Christmas Day

Christmas Day started without us... at least Ryan and I. We woke up to sounds of presents being ripped open. We flew out of bed and told them to hold their horses. 

Once we were all gathered together, the present unwrapping began again. It was a great Christmas!

The kids each got a remote controlled car and the PJ Masks cape and mask from Santa. 

I got Ryan a pass to the rec center so he could go swimming as well as tickets for the two of us to go see Les Mis in May. So excited! Necia's family gave us some great movies, popcorn, a popcorn machine and candy.

Delicious traditional breakfast of Ebleskivers. Nom nom. 

Gingerbread train making with Oma.

This handsome man finally woke up and got to enjoy his presents.

My mom's cousin passed away and my mom asked me if there was anything I wanted. I saw these gorgeous books and said I would love those. Didn't even care what they were. When I unwrapped them I realized that they are classics! Like Gone with the Wind and War and Peace. Pretty incredible. Beautiful decor and amazing reading. :)

The weather was gorgeous, so I went for a run. Yes, the eyes closed was on purpose. A little bit of rubbing it in for my siblings up north who had snow. Haha

The kids love their cars. So much fun!

We went to the park in the afternoon. You really can't beat the weather here. 

Dinner was delicious. Twice baked potatoes, ham, salad, and ribbon jello. Yum!

It was a wonderful day! 

Christmas Eve

I had this Christmas picture on my fridge for a while and then realized that Darren's position is perfect for comparison with his ultrasound profile picture. I wish I could have zoomed in on the Christmas one, but how cute is that?!

Christmas Eve was magical. I started things out with this Apple Pie French Toast breakfast. You prep it the night before, yes, with a can of apple pie filling between slices, let it soak overnight, and then bake in the morning. It was really rich, but delicious! And actually, it was even better in the days to follow. Yum!

For dinner, Ryan brought back the Rouladin from last year. Super delicious stuff! And our guests seemed to like it too. :) We had the Checkettes over, as well as Oma and Opa. The Checkettes were outbound for some internships out of state within a few days of Christmas, so we didn't want to miss the opportunity to have them over. We love that family so much. You can't ask for better people. Seriously. 

Once again we reenacted a haphazard version of the Nativity. It was great! There was less squabbling over the baby Jesus this year, so that's a bonus. Haha!

Devry and Leo were Mary and Joseph again. Pierscen was the angel and Ryan was a shepherd. 

Opa, Asael and Emily were our three kings. 

We enjoyed yummy fudge dessert with egg nog ice cream and took lots of pictures.

Oh yeah! This year at dinner also included crickets and caviar. Blech! Think I'm joking? Nope. Ryan and Asael were talking about alternative sources of protein and so Ryan went and purchased a variety of different flavored crickets. I wasn't going to try one, but peer pressure goes a long way. It wasn't horrible. The caviar... well, that was a gift given at the Christmas party Ryan attended. It came from Marshall's for about $3. Scary, right? He thought it was such a great idea, he went out and bought some too. Yes, we all sampled it. Shudder. No thank you. 

We love these kids so much. Pierscen and Devry are really going to miss them!

Please, oh please let there be a job in her ABQ for this amazing family when they are done with their internships. Wherever they end up, the people there will be blessed to have them. But I really hope they stay here. People really don't get any better than this family. Love them so. 

Our boys, born one week apart. Darren is older only because of scheduled c-section. Yet another reason they need to move back. These boys will be best friends!