helping dad open presents

My grandma is so talented. She made me these little hand-mitt rags to use when giving Drew a bath. How cute!

Avery wearing her new fuzzy bathrobe over her tutu. Kids are so funny!

Drew's new stocking at Great-Grandma's house. As long as you put it back on the tree every year, Santa will put more money in it for the next year :) 

Kyle won the annual pool tournament by beating my grandpa in the final round. Brave move, young guy!

Day after Christmas at Steph's mom's house

Beautiful tree!

Grandma Jo playing with Drew before everyone arrived

Drew playing with dad and Grandpa Steve

The kids getting some of their wiggles out!

Jace and Mason waiting for presents...

Sammi playing with baby Drew

Great-grandpa Joe meeting Drew

Giving it grace: What a busy, fun Christmas season! We are blessed to live close to all of our family. Christmas felt like a marathon this year, but in a good way. Despite the busyness I was able to steal some time away to reflect on the "reason for the season", as the saying goes. As Christians, Christmas is our jam! It's not just about presents, food, and general merriment. It's about celebrating the birth of Jesus, the coming of God's grace to earth on a rescue mission to save mankind. I can't wait until Drew is old enough to understand the meaning of Christmas! Teaching Drew about Jesus is our number one priority, and Christmas is certainly a big part of that. You can't really know the story of God's grace without knowing the story of Jesus' life on earth, which started with his birth. We had a wonderful time praising God and celebrating Jesus together as a family this past Christmas. Cheers!