I Love the Holidays!

We had a wonderful holiday season this year.

First, at Thanksgiving, we had the Dorsetts come down 

and spend some time with us.

It was so much fun!

So fun, that I hardly took any pics...sorry!

As usual, we made heaps of food, including 14 pies...

(there can never be too many pies)

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Then it was time to get ready for Christmas!

we made lots of gingerbread cookies in lieu of houses this year.

Caleb helped make this missionary 

and Marigold decorated quite a few on her own, 

including this tree

Since my niece Simran is so curious,

we all decided a smaller tree at table height 

would be the best choice this year

Everyone helped to decorate

and it turned out beautifully

Christmas Morning seemed to come quickly this year!

The suspense!!

We take turns opening presents from youngest to oldest

The kids were very polite and took turns well.

New sneakers!! I love that face!

Now that the kids are all a little older, 

 they bought/made presents for each other.

They were all so excited about the "secrets" we were working on.

And, you could see that excitement on their faces as they gave their gifts to be opened.

I tried to capture the moment by posting pics of some of the gifts being opened,

next to a pic of the reaction of the recipient. 

Caleb bought Marigold some rainbow loom bands with his own money

Caleb helped me sew Ashlynn her own super hero cape dress up!

(he was so cute sitting on my lap helping to push the fabric along as we sewed)

Marigold made a CD case coloring kit for Caleb, almost all on her own

I just had to use the exact knife and hot glue gun...

the rest she did on her own, and spent her own money for all the parts

Marigold also helped sew this tension rod puppet theatre for Ashlynn.

I didn't get any pics of her reaction, but she was so happy she squealed.

I was proud of how thoughtfully they chose gifts to give,

and how hard they worked on them.

I'm looking forward to doing this together next year.

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There was a large crowd for the morning - 

12 in all - it was nice!

CJ and Christie spoiled everyone

George and Harjot did too

 it was Simran's first Christmas!

and of course, Grandma and Papa were there too!

(also spoiling the kids)

I had to include pics of this giant caterpillar

Cj and Christie got for Ashlynn...it's awesome

I love putting together stockings for the kids,

and this year I tried something new.

Using white crepe paper, I wrapped all of the tiny gifts and candies 

into a "surprise snowball" (thank you pinterest)

They sat for a few minutes slowly unwrapping it to find each item.

I think it was much nicer than just dumping everything on the ground.

And, they were thrilled about every small thing they found.

I think it'll be a tradition to have one in our stockings each year.

I decided to make New Years fun for the kids this year.

We decorated the dining room

My Mom has a great box with a clock on it.

It opens, so inside, I did an envelope countdown.

Each hour from 3:00-11:00 we had something fun to do!

some were games, 

some were treats,

some were crafts,

some were movies to watch

the kids each designed and made a party hat:

We made a balloon drop in the living room,

since we'd be watching the ball drop there

We had lots of party food too

The mini cheesecakes and oreo pies, 

and chocolate covered fruits

were the kids' favorites.

We added gold tinsel to the tree,

and I hid crackers inside for us to open at 11pm

We also did face painting

Everyone made it to midnight, 

and they were so well behaved the whole time.

(I think keeping them occupied was key)

We rang in the New Year with the balloon drop,

party squawkers, a toast and lots of kisses!

We wish you all a Happy New Year, 

and look forward to the adventures ours will bring.