December

Sarah came home in mid-December, and Diamond was beside herself!

We took pictures in our jammies, and this year, Diamond was excited to have a matching bandana!

As always, we took a million photos.  And as always, some are classic!

Diamond is the best.

Just the best.

I don't think we have any family pictures without at least one of Jack cracking up, and those are always my favorite!

Diamond is the reason for Bryan's face.

One day while Sarah was out, and Bryan was working, Jackson and I watched Home Alone.

We watch it together every year--just the 2 of us, because Bryan doesn't like it--and it's one of our favorite traditions.

Our annual gingerbread house competition.

This year, Billy joined us.  And he came to play.

Our finished masterpieces.

Papa Bear's

Jack's

Mama Bear's

Billy's

Sarah's

After creating our works of art, we got in our jammies, ordered hot chocolate, and went to look at Christmas lights.

The next day, we did Elf Night!

After our jam packed weekend, we celebrated my 39th birthday!

We went to our favorite Italian restaurant and ate way too much food and laughed way too hard.  It was perfect.

Sarah and I snuck away to a beloved coffee shop a couple of days before Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, the kids baked their favorite cookies

and we had a smorgasbord of snacks and desserts and watched The Santa Clause. 

We also played games--one of our favorite things to do when we're together.

Christmas morning was slow and sweet.

Jack was excited to get new cookbooks.

Sarah was excited to get even more books!

Last year, we got Jack a ton of fancy root beers, and he loved it!

So, when he sweetly asked for the same thing again this year, we were happy to oblige.

Jack loves Japanese food and culture.  He also loves mayonnaise.  So, we got him Japanese mayonnaise and totally nailed it!

Gilmore Girls' pajama pants.  Again, nailed it.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

After gifts and celebrating Jesus, we had breakfast.

For dinner, we picked up Peking duck.  It was amazing.

Then, to end the day, we went to our favorite Christmas tree in a quaint neighboring town to take pictures!

And in typical fashion, we took some great ones!

We kept trying, until finally, Jackson was fully in the picture too!

Jack was the only one I didn't have a picture with in front of the tree, and he was sweet to rectify that!

I don't know how many years we have this same exact shot, but I do know that I intend to recreate it every year!  I love him so!