December wrap-up, a little late...

I should probably give it up.  Blogging about a holiday that was over a month ago does seem tacky...but here I go anyway.  I'm just trying to help you feel the Christmas spirit year round.

We were spoiled this year, we were able to enjoy Christmas in our home and spend Christmas with family.  Thanks to my brother and his family who were willing to fly across the country and my parents who drove from California, we had a wonderful family Christmas together.

To begin with, Devin worked like a mad man to finish the basement before everyone arrived so that there would be plenty of room for everyone.  The walls were textured days before the carpet was scheduled.  Devin stayed up for two nights in a row with only 2 hours of sleep total, plus going to work!  The first day/night was building the closet, primer and painting.  The next day/night was all the trim, doors and a couple of rows of tile in the bathroom.  The carpet was completed as my parents picked up Matt & Tina at the airport.  Thank you Devin for your hard work!  The basement looks great.

To begin with...

 

 

Next came the framing, HVAC, Electrical & Plumbing

Walls & paint done, finishing the trim...after 48 hours of very very little sleep!

Voila!!

The cousins picked up playing immediately...even though it had been 3 years since we had been together.  Tara, Marie and Clara took advantage of a big open empty basement.  They also enjoyed painting some ornaments.  Nell's took days to dry, the paint was so thick.

Grandpa provided a creative scavenger hunt for all the children leading them to an old trunk filled with old toys (treasure).  Thankfully they were happy with finding my old, worn out toys! :)

Finding clues...

And more clues

And finally, the treasure chest

There was also the fun night when Grandpa had his elf, Jonas, help him hand out some pre-Christmas gifts.  Jonas loved it and wanted to repeat this activity nightly. 

 

 

In fact, he loved wearing the Santa hat so much, there were a few nights he slept with it on.  Santa + Christmas + hats = Jonas' favorite things.

When he wasn't planning adventurous games, he was sitting guard at the top of the stairs making sure Max stayed safe.  It provided plenty of thinking time.

The cousins enjoyed their time together.  They had fun painting ornaments.  They had fun playing in the snow.  They had fun taking almost daily trips to the nearby park.  Pretty sure nobody else was headed there in the middle of winter, but that didn't stop them.

Then of course there was acting out the nativity on Christmas Eve.  Not sure what Nell was doing to the donkey's feet, hitching a ride to Bethlehem apparently.

After the nativity, the kids enjoyed opening their matching pajamas and hearing a Christmas story before heading to bed.

Love Max's grin!!

Christmas morning was very exciting.  Jonas loved the train he had been talking non-stop about.  It even puffs steam.  And if you look closely at his mouth, he is very clearly saying "Choo choo".

Nell loved her doll and shopping cart as well.

  

Maybe now she can stop trying to get the broom from me when I am sweeping.

Cute sisters!

Marie and Jonas always get along so well.  Here is Marie reading to Jonas from his new book.

Grandma gave the girls tickets to the Nutcracker for the day after Christmas.  Here they are just after the wonderful performance.  Such a fun activity followed by meeting up with the boys (and Nell) at Bombay House.  Pretty perfect evening.

Here's the aftermath of leaving your stocking in Nell's reach.  She ate Clara's candy...and ate herself into a sleepy stupor!  See that trail of Reece's?  On our brand new carpet?

And the close up...chocolate drool!

Here are some results from our thrown together family pictures.  I think they turned out well all things considered.

We had such a great time with everyone together.  The days were filled with constant fun and it was great to play games together once the kids were in bed each night.  We are so glad Matt and Tina were willing to make the trip at Christmas to visit us, we know how hard that can be!  Thanks for the wonderful memories.