Friday, December 29, 2017

Christmas 2017

Our Christmas celebrations began on Dec 22nd with our big family - aunts, uncles, cousins - at my Aunt Judy's house.  


Santa always stops by with a gift for the kids.  Rylee is still so very excited to see him.


He calls them up, one by one to get their gifts and sit on his lap for pictures.




Conor was much taller than Santa, but he still got to sit on his lap.  :)


Lily was putting together a Lego cop that she won in a game my aunt Mary brought to play. 


 The candy canes were another game Mary brought.

Then on Saturday, December 23rd, we had Christmas at my moms with just my sister and our families.  


We were watching Home alone and eating a Ham dinner before the gift opening.  


Rylee ripped through hers very quickly, and even opened some of Ceara's as well.  


Everyone had fun.


My mom put an extra wrapped present under the tree and said that anyone could exchange one of their gifts for the unknown gift.  Rylee was the only one who wanted to, but after she opened it she wanted her old present back.  lol  (purple coffee mug)


Jeff M's gift was mis-tagged and he opened one that was meant for Lily - a Smart Sketcher.  For a while, he believed that the gift was really meant for him and he was super confused.  It wasn't until Lily opened the gift that was meant for him that we realized the mistake.  Lots of laughs over that mix up.  :)

Lily got a tattoo maker and she and Rylee got tattoos on their arms - glitter and glue.  


On Christmas Eve, John Carter decided it was time for him to come into the world and meet us.  Ceara had a relatively smooth delivery and we have our first grandson!  <3 p="">


Our tree this year - another one from Wertz Tree farm where Conor has worked for the past 2 years - he cut two down this year.  One for us and one for Mimi.  


From the field to our living room, all decorated. 


I received many Christmas Cards this year, and I loved them all.  The one below was my favorite, hand drawn for us by Allie.


Christmas was very low key this year.  I didn't bake, we didn't shop much - only for the kids.  It was great spending time with family and friends without the stress of shopping.  In 2017 I began to minimize my house.  I have much more to do in 2018, but I am well on my way!  Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! 

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