Christmas

Bryan got home from his overnight call shift a little after 7:00 AM.  Then, he hopped in the shower, and we called the kids down to start the festivities!

Jackson is obsessed with Nerf guns right now, so he was super excited to see that Santa left him some new ones!

This set comes with 2, and they have walkie-talkies, so I think J and Daddy are going to have fun with them!

She's the cutest!  She always gets so excited when she gets new coffee mugs...and if they're in the shape of narwhalss, even better!

If only he liked his gifts!

He loves the Titanic!

Sarah asked for this new camera, and it was the very last thing she opened!

I just love his face!  He was so happy about this book!

The best gift of the whole morning, were three handwritten letters that Papa Bear wrote to each of us.  I told him they were so amazing, that he has to make them a yearly thing!

This is Sarah hugging Daddy after reading hers...

...and now Jackson hugging him.

And finally, the reason for the whole day.  The reason for everything.  Jesus.  Precious Jesus.  We love You so.  Happy Birthday, Jesus.  Thank You for loving us and saving us.

Cookies for Santa

On Christmas Eve, right before I tucked him in bed, Jackson left cookies, milk, and a special letter out for Santa.  This year, he wanted to leave Santa the cookie jar, not just a plate of cookies!

These are the cookies be picked out just for Santa!

And this is the precious letter he wrote:

Dear Santa,

Thanks for all you've done.  We love you.  Peace be with you.  

Your old friend,

Jackson

I love the letter so much!  

Christmas Eve

We always attend candlelight service at our church on Christmas Eve.  And we dress up more for this church service than we do for a regular Sunday service, so I always like to take our picture.  

This year, Bryan was on call on Christmas Eve, but I didn't want to leave him out of the picture, so I grabbed my favorite photo of him that I keep on my nightstand!  Sarah thought it was morbid!  Ha!

Christmas Jammies and Christmas Lights

Last Friday night, we went out to dinner, 

then got in our matching Christmas jammies, (which I adore!), stopped off at Starbucks to get hot chocolate, and went to look at Christmas lights!  This is one of our favorite traditions!  We have our favorite houses that we have to look at each year.  We listen to Christmas music, laugh, and just have the best time together!

They're the cutest!

Christmas Cookies

Today was the kids first day of Christmas break, so we started it off right--by making cookies!

 I just love being in the kitchen with them...

...and I love that they love sprinkles as much as I do!

Jackson's Class Party

Yesterday, was Jackson's class party and last day of school!  I went to spend time with him and help out!

First, he made a snowman pancake...

...and then his team of classmates turned him into a snowman!  

Movie Date

On Wednesday, after the kids got out of school early, we went to go see Mary Poppins!  It was just as delightful as spending time with them is!

A Different Kind of Field Trip

Today was field trip day for Jackson.  But instead of spending the day with 100 other 3rd graders, I decided to spend the day with my favorite 3rd grader.  I asked him last week if he would rather hang out with just me instead of going to the same type of museum that we went to on the class field trip last year--and that Daddy and I have already taken him and Sarah too--and he not only loved that idea, but he's been counting down to it!

We started our day off by seeing The Grinch, where he ate a cheeseburger and cheesecake for breakfast (2 of his favorite foods) while he watched!

Then, we went to Barnes and Noble, one of his favorite stores, where he got some new books, thanks to a gift card from Aunt Hill and Uncle Logan,

and he played with the train set, something I hope he never outgrows.

After that, we went to Target, where he used some Christmas money to pick out new Lego sets.

All throughout the day, we held hands, and he gave me huge bear hugs, and he told me, "I love you!" and "This is the best date!"  And it really was!  As much as I've loved being a chaperone on the school field trips over the last few years, I'll take a field trip for two any day!

Supper Club, Christmas Sweaters, and Hunting

Last Friday, Bryan and I hosted our monthly Supper Club dinner.  Our group consists of 4 couples whom we love dearly!  We've been getting together each month since last September, and it's just the best!

Since this was the Christmas Supper Club, I decided to make it fancy! I made each person a little wreath and wrote them a note--even Bryan!

We also had a hot chocolate bar...obviously.

And a dessert bar.  I also had containers for each couple to take the goodies home!

For the actual dinner, Bryan cooked filet mignon (to perfection!), and we served that with two kinds of sauce, bacon-wrapped green beans, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese.  I didn't get a picture of that goodness though!

I love these girls more than I can say!

They are literally my favorite people--outside of Bryan, Sarah, and Jackson!

Each Christmas Supper Club, we do ugly sweaters!  We all wore the same ones we wore last year.  Bryan and I got this one this year, and I loved it so much!!!  He didn't think we could cook in it, so we only for it for about 30 seconds, but they were 30 glorious seconds!  (And we actually took our picture before the dinner even started!)

Jackson was so excited to get the same sweater as Daddy, that he put it on as soon as our guests started arriving, and I had to snap their picture!  So cute!

After dinner, all the guys left to go on their first--of many to come!--hunting trip!  One of them, (the short one next to Bryan), owns land a couple of hours away, so they headed up there for the rest of the weekend and had the best time!

Saturday night, Bryan texted me this picture!  He shot his first doe...actually, it's his first anything!  This was his first hunting trip ever!  I was so proud of him!  Sarah Bear, not so much!  In a few days though, we'll have some deer meat, and then we'll see what she says.  Actually, I know her, and it will still be the same!  Ha!