The Weaver Family: Christmas

Even though Christmas has come and gone, I wanted to write down a few of my favorite moments from this holiday season... in no particular order.

For the Sevedge Family Christmas on Christmas Eve Eve, we hosted a Minute to Win it Party for the whole family. 16 people divided into 4 teams. It was a total blast! I was too busy "hosting" the game to take pictures, but my cousin Laurie did a nice job! Hopefully I'll have pictures to share soon! We're planning to make it an annual tradition, which makes me very happy!
Every night Gracie asked me to sing "Baby Jesus" which is Away in a Manger before bed. She would look through her "Baby Jesus" book and point to the manger, baby, stars, and cattle. It has become her favorite lullaby and we're still singing it after Christmas.
Ryan and I took Gracie out to Longview Lake to see the Christmas lights. As we drove through, she got to ride in the "funt" (front) so she could have a better view. All the way home, she said, "I funt! I funt! I funt!" over and over again. She talks about it almost every time she gets in the car now.
Ryan took 3 days off leading up to our actual Christmas break. And he took off the week between Christmas and New Years, too! Having him home extra has been so fun! We even took all the kids to The Grove and to Winsteads one day. It stressed Ryan out, but the kids and I thought it was awesome!
We celebrated Christmas Eve this year with the Weaver side of our family. We went to church together and came back to our house afterward for dinner and gifts. Great-grandma Jean joined us this year and all of us had a laid back, great time. Brandi and I even wore our comfy pants! Thank you, Jesus!
Gracie woke up Christmas morning to see that Santa had come and brought her exactly what she asked for. Baby dolls! Two of them! And a cradle! She was so happy and fun this Christmas. Her catch phrase became "Oh my goodness!" So endearing and sweet... happy with everything she got. She quickly asked "Open it?" after each gift.
We spent the middle of Christmas day at Ryan's grandma's house with the Courter side of the family. It was a quiet day full of presents and yummy food! We missed Uncle David and Aunt Kris this year because they were sick in bed... boo!
Our final Christmas Day celebration was at my sister's house with the Sevedge family. It's a small get together, but we had a great time. All the kids were so excited for Christmas this year. Kyle's only disappointment was opening a box of jeans from Grandma. But she redeemed herself by getting his favorite gift of all, which was a camera. So it was all good! Kyle was super sweet though, this year. He thanked each person with a hug before he opened the gift and then again afterward (except for Grandma and jeans gift! Haha!) Then when we were getting ready to leave, I noticed Kyle kneeling and praying on the stairs. When we asked him, he said that he was asking God to remind him of Jesus' birth every day and thanking Him for the gifts and all his family that loves him. Now if that's not the sweetest kid ever, I don't know who is?! Love that boy!
Our last Christmas celebration of the season was with Ryan's extended Weaver family tonight. We gathered at Aunt Diane and Uncle Randy's house for food and a gift exchange. We only see most of the family once a year, so it's always nice to get a chance to catch up. This year, Ryan's cousin had another baby... we didn't even know they were expecting! I'm hoping to do a better job of keeping in touch with them in the future.
We also visited Santa earlier this month. Our family trip to Crown Center is a fun tradition. There's a play area when you see Santa, which the kids have a blast in. We tried and tried to get some good pictures of the kids (or even just one of them) but none of them turned out! Gracie was too scared of Santa to sit on his lap alone, so Momma got to sit with the Big Guy, too!
Ryan's work had a sort of Christmas party on the Plaza. So Ryan and I got the chance to dress up (I let him pick my outfit) and go out for a nice date. Everyone at his work bragged on our awesome Ryan is... it was almost like he'd paid them off, but I can't be too sure! Then we ended our night at Seasons 52 for a delicious dinner. It was such a great reminder of how much fun we have together!