Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at the Lents House! Kids were pretty excited. 

We ended up opening our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve since we had to go Ryan's family on Christmas day. Ryan and the kids got me an American flag to hang outside our house. I was pretty surprised & excited, I've wanted a flag for a long time!! Ryan hung out outside a couple weeks ago, I love seeing it out our window. Mason LOVES American flags right now too, it's fun! 

Santa's cookies..... oh so hard for a 1 year old! Addison has this tradition of using the Mickey Mouse plate for Santa. 

I did end up letting them eat a little cookie :) He was so upset, haha. 
 

Christmas Eve has always been a very special day/evening for me. Growing up, I always had such excitement on Christmas Eve. I loved preparing for Christmas and best of all, we spent the evening with the Julius family. We would go to Christmas Eve church and then the Julius Christmas. Then you got home late and had to get to bed so Santa could come! It was one of the best parts of Christmas! I want Christmas Eve to be a special memory for our kids too. There are only so many years with the magic of Christmas, I'm going all out to make it amazing! 

My Mother Hates Me in January

There is no making this kid do anything, but Addison was determined he take a picture with her! Haha! 

So Addison brought home this book from the library at school. I couldn't believe it. Shocked. This was my favorite book as a kid (not sure why, but it was). I checked it out from the library all the time! When I was pregnant with Addison, Kelly found the book for me. Used from some library as it's hard to find. I was so shocked when I opened for two reasons - #1. I didn't think anyone would remember that I loved that book and #2. I couldn't believe she thought to find it for me! It's an old book and I don't even keep it on her bookshelf because I didn't want it to get ruined - ha! I just couldn't believe that Addison's library had that book AND that she checked it out. :) 

We were shopping in Menards and I walked to the next aisle and found these two, pretending they were for sale. Ha! Mason was following her around and doing everything she does :) 

Annual family selfie before Christmas church! Addison was excited for the cookies at church. Mason was loud. Ha! 

Mason had a gift leftover from the Julius Christmas, so we told them they could open it after church on Dec. 23. I didn't take any pictures, but Grandpa Ron & Grandma Rita met us for church in Ankeny as we have done the last few years. 

 The Lents Christmas was on Christmas Eve this year and it was at Grant & Erica's house. It worked out nicely for us, not a long drive and they had toys :) Like a trampoline! It was SO NICE Christmas Eve, no coats as you can see. The kids loved the trampoline and the big kids were nice enough to let the little ones jump! 

Christmas Concert

We got home from the Julius Christmas and Addison wanted to play with her Kinetic Sand immediately. She played with it for hours! Way to go Aunt Kelly! 

And Ryan wanted a turn too :) 

Grinch the Elf brought Christmas Tree Cakes for the kiddos. Addison was so excited! I think this picture is pretty cute :) 

This little girl was so excited for her school Christmas program! We found one of Makena's sweater dresses and some dress boots. Christmas bows for the pigtails and she topped off the outfit with one of Grandma Rita's old necklaces that happens to be a Christmas necklace. 

Benefit of being the small kid..... you are in the front row! She is front and center. There are roughly #120 students in Kindergarten. They told her in school to invite grandparents and so she wanted to follow directions. She kept bugging me to invite Grandpa Ron & Grandma Rita. Well, knowing that these things aren't that entertaining..... I told her that we would just FaceTime them and sing her songs when we were home. She kept asking and asking...... so I texted my parents the day of the concert to say that we would be FaceTiming later that night so Addison could sing. Well, instead, they hopped in the car and drove to Huxley to surprise her at her concert! She loved it! 

 Clearly, I love the Christmas Tree photos...ha! There will be more :) It was jammie day at school and Addison loves her Grinch dress and it was so cold she wouldn't be going outside for recess (feels crazy to say that as it's 94 degrees today). 

Julius Christmas Part III

Grandpa Ron working on the tractors with Nolan.

Me with my favorite niece :) 

Grandpa & Grandma with all the grandkids. It's hard for everyone to be together, with all the sports everyone is involved in. It seems like at least 1 kid is always missing! Christmas is usually a whirlwind, working around hockey usually, but at least we get an afternoon all together. 

Just the kids! 

My two favorite girls! I LOVE this picture. 

And just the boys...... Nolan being crazy and Mason crying.... ha! It was only a few months ago, but Mason has changed a ton! He probably wouldn't be crying if we took it today, he's gotten much better with others. 

Boys playing a game. 

I look forward to and love the Julius Christmas every year. It's always short but that's okay, it's a lot of commotion! It's only once or twice a year that the WHOLE family (all 17 of us) is together. The kids have a blast playing together and the adults usually stay up late playing games/drinking. It's May now as I post this, but I can't wait till next Christmas!