'Tis the Season...

Our Christmas was sorta mixed up this year. Usually, we get together with Gram and Gavins Christmas morning and have a great big brunch with all the fixings- stuffed french toast, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, cheesy shredded potato casserole, coffee, juice, and of course, candy. :)

Well, this year, Ben got sick on the way home from our trip to NE. He slowly spread his charm throughout his family... Before we knew it, our breakfast was on hold till further notice. We made due, though. I had made the cheesy potato casserole Christmas Eve so that we'd be ready to take off for Aunt Carol's in the morning without having to worry about it. Well, we ate that Christmas morning since the potatoes would be brown by the time we used it. It was shummy!

We had a really nice time together Christmas Eve. Mom and Nate went shopping for snacky things earlier that day for our junk food night. "Junk food" nights are always fun! It's not something we usually splurge on, so it's a great treat!

For Christmas morning, we invited Gram over to share in our cheesy potato casserole. Later that day, Ryan and Kelsey dropped in and spent the rest of the day with us. We love having them... :)

Just as a side note, I love what Scrooge's nephew says about Christmas in response to his uncle Scrooge complaining about Christmas in Charles Dickens', A Christmas Carol;

"... But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round- apart from the veneration due to it's sacred name and origin... - as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"

Leave it to Dickens to write a huge paragraph on a subject, when we might say it in one sentence. But, somehow, it sends it a little harder home the way he writes.

Nate got his long awaited haircut on Christmas Eve. :) His curls were appalling!

Later that evening, Ry and Kels dropped in. Katelyn loved eating dip with one of Grandpa's honey pretzels!

If you tickle Joseph in the right place, he collapses. :D

Somebody took her hair tie out. She looked like a wild woman!

We had set these dishes to soak. The cheese sauce from the spoon floated up, making a near perfect outline!

For Christmas day, we ate our potato casserole and bacon. :)

Delicious coffee bar.

Mom and Nate got some yummy liquid creamers.

The sun rose bright and clear after weeks of dreary weather.

Dad helped Sam put together a model keel boat. It was a replica of the kind of boat that Louis and Clark would've used.

Me, posting my second to last Christmas song.

Lynna and I tried to scare Uncle NayNay as he came out of the bathroom. :)

Dad with his new neck massager with heat.

We didn't get very many Christmas cards this year, but we rejoiced in the ones we did get! :)

Josh shot a coyote with his bow the next day.

I'd never seen a coyote up close before, so that was fascinating!

Sam was taking pictures of Watson...

Making himself at home.

We had our Christmas brunch Saturday morning. It was supposed to be at Aunt Carol's house this year, but we volunteered to have it here since they all still weren't feeling the best.

15 pounds of bacon!!!

Krusteaz pancakes

Sweet Dough boy with his uncles

Kels had him in the sweetest outfit!

Katelyn was banging her fork and spoon on her tray. :)

It was a long day for the munchkin.

Our day didn't quite end as planned. Usually, we sit around visiting, playing games and sometimes napping. But, around 2 we had to go help the Chupps finish moving. We got everything almost done over at their old house, and made it home just in time to say "Hi" and "Bye" to Ry, Kels, and the Littles. It was a great day, though!

A huge highlight to our day was giving Aunt Carol her new car...

I'll explain... Some of the guys in our two families (I think that they'd prefer to remain anonymous) pooled their resources to get Aunt Carol a new car. On Friday, they found several in Minneapolis, called to make sure they were available, then were heading out to look at them by noon. They arrived in Minneapolis by 6 or so, looked the cars over, chose the best, bought it and headed home. The weather was really bad on the way back. The roads were very slick, causing a few close calls. I think they got home around 2 am.

Christmas day, Nate put the keys in a small box, hid that box in a big box full of packing peanuts, then wrapped it. When she finally found the keys, it took a minute for the reality to sink in. Once it did, she  was touched beyond words. I will leave the rest to your imagination...

Caroling in Axtell

Saturday, December 20th found the Gavins and us up bright and early. We were heading out to Axtell, NE for the annual Christmas caroling with friends and family out there. 

We were supposed to be heading out by 10 a.m., but Josh and Caleb decided they had to go hunting that morning. KK said that they would definitely be back by 9 in time to clean up and pack. Wrong. Of all the days to bag a deer, it had to be that one. Not just one deer, but two. The deer had to be field dressed, then carted over to Leon's since we didn't want anymore venison, and the boys had to rush home, clean up, and finish last minute packing. We ended up leaving an hour and a half later than we'd planned...

I got to ride with my three brothers on the way out. The boys let me sit up front the whole way! That was fun and very unusual! :)

We listened to Brett Manning's Singing Success CDs for part of the way out. The rest of the way was Christmas carols.

Brie kept teasing us with her dill pickle chips. We had a lot of fun playing around with her. :)

A handy place for a necessary holiday ingredient. 

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Annette graciously let us stay in the Axtell house again. Everyone was at the pinnacle of excitement by the time we got there.

To calm everybody down, Nate started a game of Sorry with the littles (and bigs!).

Aunt Annette had asked us to bring cookies and a dozen sandwiches. Dad, Aunt Carol, Mom, and I worked on making a chicken salad for the sandwiches.

The Axtell community building is just across the town from where we were, so most of us walked there. Once there, the fun began! Somebody had blown up some balloons. Katelyn is obsessed with balls, so she was having a blast!

Aunt Haley with her niece. :)

Instead of having a hayrack ride to houses, they arranged to meet at a special needs center. We met at the chapel to sing for the residents. Wow! That little place was magnificent! 

There was one mentally handicapped guy that just loved the singing! He kept wandering around in front of us, clapping mostly off time with the song and grinning from ear to ear. He was so happy he kept shaking the guys' hands and giving some of them hugs. He gave Ryan a hug and called him "John." He was thrilled when Aaron played a song for him on the piano and we sang along! :)

Our next stop was a care center. That's one of the annual stops. :) 

After the caroling, most of us sat down for a late supper, then plunged head long into the traditional game of Catch Phrase. Usually we sit out in the main part, but it was so loud out there, we all smashed into the kitchen for peace and quiet. :)

Caleb C. got the littles started in on a game of smashing the plastic cup tower with a ball. They loved it!

Of course, after everything got cleaned up, the boys had to play their annual game of keep away, or whatever they call it... :)

Back at the Axtell house, we girls had a candy party before the boys got back. Once they got back, the fun began! Nate and Josh stayed at Smith's but the rest of us stayed at the Axtell house. Here, Ben and KK are having a moment of silence before they began to arm wrestle. :)

It was a tie!

Then they had to see how many push ups, sit ups, etc they could do. It was after 1 am before we all got settled into bed, and around 2:30 before some of us actually fell asleep. :D

While we waited to leave for Smiths', we sang Christmas carols. Some turned out, and, others, well, didn't. :)

We had church at Smiths' the next day. This video is of an impromptu sing right before church. Nate and Aaron started singing Go Tell it on the Mountain. Turn your volume and bass up to hear Nate "take us home." :)

Allen and Tammy Strong were going to be stopping to stay at our house Monday night. Nate had decided to head home that Sunday afternoon instead of Monday morning, so I was sent back with him to finish getting the house ready. Josh and KK went along too. We caravanned with Gavins again. Of course, we had a lot of fun. :)

All of us were exhausted when we got back. The boys crashed on Monday. :)

KK was being silly later that afternoon by twirling Sam's watch around on his finger. It flew off, going directly into his coffee. Sweet justice. :)