Christmas in North Carolina: Part 2

When we got to the Briggs on Monday, everyone was there and it was just chaos! But good amazing to be together kind of chaos. Brinley and Ellie were excited to see her 4 boy cousins and reconnect with them. Poor Brinley was having a hard time with the cold weather. She kept complaining about her jacket not being puffy enough and her hands always being cold. She stayed inside most of the day and by dinner time, I realized she still had a low-grade fever that was still hanging around from a few days before. She spent the next day inside and spending lots of alone time in our bedroom away from everyone. 

On Tuesday, we celebrated Ryan's birthday!! He is such an easy guy to please and just wanted to spend time together and go bowling. We ate lunch at Jason's Deli and went bowling afterwards. Brinley stayed back at Grandma and Grandpa's to rest while we went out. I missed that girl! But it was also kind of fun to have a little date just with Ellie too!

For dinner, we had delicious steaks, baked potatoes, and for dessert, Ryan's favorite cake his mom made from their childhood, Crazy Chocolate cake! It was my first time having it and it was absolutely delicious.

That night, we opened Uncle Bruce's (Ryan's uncle) gift to the kids. He got them each their very own giant stuffed rainbow trout fish! They were absolutely hilarious with the fish! I was laughing so hard because it was so random but also such a perfect gift for the kids.

stu and julie, all the way from NYC 

Another fun addition, was finding out that my sis-in-law Chrissy is having her 5th boy! I can't imagine having all those boys, but she is the perfect mom for the job. She is so patient and loving and you can tell that those boys just adore her. We are about 7 weeks apart and both expecting boys! I hope these two babies become little pals as they grow up. 

On Christmas Eve morning, the kids, with help from Uncle Ryan and Auntie Hayley, made sugar cookies! They were so funny. Some of the cookies were super thin and others were about an inch thick. They were loving all the frosting and I made sure to sneak away some of the finished ones to frost for everyone else to eat too. As much as I love eating cookies made by little kids, I also know they lick their fingers every other second while doing it. 

Christmas Eve was a bit crazy. By dinner time, the big kids were in charge of getting everything organized and prepared because my mother-in-law came down with the same stomach bug that hit my father-in-law earlier in the week. We had appetizers to prepare on top of preparing a meal and feeding the kids. When dinner was finished, we gathered around the tree and got their PJ gifts out, tried reading through the nativity, but I think by that point, we all were wanting the kids in bed. It wasn't the Christmas Eve I was used to or hoping for, but at least the kids were having fun. 

L-R, Tyler (almost 2), Ellie, Brinley, Joshua (7), Beau (2.5), and Chase (5)

letter to Santa from Joshua--Isn't it the sweetest!? 

That night, the adults spent time wrapping gifts, chatting, watching Home Alone and eating holiday snacks and cookies. I love preparing the girls stockings and getting everything situated for Christmas morning. I couldn't wait for them to see what Santa brought them!

Christmas in North Carolina: Part 1

It has been an interesting couple of weeks and I'm having a hard time finding the time to sit down to blog! But I know that if I don't get it done now, I'll regret it later when I have a million other things to blog about.

Before we started on our Christmas vacation week to North Carolina, we decided to eat dinner at Cracker Barrel. YUM! It was delicious and exactly what we needed to get in the holiday spirit and have some family time together. 

The drive up went as expected. It was long, but we had fun together in the car talking about all the people we were going to see and all the fun stuff we were going to do. We made record drive time to my parents house in only 9.5 hours! We didn't hit any traffic and we took quick potty stops along the way. It got drastically colder as we were driving north. Thank goodness I packed sweatshirts and socks to grab quickly when we had to go outside because by the time we got to Charlotte it was lightly raining and barely 40 degrees. COLD!

The girls were so happy to see Grandma and Grandpa Steele (and the dogs of course!). They were flying out to Seattle on the Tuesday and so we had one day to hang out. We had presents to swap and had time to do some Christmas traditions like lighting smokers, pyramids, the 4th candle of the Advent, and we even sang some songs. We went for a walk to the neighbors house because they have a huge Santa blow up in their yard and it is pretty epic to see! Ryan and I thought that it didn't seem right to drive all that way and not see the lake, so down to the lake we went! It was magical. The sky was clear, and the lake was so still. The girls were pretty exhausted by the end of it all so we got them quickly in the bath and then bed.

The next morning, Ryan and I packed up our stuff again and got out the door by 10am to make the 45 minute drive north to the Briggs. My parents took care of the girls while Ryan and I got showered and packed and it makes me laugh because days after we left my parents, I noticed pictures my mom was posting on instagram and facebook and had no clue when or where they were taken. They were having so much fun together having animal tea parties and playing doctor (Ellie's favorite!) and using her fancy vacuum. They love their grandparents so much and we can't wait until we can be together again. 

Merry Christmas!

We take off for North Carolina this weekend and I wanted to show you all our Christmas card! I'm super happy with how it turned out. I wish I had endless means to mail out hundreds of cards to all of our friends, but this year, I only mailed out 75. that sounds like a LOT but they go out so fast.

Preparing for our trip has been a bit eye opening. We have ZERO winter clothes. After living in Florida for almost 5 years, I guess that makes total sense. Also pathetic, I don't think I have bought regular socks since I worked at The Gap 7 years ago. haha! They are still in great condition. I wear non-athletic socks like 5 times a year. Thankfully, Ellie has quite a bit of long sleeve shirts and jeans from Brinley but I've had to buy quite a bit for Brinley. We had a fun mommy-daughter date to Old Navy a few weeks ago to buy some sweaters and long sleeve shirts. She is so much fun to be with one-on-one. We stopped by Chick-fil-a for an ice cream and we just chatted about everything. She is the cutest. Ryan's size hasn't changed since we lived in Rexburg, so he has lots of sweaters and jackets. and my belly isn't out of control big yet so a lot of my tops still fit. I've had to buy some maternity jeans, but I'm glad I have them for when it actually does chill down over here for a few weeks in January.

We will be spending one night at my parents house before they fly out to spend Christmas in Seattle with my entire family. We weren't sure if it was going to work out with getting my time off approved, but I'm glad we decided to stop there first to make our trip up shorter. I'm predicting many potty stops because I cannot hold my bladder save my life! Sad we won't be able to see both families over the holidays, but at least we are able to see my parents. On a positive note, we will be together with Ryan's entire family! We haven't had everyone at Christmas I think since we've been married, so we are really looking forward to spending time together and catching up.

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! We have been so blessed this year with good health, a good job, living in a beautiful part of the world, and being so happy as a family. There always seems to be challenges within all of those blessings, but I am grateful for this time of year to be able to reflect on how much we've grown. 2015 will be another good year for us with first welcoming the birth of our little baby boy. Our Heavenly Father has blessed us immensely. and if you have 5 minutes, watch this incredible video!

Christmas Festivities

Last week was such a busy week of Christmas activities. First up, Brinley's Christmas Preschool Party! The after-care teachers (the hours after VPK), always does such a great job at these parties. When Ellie and I got to the school, Brinley's was so happy to see us! You see, I dropped the ball at the Thanksgiving party because they sang some songs but I didn't know that parents were invited to attend. She seriously did not let me forget that I wasn't there for weeks. Now, I am constantly asking and being paranoid whenever a holiday is coming if parents are invited to attend. 

First up, Florida snow! aka soap suds coming out of a big bubble blower fan! 

and Ellie not participating and just wanting to play on all the outside toys

Next up, we came back inside and made a Christmas picture frame. I loved sitting by Brinley and her little friends. They were so chatty and cute. I felt a bit like the cool Mom because there was always a swarm of 3-4 little girls by us the entire time. But I think they all just really liked Ellie :-) 

and next, SANTA! Brin wasn't too sure to sit on his lap, so she just stood by instead. Ellie wouldn't go near him.

Last activity, sugar cookie decorating. So much fun. Lots of frosting and sprinkles, just how I like it! 

When we got home, I knew Brinley needed a nap. She was so exhausted. It wasn't 5 minutes later when I checked in on her and found her like this in our bed. So comfy! I wanted to join her!

The next morning, we had our Ward Party. Ryan and the Elder's Quorum were in charge of everything this year and they decided on a breakfast party. It was such a success. Everything turned out amazing and I'm so proud of him for working so hard. I had to work the nights leading up to Saturday, so he had to haul the girls to the Church every night. Worrying about them while setting things up is a lot to handle, but he didn't complain one bit. 

We had pancakes, bacon, sausage, hash browns, breakfast casseroles, and fruit. So much yummy food! The primary kids sang the Nativity Song after everyone finished eating and then after that, they had a craft room set up to make ornaments. 

Santa made an entrance too. I was shocked that Brin actually sat on his lap this time! 

And this past Sunday was our Ward Christmas program. I was so relieved when I heard that because the following Sunday we will be on our way to North Carolina!

And that night, we decorated Gingerbread houses! I forgot how hard it is to construct and frost and decorate a gingerbread house without making it look like frosting and sprinkles had just accidentally dumped on it. 

 Ellie spent her time licking her fingers and eating the candy :-)

Brin loved every second of it and is committed to eating the house sometime this week. We'll see if she can actually bite a piece off. 

 And our masterpieces! Clockwise, mine, Ryan's, Ellie's, and Brinley's.

We love this time of year. Trying not to commit to too many things before Christmas, but sometimes you just can't help it! There is just so many fun things to do.