A few days before Christmas, I made homemade gingerbread for houses for the first time ever. Unfortunately, one part of the house got too thin and cracked, so our house was jimmy rigged together for awhile (above), but then came tumbling down shortly thereafter. We had our next door neighbors over, who also have 4 kids. Their house turned out great. The kids weren't too disappointed that the house broke--they enjoyed the spoils as you can see!
This year was the first Christmas that we'd be all alone as a family without any extended family. It was kind of a bittersweet feeling. A couple of days before Christmas, we were sitting down eating dinner and Wes all of the sudden said that there was a Christmas present at the door for Shelten. We were all completely stumped what he could be talking about. Below is a video of our reaction to our early Christmas present, hopefully you can see it, it's kind of dark. Can you tell we were just a little bit [a TON] surprised?!
What an awesome surprise to have my parents and brother show up! I still can't get over the sacrifice to drive 2000 miles each way through winter storms to spend Christmas with us!! We appreciated it so much and had such a great time with them!!
Shelten LOVES to be read to, and loved listening to stories with Papa!
I love Shelten's cheesy smile below. This was before the present opening started. It was so cute to see how excited the kids were!!
Jazlyn's loving this book series!
Kelston's big wish was for a fish. Santa thought it might freeze or drop out of the sleigh, so he left all the setup and Wes took him the day after Christmas to pick out his fish. The next morning when Shelten saw the fish, he said, "It's swimming! The fish says, 'What's goin' on?'" It cracked me up!
The simple things: one of Matsen's favorite and most wished for presents was his "very own first binder" to put his important papers in. Love how the simple things make them happy!
Kelston loves the chance to lick extra cool whip. Pretty sure he'll pick playing this game every time he's in charge of the activity for family night.
It was a magical Christmas! We had so much fun with my parents and brother here playing games, eating yummy food, making puzzles, and going to the movies! Thanks so much for coming, Mom, Dad and Jared! Saying good-bye was especially difficult for the older kids. But it will be a Christmas we'll never forget!!
9 comments:
I would drive the 66 hours and do it all again!!! I had such a great time and it was so fun to see the excitement of the kids on Christmas morning. Thanks for making my Christmas a VERY special and memorable one that I will always cherish. I loved playing kick ball, helping Jazlyn rearrange her room, games, puzzles, etc. I enjoyed it all!! Thanks for making us feel so welcomed!
I was lots of fun. I love all the cute pictures.
From, Jazlyn
What an unforgettable surprise. This will be a Christmas you will never forget. We had Cari and Hutch surprise us one year like that. It was wonderful. Wes is sure a good sport to smile while he gets whipped cream in his face.
What a wonderful surprise! I can tell those cousins had a great time together too.
Such a FUN surprise!!!!!! Glad you had such a wonderful Christmas! I'm sure it will be one that none of you will ever forget!
That will be a Christmas you will never forget. How great you were able to be together.
Watching the video almost makes me want to cry! What an awesome surprise!
You are so lucky! What a wonderful surprise and VERY special Christmas!
What a awesome Christmas. I enjoyed the pictures.I enjoyed that Christmas and I hope you did too:):):)
-Jazlyn
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