merriment

Merry Christmas!

I can't believe I've been "away" for almost a month! Though a lot of time has been spent just living and enjoying each other, I have to highlight a few happenings for my record keeping.

We loved having all the cousins together at my "little" brother's house to celebrate Thanksgiving. The girls adore their Uncle Nate....and are so excited for his wedding to Kayla in the new year. Here are all the cousins checking out "Aunt Kay-Kay's" Barbie tree,




The week after Thanksgiving, we headed out in the snow to cut down our Christmas tree. The girls got a ride out to the tree farm:



The girls had their hearts set on one of these little trees. We get one for the main floor & one for the basement where we end up opening gifts Christmas morning. So, we let the girls pick out one of these little trees for the basement. We let them decorate it just as they liked....I even resisted the urge to shuffle the ornaments around a little. So glad that I didn't....we've all come to love it! Here's Anika helping Ellie search for the perfect little tree:



I got a call early in the morning on December 8th from my sister. Our 4th nephew was going to be making his appearance! Matt stayed with the girls so I was able to go to the birth. It has been such a joy to share pregnancy and motherhood with my sister. We are just 13 months apart & I hope that my girls are just as good of friends in their adulthood. The furthest apart any of their 4 boys are from our (soon-to-be) 4 girls is 10 months......it's so fun (and crazy!)

We welcomed Owen into the world on Monday, December 8th. He weighed 7 lbs, 7oz and is so sweet! Congratulations, Ande and Krystal!

The girls have had fun parties at school, visits with Santa, a church program that was adorable, a dance recital, picked out and wrapped gifts for an Angel tree, make cookie & holiday treats, & helped us prepare the house to welcome their newest little sister.

Despite how much "stuff" that seems like, it really has been an enjoyable month of being together and focusing on celebrating the birth of Jesus. Wishing you all a blessed Christmas!