The Week of Christmas!

It is so hard to believe that today is December 28th and that Christmas is over!! WOW!! Time really does fly by when you are having fun...well we are having a BLAST! We had an AMAZING week of Christmas!!! We decided at the beginning of December that we wanted to ENJOY this holiday season as a family!!! So many times we have gotten all wrapped up in everything and just "gotten through" the season, but not this year!! We totally LOVED everything about this Christmas season!!!

I had my 2 annual ornament parties and enjoyed each of them tremendously!! We attended a few Christmas parties with friends which is always fun! I LOVE to be the hostess, but it is also fun to see my friends get excited about having people over and being the hostesses themselves!! :) The second Saturday of December is always the annual BKD Christmas party and we had the best time!! We got all dressed up and enjoyed being out on a date together!! It was the best work party by far...EVER!! :) I went to our church's Christmas Tea and then Maddie and Zack and I attended a special ladies Christmas day party at a friends' house! We made and decorated cookies and ornaments and sang Christmas carols and danced around our house and just ENJOYED this season!!!! We had a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas day... our kiddos loved singing to Him!! We read them the story of baby Jesus and now they are in LOVE!! Such special moments!!

We got to enjoy a 24 hour mini vacation with some dear friends the Wednesday and Thursday before Christmas!! :) We left Nixa about 5:00 p.m. and drove to Branson where we ate at our favorite pizza place Mazio's, spent about 2 hours at SDC and then stayed up all night (well until about 4 a.m.) at their in-laws' cabin just talking and laughing together!! Our kiddos get along really well, and we truly enjoy the company of this couple, so it was the perfect vaca!! The next morning we got up, made chocolate chip pancakes and wathced Elf with our kiddos, and then went shopping!! Our vaca ended with a trip to Freddy's (a new hamburger joint in Branson! :)) It. was. PERFECT!!!!

One of our family traditions is to attend the Christmas Eve service at my home church...we look forward to it every year!! This year was no different!!! My Grandparents came this year which made it extra special!! Then, as tradition calls, we went out for chinese food afterwards! That night our kiddos got to open one present... their pajamas before bed! It was awesome!!

Christmas morning we woke up to a light dusting of snow!! I was tickled pink!! God truly does know the desires of our hearts, even when we are 30!! :):) Maddie and Zack were SO EXCITED!! We opened our presents and made special new memories with our 2 and 3 year old!! I can hardly believe they are 2 and 3!!!! Then... we started a NEW tradition in our family!! Our church takes food to people who need meals on Christmas day!! So we headed to Northside to pick up the meal for the family we were to take it to! What an incredible and humbling experience!! :) This story is for another post (coming soon:)) but it was absolutely LIFE CHANGING!!!!! Our kiddos got to SEE... not just HEAR, but SEE how blessed we are!!!!! They asked LOT's of questions, and we answered as honestly and age appropriately as we could! We don't want our kiddos thinking that Christmas is about them!!! We DO want them to know that they are incredibly special to us and that we want to buy them a few gifts and ENJOY the holiday season together, but it isn't about them!! It isn't about Wyatt or I, or our families, or the gifts that we give or receive...it is about JESUS!! And we are SO thankful!!