This year, Nay Nay and Papa came to spend Christmas break with us! We were all excited to spend some quality time together. They arrived Friday afternoon, and within minutes of being in our home, Mom presented the kids with a new stack of books. Brooke and Colby love to have people read books to them, so it was perfect :)
Saturday morning we did haircuts, and Kevin even got in on the action. I have been cutting Colby's hair since he was 18 months old, but I only recently started cutting Kevin's hair in an effort to save money. Men's haircuts are expensive! I guess my Dad figured that I was qualified to give him a haircut as well, haha, but I still needed coaching from Kevin. I didn't trust myself to scissor-cut the top, so that's where Kevin came in. It turned out great, so we were pretty proud of ourselves :)
We then piled into the car to go see Mary Poppins Returns, but the Armada wouldn't start. Turns out the starter went out, but on a Saturday afternoon before Christmas, there isn't much to be done. We basically were stuck at home because we all couldn't fit in the Honda. We totally switched plans and took the kids to the park instead. It was a beautiful day to spend some time outside and I adore these pictures we got as we slid down with the kids.
Papa convinced Colby that if he tapped on his handlebars three times, his tricycle could fly. I was a little nervous when he picked him up, but Colby thought it was the greatest thing. I stayed close, just in case :) When Papa put Colby down, Colb tapped on his handlebars again for another ride. I don't think Papa knew that it was going to be such a hit, haha.
When we were done at the park, we headed back to the garage to help Kevin with a project. He bought some dumbbells from a guy on Craigslist, but they were all rusty. We tried to get all the rust off a week earlier, then soaked them in a vinegar/water bath as suggested on youtube. Well, the vinegar made all the old paint start peeling up, so then Kevin had to scrape all the old paint off as well. This project became more involved than he originally envisioned, but the final product looks great! He sprayed a Rustoleum paint over the weights, and I painted the numbers on each of the 10 weights.
The next day was Sunday, and since we couldn't all fit in the same car, we had to enlist our neighbor Charlie for help :) Thankfully, he belongs to our ward so he was already going to church. And since we were all heading to the parking lot together, I asked him to take our family picture. You gotta take advantage of opportunities like that, right??
We still took a few pictures when we got home :)
That night, as I was looking through my pictures, I noticed that Colby's hand was placed right on my boob in every single picture, haha. I hadn't even noticed because he was just resting his hand there, but I was literally cracking up as I swiped through all the pictures my Mom took. I still love it thought because it's our family Christmas photo.
After we went in the house, Mom mentioned that she didn't get a picture with me, so we went back to the porch for a selfie.
After a delicious pot roast for dinner, Nay Nay helped the kids make sugar cookies to be ready for Christmas Eve decorating. She was so patient, especially with Colby who wanted to help with everything, but didn't want anybody's help doing each task. This whole business of skipping naps has been interesting :/
That evening, Jerry and Bev came over as well to bring us their Tahoe. When they found out that our car was stuck in the garage, they wanted to help us out. We were so grateful because we didn't want to miss out on the fun plans we had for Christmas Eve!
This was our third annual Christmas Eve bowling adventure, and since the kids are getting more independent, it's getting even more fun.
This picture of Colby is pretty classic, haha. Him and Brooke used the alligator ramp for almost every turn, but occasionally Colby wanted to throw the ball himself, and laid down on the floor to watch it roll down the lane.
After bowling, everyone came back to our house for some brisket that Dad and Kevin had smoked the day before. That was a fun project for them, and it was cute to watch them throughout the process. The meat was delicious, and it was fun to put the leaves into our dining room table for everyone to sit together.
It was fun to have both sets of grandparents together, and I'm grateful that it's not weird when we all get together. I should have taken a picture of them all with the kids, but I did get one with Jerry and Bev and the grandkids.
After dinner, we opened gifts and decorated sugar cookies.
Colby is such a sugar head. He decorated and ate one cookie, then immediately wanted another one. I told him that he could decorate a sugar cone (to look like a Christmas tree), because I didn't think he would want to eat it. Well, he did. I finally gave it, but told him that was it! I let him decorate another cookie for Santa, and when he wanted to use the icing writer, I helped him write a C on the cookie.
A few minutes later, in all seriousness, Colby said, "I guess I want to eat this cookie. It has a C on it for Colby, not for Santa." We were all cracking up, but his logic was sound! I threw all caution to the wind and let the kid eat the cookie. It was Christmas Eve, after all :)
Brooke was very meticulous about her decorating, and I loved watching her face throughout the process.
After they were sugared up, we sent them to the trampoline to burn off some energy. My kids love playing "Dead Man, Dead Man, Come Alive", and they introduced the game to Kinley and Aubrey. I stayed outside with them and loved listening to their happy squeals. That trampoline has been so fun to have in our backyard!
When the kids were tired from jumping, they came inside to play with their toys. The Peacocks were getting ready to leave when I remembered that we hadn't done the chimes yet! They said they could stay, so we busted out the chimes and started playing Christmas songs. The first few songs were rusty, but the kids caught on quickly and we had such a fun time doing it! I was happy when Melanie sent this picture to me because I have so many happy memories associated with the chimes.
Growing up, we didn't live near any extended family. Our friends became our family, and we always went bowling with them on Christmas Eve (which is why I started that tradition a few year years ago with cousins), acted out the Nativity, and played the chimes. When Aunt Lori threw me a bridal shower, the theme was "traditions", and Sister Tilley (one of our childhood friends) gifted me a set of chimes. I have used them over the last 6 years during our Young Women Christmas party, but this was the first time I used them with family. Since everyone enjoyed it, this may be part of our Christmas Eve tradition as well.
Then came the moment my Dad was waiting for! Pictures with Santa, or Papa Noel as I joked. I prefer him clean-shaven, but he did look pretty cute for Christmas Eve with his grandkids.
Mom and Dad were cute in their matching pajamas :)
Colby wanted to try on the Santa hat, and his smile couldn't have been any bigger. He kept trying to say, "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas" in a deep voice like Papa.
These two are too much!
Can you tell that the kids were excited about Santa coming to our house?? We set out his plate of treats, a glass of milk (with a straw, courtesy of Brooke), and some peas for the reindeer. I hadn't realized that we used all of our carrots, haha.
After all the Santa business, we read a beautiful children's story entitled, "God Bless Your Way." It tells of a man who followed behind Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem. They showed the man such kindness, and in the end, he was there for the birth of the Savior. Of course I got choked up at the end, but I felt the Spirit so strongly and felt such gratitude for the birth of our Savior. (I was also more emotional this Christmas thinking about how we should have been preparing for the birth of our baby. My due date was January 6th, so I had moments of sadness throughout this holiday season. But I also felt so grateful for the beautiful family that I have. )
After the kids were in bed, it was time to set out the stockings! Santa was very generous this year...
Colby woke up before Brooke on Christmas morning, but Brooke woke up shortly after. They were both eager to go see if Santa came to our house, but first they had to wait for Daddy to take a quick shower. When it was finally time to enter the living room, the kids went straight to their stockings. Brooke was also interested in reading the note from our elf, Claudia.
Once Colby climbed on his bike, he rode straight towards the Christmas tree, haha.
The kids were adorable through the whole process, and after every gift, Brooke ran straight towards the gift giver and gave them a huge hug. I was so glad that she showed such gratitude, and Colby followed in her footsteps.
Brooke was so excited to give Colby this bug vacuum, and she wanted him to open it last "since it was the most special". He was totally excited about it, and it was cute watching them together.
The afternoon was full of playtime, naps (Kevin and Dad), and yummy food.
Colby rode his bike all over the house, all while wearing his new Cowboys helmet from Grandma and Papa Meador.
My kids were spoiled yet again, and I swear I only bought them 2-3 things each. They each got something big(ish) from Santa, something from each other, and then the rest is from family. Brooke's stash...
Colby's stash...
We celebrated Kevin's 37th birthday the day after Christmas and he is officially a self-proclaimed dinosaur, haha. Every time we talked about his birthday or aging, he kept telling me that he felt like a dinosaur. He doesn't seem much older to me, which is why the whole idea made me really laugh every time he brought it up. We all love and adore this guy...
The next few days were spent at the park, jumping on the trampoline, shopping with my Mom, and playing at home. The three favorite games were Duck, Duck, Goose, Hide and Seek, and Mr. Fox. Watching my Dad play Duck, Duck, Goose in the loft with us was so, so funny and I nearly peed my pants several times as he ran around the couch trying to catch my kids. SO many fun memories :) Hide and Seek was probably my favorite, and Kevin played with us in the evenings as well. We limited it to either upstairs or downstairs, but found plenty of great places to hide.
Kevin won for best spot when he crammed himself on the side of Colby's bed with the blanket over him. The only problem was that he couldn't get up once we found him. I am smiling as I type this because he was literally stuck, but I was laughing so hard I was useless to help him get out.
We had one more round of Sunday pictures on Dad's birthday, and we even recreated a picture we took two years ago with the kids. They adore my parents, and my parents have told me several times how much they loved their time with my kids.
My Mom came to Young Women's with me, and although I loved having her there while I taught all the girls, I was sad that my lesson didn't go better. On the drive home, she told me how wonderful I was and how lucky those girls were to have me. I really know it wasn't my best lesson, but it's nice to know that somebody thinks I'm wonderful and I appreciate that my Mom is always building me up with encouraging words and that she genuinely thinks the best of me. I hope my kids always feel that I do the same thing for them.
I love these two with all my heart and feel so much gratitude for the love they have shown me and for the MANY lessons they have taught me throughout my life.
It's been a great Christmas break!!
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