Post Christmas Post

This past holiday season was great- low key and fun. Perfect. We got to spend some time with both sides of our families and we had a great time. In case you hadn't noticed, no Christmas cards this year. I was trying to scale down a bit and something had to give. Besides, nothing terribly exciting happened this year, compared to last year, this year was not nearly as notable. No news is good news though, I suppose. Thank you so much to those of you who sent cards and letters and well wishes our way. They were much appreciated and enjoyed, and they spent the month adorning our back door. Here are some pictures from our holiday festivities. (They are in random order because it takes forever to try to put them in the right order, so, sorry.)

We took the kids sledding at the park behind our house. They had a ball!

He he- I had a ball, too... a SNOW ball! (Not to worry- Marshall took the brunt of this one- Allie was spared, regardless of how it might look.)

We have been absolutely dumped on this year. I don't remember getting this much snow in a long time.

Action shot- I am actually catching this giant snowball- not throwing it. It was totally deflected! Nice try, honey.

Allie wasn't a big fan of the sled.

Sleddin with dad.

Daddy and Bubba going through their stockings.

Allie got some fake food from Santa. She is learning to pretend with it. At first, she just thought it was a mean trick. Now she comes up to me throughout the day and lets me sample a variety of delicious items.

Santa also brought her a cute little tea party set. But she was more interested in the edible props.

Tiny tea party.

Drew got more Thomas stuff, of course. This boy sure loves his trains.

Christmas Eve, Drew got the idea (no idea where from) that Santa's reindeer each needed a carrot, since Santa was getting cookies. He lined them up, all 9 (we mustn't forget Rudolph!) It was super cute how concerned he was for those reindeer. He is growing to be such a big boy. He loves his puzzles and trains, and is learning to read. He loves it! We are working on sight words and got him a few little beginner books to start with. I love that he is excited about reading.

Christmas Eve jammies. Big thank you shout-out to my mom here. She spend a good portion of her Thanksgiving at the machine, helping me get matching pajama pants made for the 4 of us. They turned out great! We were lucky enough to have my parents come spend Christmas with us again this year- I love sharing Christmas with them so much. So much, that I got so excited and didn't take any pictures of them. I am so lame.

Santa cookie quality control department. Gotta make sure they taste good enough!

Tired kids chillin in front of the tree!

I was lucky enough to get a visit from a great old friend. This is my friend Janelle who I played b-ball with in high school. She was in town with her family and stopped by to say hello. I hadn't seen her in a long time and so it was great to catch up!

We had our annual Dial family Christmas party at my parents house the Friday before Christmas. This here is the progeny of Dial.

Nana always reads Luke 2 and then the Story of the Three Trees. It is always a fun party- we look forward to it each year.

Love this girl. Her pigtails ("ti-tails!") kill me. She is growing so fast. I just wish I could freeze her in time and just sit and squeeze her. She is so precious to me. I don't want her to grow so fast. She is talking non-stop now and is learning her ABC's and some numbers. She loves her nursery class and her new Christmas doll "Name." (Yes, that is the doll's name! I asked her what we should name the doll, and she repeated "name." So a few hours later I saw her playing with the doll, and she called it "Name." So Name it is- no turning back now. Tough break, doll.

We have had such a lovely holiday season and feel so blessed. We have great health, and are lucky to live in such a beautiful community in a safe and comfortable home. We are blessed to live near family, and get to see them regularly. We have smart, beautiful kids, and most importantly, we have the gospel in our lives. There is nothing more on Earth we could ever ask for. Hope your Christmas was great as well!