First stop on our month of holiday festivities - The Festival of Trees
train ride
Chatting with Santa
Decorating cookies
Next up, the morning the kids wake up to their presents from Howie -
and the excitement builds all day for our tickets to the North Pole
Ready or not, here we come!
Dinner at a local pub
Activities before we board the train
All aboard!
We took a trip to Iowa to celebrate Christmas with our cousins there
Always a fun time, with lots for us to do!
Opening presents from each other in our jammies
a little morning basketball before brunch
Brunch at the Keough's Country Club
Visit with Sparkle, the Elf
A serious chat with Santa
Us
and all the cousins
and thankfully, they gave us a private room to enjoy our meal (i.e. run around like animals)
A fun, new tradition - Friendsmas!
Leonard's hosted a nice "Cookie/Gift" exchange for several of our favorite families
Christmas Eve with Gran!
Baking cookies for Santa, of course
Sprinkling reindeer food so the reindeer don't miss our house
"Throw on some shoes, and let's run outside real quick!" No one thought I meant their own shoes, apparently
There is something so beautiful and peaceful about the moments before going to bed on Christmas Eve, when the presents are all out and wrapped, everything is prepared for the next day, the house is all asleep, and the world (my world) is completely silent.
But once morning comes, its chaos for the next 12+ hours!
wouldn't be Christmas without "lifesaver storybooks" in the stockings..
No pictures of the beautiful table I put together, except a quick shot of the place-cards I made.
I was SO happy to get to use my Christmas china, too!
Poinsettia sweaters and vests were in full force
The game coordinators for the evening
The Fab Five
and all the rest
Always sad to see it end...
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