New Year's Eve

New Years Eve was pretty uneventful. As an adult staying up till midnight just isn't as fun and magical as it was as a kid and I would rather go to bed then stay up to ring in the New Year. 

For lunch Mary Beth, Erin, Mom, Heather and I went to Simple Simons and then when we got home Ashleigh and Andrew Brown came over with Atticus, I love being around that baby! 

Heather and I both got Instant Pots and we wanted to try hers out so we made Barbacoa Beef in it and then put together all the ingredients for Barbacoa Beef Nachos. It was really good and the Instant Pot wasn't too hard for us to figure out.

Erin got all of us New Years crowns to wear and I liked that they looked like the crown that Princess Elizabeth wore in the book The Paper Bag Princess. It is one of my favorite Children's books and the correlation made me happy.

We had fun eating Nachos, watching The Middle and eating treats for our New Years festivities. I set my phone up on Mom's chair so that we could get a picture will all of us in it. It took a couple of tries but we managed to get one where everyone is smiling and no one is blocking anyone else, success! In order to get Atticus to smile Ashleigh would toss him up in the air and then have him ready by the time the countdown timer on the phone got to 1 and the picture was taken. 

Erin, Heather, Atticus, Ashleigh, Elizabeth, Mom and Andrew Brown

When Atticus is ready to leave whether it's because he wants to take a nap or he wants to go home or he wants visitors to go home he starts waving Bye Bye. It is so cute and I tried to get a picture of him waving Bye Bye, his hand is a little blurry but it shows what it needs to show. It reminded me of when Kenedy was little and when she got tired of company being around she would find their keys and hand them over. 

Kids are just too smart

Once they left if felt like they took the party with them ;)

We stayed up a little bit longer but I was in bed by 9 and probably asleep by 10. 

Happy New Year.

Atticus and a Girl's Day

Two days after Christmas I flew down to California to spend some time with my family. Unlike the previous two times I flew somewhere this time I had no complications, it was easy peasy. Heather and Erin picked me up from the airport and we headed straight over to Ashleigh's to visit with her and Atticus. I haven't seen the little guy since he was about 6 months old so I figured he would be really shy and standoffish with me. My plan was to sit back and let him get used to me before I tried to hold him. When we got to Ashleigh's she was getting Atticus from his nap and when she brought him in the room he saw me and lunged for me right off! I took him and snuggled him and was so happy that he was so willing to come to me right off the bat! 

We stayed with them through the morning and most of the afternoon. It was fun to play with Atticus in between his naps and it was fun to visit with my sisters at the same time.

Kefford took Avynlea to the Basketball game she was cheering at and he stayed to watch and sent me some pictures he took of her. I love going to watch Avynlea every time she cheers and am so glad that when I can't be there that Kefford will go in my place. And that he took pictures, that is awesome!

Saturday I planned a Girls Day with my Mom and Sisters. We went and got manicures, Erin got a pedicure, and then we went to eat at Red Robin. After we ate we headed over to Target to look at the after Christmas sales which were not impressive and then we went back to Mom's. I am glad we were able to get together and it was fun to be with everyone but we did miss Emily, she was the only sister missing.

L-R Heather, Stephanie, Mom, Erin, Ashleigh and Elizabeth

Atticus, Heather, Stephanie, Mom, Erin, Elizabeth and Ashleigh

Christmas in Nyssa

After we finished opening our presents we puttered around for a little bit and then headed over to Nyssa to see Kefford's family.

Michelle and Trevor were their with their boys and Rylee took a selfie with Garrett

Bob and Alison gave us the same gift we got last year which were day passes to Wahooz, we loved the day we spent at Wahooz last year and are really excited for another fun day this year! Bob gave us our stocking box which is a tub filled with fun little goodies and odds and ends and Alison crocheted the girls scarves. I got a picture of Kenedy and Rylee with their scarves but wasn't able to get Avynlea with hers, she got a navy and gold one that matched her school colors.

Rylee, Brielle and Qiana were wanting to learn to Crochet so Alison got out her extra yarn and some needles and showed them how to get started.

Kefford bought our family a wack-a-hog game and he had fun showing Xander how it worked.

I got a picture of Mikayla and Kenedy on the couch together

and Ryker watching TV with his Grandpa Bob.

Bob and Alison also got everyone a John Deere Tractor set. Kefford built the track and then we watched the Tractor go around the track getting apples and moving them around the "Farm". It is really fun and will be fun to have for when we have Grandkids someday in the future.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning Ryker and Rylee woke up pretty early and they went into the TV room and watched TV. Kefford and I woke the other two up at 7 and we had them grab their stockings and come into my room for the opening. At Breakfast on Christmas Eve I asked the kids what their favorite Christmas tradition was and they all said they love that we wrap their stocking gifts and they love opening them in our room. It really made me so happy that they love the tradition that I grew up on and that I love also. Traditions are the best!

I got a picture of the tree before we got the kids up. I love seeing the tree with all the presents around it, Christmas is just so magical and fun!

I tried taking a picture of the kids around the Christmas tree with just the lights glowing on Christmas Eve but Kenedy was too shadowed in it. So I tried again in the morning and it worked better but Rylee didn't have her face showing. Pft, maybe next year.

Kenedy got gifts for everyone and she was super excited about them and wanted to go first with the gift giving. 

She gave everyone gifts with her face on it! Avynlea got a phone case, Rylee a pillow, Kefford a poster and Ryker face cards. Kenedy won Christmas with those gifts! So funny and so creative!

I didn't get a Kenedy face on my gift but I got the best gift of all. Kenedy, Avynlea and Rylee all chipped in for my gift and I absolutely love it. Later in the day Rylee asked me what my favorite gift was and I said the picture that her and her sisters gave me, it makes my heart happy!

Rylee loves Christmas, she loves the music, the decorations and she loves the gifts. Even more then that she loves giving gifts to her family. Towards the beginning of the month Rylee was ready to go to the Dollar Store so that she could buy Christmas Gifts and she was relentless in asking me to take her. I finally told her I would take her after school the next day and she had a lot of fun picking out the perfect gifts for her family and paying for them herself.

She went next to have everyone open their gifts and it was so cute watching her excitement and everyone loved what she gave them.

Avynlea gave her siblings the gifts she had for them. They were regifts taken from the prizes she had won at her JV Cheer party. At least she thought to give them something. 

We opened Secret Person gifts from my family and I am so glad we have this tradition. It helps to keep us connected with the rest of my family.

Ashleigh had Avynlea..

Belle Wet Brush, scrunchies and a makeup bag with her name on it

Isabelle had Ryker..

His gift was pretty cool, he got the gummy sharks and then he had a game controller piñata, when he broke it open he found more candy and a gift card for Target.

Alec had Kefford..

Beef stick, triscuits, cheese spread and white t-shirts

Mallory had Kenedy..

She got her an apple, peeler, corer, slicer

Emily had me..

and I got a jean quilt with Ariel material for the backing

Erin had Rylee..

She made her a crocheted Pineapple, a Jasmine bow, chapstick, face masks, pineapple sticker, pineapple earrings and bracelet and a pineapple pencil

Once we finished opening all of the gifts under the tree I tried getting pictures of everyone with their Christmas gifts before they took them to their rooms and only managed to get Rylee, Avynlea, Ryker and myself...

Heather sent me the "Angry Mama" microwave cleaner and Mom sent the Disney Key ring holder and See's Chocolates.

Ryker gave me the Air Pods, Rylee gave me the Alaska Globe (I forgot to get one when we were on our trip and thoughtful Kefford found one for me online and ordered it), I got the candle maker from Avynlea and Kefford gave me the Instant Pot.

Rylee finished off the present giving by giving Bonnie Bunny his Christmas present, an edible chew toy.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve morning we went to IHOP for Breakfast. We all got yummy food and it was really fun spending the time with my family. after Breakfast we stopped at D&B so Kefford could look for some more things for Christmas, specifically my stocking gifts, he is a last minute kind of guy. We then took Avynlea around to her cheer besties houses so she could drop off their Christmas gifts. When they were at our house the other night they loved our cereal bowls that had straws and so I bought some off of Amazon for their Christmas gifts and gave those along with Oreo's.

Christmas Eve day was a relaxing day. I spent the day hanging out, getting food ready for dinner and watching Hulu. It was nice. I did a Ham dinner this year instead of the Turkey I usually do and I enjoyed mixing it up a bit. After dinner Rylee was really anxious to open her pajamas and ornament so we gathered around the tree and let them open their pajamas. The ornaments were ones that Kefford and I bought in Alaska and they were wrapped in tissue paper but not assigned to anyone in particular. We gave each kid one of the ornaments and let them open them. We then had them decide which ornament they wanted starting with Kenedy and then going down to Rylee. Kenedy picked the Whale, Ryker got the Eagle, Avynlea the Bear and Rylee got the Moose. 

 The kids recreated their cute Christmas Eve picture from 2009 and they are just as cute as they were then.

After pajamas and ornaments we read the Christmas story from Luke and then watched The Nativity video and other uplifting Christmas videos from the Church App.

After that we watched National Lampoons Christmas and then Kefford and I went downstairs to prepare Christmas. The kids were told to stay upstairs and to not stay up too late. It was a really nice day with my family and we all went to bed excited about Christmas day!