Knochel Christmas!

Since we alternate every other year with being together with all the "Knochels" and with the in laws for Christmas and Thanksgiving, this was our year to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family at a different time. We chose to get together on the Saturday after Christmas and we had a really wonderful day together! Levi and Joel had a lot of fun playing nicely with their cousins (they LOVE Nora and Asher...and baby Bennett, but he's not too much fun just yet). All the adults also enjoyed relaxing together and catching up. We have truly been blessed to have all 4 siblings marry wonderful people who fit in so well with our family! I love my sister and brothers in law :). My Mom cooked up her usual feast, this time centering on pork roast and brisket with serveral yummy sides, two pies and lots of cookies and candies. We arrived at my parents home in the morning, opened gifts and then dove into the delicious meal. All the gifts were thoughtful and personal, and everyone was very happy. The boys spent the whole day playing with all their new toys (with a some time playing outside in the chilly weather too), and I must say, their grandparents and aunts/uncles really did a great job choosing things they would love!

All 5 precious Knochel grandkids :)

this is what sweet Bennett thought of the gift opening chaos

Moe had a lot of help opening her gifts...even Wolverine helped ;)

gadget man and his chronograph

it was so sweet how well the kids played together with Levi and Joel's new animals...this lasted a long time!

I love my little Bennett...he's getting so big!

These two spent about 30 minutes in this tree...gabbing away about who know what :)

Pop & Moe with their cute and silly grandchildren

Newly weds! We love having Aunt Morgan in the family!

Me and Gran (94 years young)

 After Joel and Asher took a nice afternoon nap we called up Molly and Ryan on skype and enjoyed a slightly chaotic conversation with them. We wish they could have been with us, but it was so fun to see them on the computer screen smiling and doing well. Even the kiddos and Gran got in on the conversation! One of my favorite things about technology and social media is how it can be used to keep in touch with the people you love. Despite all the negatives that have come with the even increasing dependance on technology in our culture, I love it's ability to keep people connected. 

It's hard to believe Christmas is over and it will soon be 2014! We had a wonderful time celebrating with our family, and are feeling truely blessed by what we have been through in 2013. It was a year of growth and loss for our family, but through it all I am left feeling incredibly grateful for all I have. God is good and he loves us so well.

kids make Christmas magical :)

Visit to Abilene!

The day after Christmas we drove out to Abilene to spend some quality time with Aunt Tam, Uncle D and the Long cousins. Levi and Joel get along beautifully with their "big" cousins, and have so much fun every time we are there. It almost makes me want to have 5 or more kids because they play so well together that I hardly have to entertain or supervise them at all. 

We decided to have the kids exchange gifts while we were there because Tamara forgot the boys presents when we gathered on Christmas Eve. I was hoping that the ones I had ordered in early December would be there in time for Abilene since they did not arrive in time for Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, Kadin and Kamryn's gift did not arrive (I received a full refund, basically getting the gifts for free because they were guaranteed Christmas delivery). Kadin was still very excited to open a picture of his batting gloves. Kam however tried really hard to be happy with the picture of her boots, but she was so confused, upset and sad. It broke my heart! Thankfully, Levi and Joel LOVED their gifts, and Kynlee was thrilled with the car seat cover I made her. The other gifts finally arrived last night, and I am planning on dropping them in the mail to Abilene tomorrow.

 

Even though we spent a lot of time just relaxing and talking, we fit in a lot of fun activities as well. We went swimming at their local indoor pool, had a movie night, made Christmas cupcakes,shared hot cider and enjoyed several yummy meals. Philip and Derrick squeezed in a trip to the gun range while Tamara and I took all the kids to the park. Levi and Kadin had a blast wrestling, chasing and tackling each other. Joel almost always loved the fact that Kamryn and Kynlee use him as their cute little baby doll. All the kids had fun playing outside, singing with the girls new karaoke machine and coloring pictures together. Perhaps the biggest gift of the trip was that all 5 kids slept in past 9am! I guess a day full of cousin fun really wore them out! Levi did not wake up until 9:45...that is the latest he has slept in his entire life!

I had a blast making cupcakes with these cute helpers!

Kadin got a BB gun for Christmas and Philip spent a lot of time teaching him all about using it

Our time in Abilene was wonderful and we are so blessed to have such wonderful family for our boys to grow up with. I know not everyone gets along so well with their in-laws, but I can honestly say that Philip's sister Tamara is a dear friend of mine and I love her and all of her family very much! Such a gift! Next trip I'll have to make sure and get some pictures with the wonderful Aunt Tam and Uncle D in them...oops :(.

Christmas!

This year was our turn to celebrate Christmas with the Boyer side of the family. Since I was scheduled to work on Christmas day, we all got together on Christmas Eve for brunch and presents. We enjoyed a yummy meal and then had fun watching the kiddos enjoy opening their gifts. All the gifts were thoughtful and the boys loved every one of them! We spent the rest of the morning and after noon relaxing, and letting the kids play with their new toys. At 4pm we joined my sister Kate and her family for Christmas Eve service at their church, and really enjoyed the special candle light service remembering how God made himself humble for our sake by coming down as baby Jesus into this broken world.

All the Boyer grandkids (Kadin, Levi, Joel, Nick, Kynlee & Kamryn)

Uncle Colton and his new wife, Aunt Victoria and son, Nick

the Long family

Papa, Nana Dee and Aunt Erika

We sang O Holy Night by candle light...so beautiful with so many flames!

On Christmas Day I was awoken at 5am by a phone call from work saying that I could stay home for a little while. I was so thrilled! Every holiday they draw names to see which nurses can go home early (or stay home) if the unit is slow, and this year I was drawn first! I went back to sleep until Levi and Joel woke us up at 7:30. Then we enjoyed a lazy morning while they opened their stockings and packages. Luckily, I was able to stay home all day (although I had to remain on call to come in if things got busy). I made pumpkin muffins, bacon and eggs, which were enjoyed by all. The rest of the day was such a sweet time with my family, and we had so much fun just relaxing, and enjoying our time together while the boys played and played with their new toys. Levi and Joel also enjoyed putting the "Mary holding her baby" in place of the "pregnant Mary" in our nativity scene and placing the baby Jesus on our magnetic advent calendar. Makes me emotional every time...just to think of what God did for us and what Mary and Joseph went through!

such a sweet patient little guy :)

Chef Joel, so excited to get play kitchen stuff!

sometimes the smallest things are the biggest hit!

yes...Philip got the boys rubber band guns...

At the end of the day I was clear to leave the house with out worry of needing to run into work, so we headed out to the park to test out Levi's all terrain remote control car before it got dark. After the park we went in search of some pretty lights. The past four years we enjoyed the beautiful trees around the Pier One building, and Levi was really looking forward to seeing them again this year. Unfortunately, they did not put up any lights this year, much to Levi's dismay. He may have sobbed while yelling out things like, "that's so rude!" and, "they are not nice people to put no lights on the trees!" Poor guy; so disappointed. He did however, along with his little brother, enjoy running around Sundance Square looking at the lights, the giant tree and playing on the candy sculptures. Afterwards we returned home for a pizza and asparagus dinner, bath and bedtime. It was a wonderful day!

God is so good to us through his gift of this beautiful world!

It worked! Levi loved watching it "drive" on the water

Yay!! A HUGE Christmas tree!

family photo downtown...Merry Christmas!!!

Next up, a trip to Abilene and the Knochel family Christmas :)

Christmas Cookies!

For the third year in a row, we have made Christmas cookies for our neighbors (reserving a few for us, of course). I usually do almost all of the cooking and decorating myself with minimal "help" from the boys. They love to help me cook, and this year I thought they were old enough to help out a little more. First thing in the morning we made the dough, and Levi and Joel did a fantastic job keeping the counter and floor clean while dumping in the butter, sugar and flour. After lunch, we rolled, cut out and baked the cookies. Another successful time together in the kitchen. I was feeling a little over confident, so after naps I had several types of sprinkles, three colors of glaze and other cookie toppings ready to go for a fun cookie decoration session. It started well with instruction on how to glaze the cookies evenly, but the remainder of the time was nothing but messy! Let's just say Joel may have dumped an entire container of sugar pearls "into" his hand, Levi may have submerged instead of dipped some cookies in glaze, and Penny may have eaten enough sprinkles to enter a diabetic coma...

Yeah, I didn't get any pictures of the decorating process, I was too busy trying to keep every sprinkle I own from ending up in my hair/floor/children's stomaches...All in all it was a fun time with my goofy, adorable, excitable little guys! They sure looked cute "helping" me bake, had an absolute blast, and the cookies turned out pretty yummy and festive as well. I think the tradition will live on, perhaps with a few more rules and less options next year :).