Christmas Gingerbread Day!

Aunt T gifted us with the goods to make our very own "real" gingerbread houses!

I saved the gift for New Year's Eve.

I will let the pictures tell the story.

And then they collapsed!

But they still tasted great!

Thanks, Aunt T!

Love, Us.

Christmas Costume Day

Costumes have become a family tradition here on Christmas.

Oma did an excellent job, once again!

She even got the men involved this year!

Love, Us.

Christmas Day

We had a very low-key Christmas day.

The main gift on the First Day of Christmas were some laser guns that

we had been given second-hand from a fellow daily Mass-goer.

They were an absolute hit!

Another complete success was my meal prep for the day.

I had prepped throughout the week so that I could just pull a "grazing" lunch out of the fridge.

Everyone loved it, and it lasted a few days!

Supper was also all prepped, besides the ham in the oven.

Yummm!

Some other gifts of the day were, of course, books...

and some very special clay sculptures made by D and T.

While we are talking about gifts, here is a glimpse at a special gift I made each kid
to be received on the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

Not quite sure what they will use them for...?
I made them at a free on-post spouses event, and thought they were a neat way to remind
each child just how each of their names was prayed over and has great, powerful meaning to us.

Love, Us.

Christmas Eve

Christmas finally arrived!

We decked the trees and the house and made a hearty soup supper.

Then we donned our Christmas duds. 

I scraped by this year. 

I hadn't prepped the boys' clothes, but somehow we put some decent outfits together.

And then, it was time for the official picture before Mass.

Not 100% great...but we'll take 'em!

After Mass, we came home, opened a small gift each, 

and had ice cream while finishing "It's a Wonderful Life". 

It was a Wonderful Christmas Eve.

Love, Us.

David turns 10!

The 21st brought a big day for our biggest boy.

David official graduated to double digits!

I love this boy so much!

His big sister took on the job of making him a triple chocolate cake!

And friends came to cut the cake with us.

The 10th birthday around here is traditionally the first sleepover with a friend. 

A couple of friends came over and had a great time.

Between new Calvin and Hobbes books and a couple new board games (

David's FAVORITE past time), he had a stellar day!

Love, Us.

Hector Climbs the Stairs

December 20th was the day.

Hector decided it was time to conquer the mountain.

And he did!

Love, Us.

Joe's Trip to Japan

Joe spent most of Advent in Japan this year.

I may have him add details to these pictures at a later point.

However, just enjoy them for now. 

These are pictures that he took in Japan.

Here are a couple taken of him...

And here is my man attempting to get back in our proper time zone upon returning. 

Love, Us.