Merry Christmas!

Christmas was so much fun and so exhausting that it took me three weeks to write about it! Not, really but I needed an excuse for my lack of posting! :)

Christmas was double the fun this year with two. Double the smiles, double the excitement, and double the toys to find a new home! We celebrated in several different ways and each one was special and exciting. I will break down the holiday week for you!

Christmas Eve's Eve: Matt, Mckenna and I made several goodies. We made a cake for Baby Jesus, cookies for the Lucas Family Christmas and almond bark covered pretzels. I have to say, I hope this is a tradition that sticks. Mckenna was so excited to make a cake for Baby Jesus, and I was excited to see her excitement over celebrating Jesus's Birthday! I was prepared for her, I measured all of the ingredients out before we started, this way she could pour each item into the bowl herself. It was so much fun watching her pour the items in with a concentrated look on her face. At one point I gave her the bowl of eggs and told her to pour them in, and she did with one exception, she missed the bowl and managed to pour the eggs all over her shoes! I learned from that lesson though and gave her the measuring cup with a handle the next time. After the batter was mixed I decided it wouldn't be making a birthday cake if I didn't let her try just a little bit of the batter! For the record, she was a fan!

Baking the cookies was just as much fun! Matt and Mckenna had a great time putting the cookie dough onto the pan! Matt would get the cookie dough into the cookie spoon and Mckenna would use all of her muscle power to get squeeze the cookie out, onto the pan!

Christmas Eve: Christmas Eve was packed full! John, Charlene, Kelly, and Brian all came over for appetizers and presents around noon. The weather was unbelievably gorgeous for December 24th so we even spent some time outside! Mckenna was so excited to open all of her presents. She wanted each and every one of them opened on the spot so she could play with them. We especially liked her reaction to her little puppy that walks when you pet its back. She put that puppy on the ground, rubbed it's back, and yelled "wait, come back! Don't run away!" Hopefully, this is a memory I can hold on to for a long time. Quentin was his relaxed self all day long. Obviously, since he's five months old and so laid back, he didn't really know what was going on. Other than the fact that he had some pretty cool new toys to play with! After presents and an appetizer lunch we were on our way to the Lucas Family Christmas! We had great conversation, food and fun watching the little ones open their presents.

Christmas Day: Christmas Day was for us, our family of four. We slept in a bit, moved slowly, and made our way to the tree. The kids opened their gifts from Santa and we just spent time with each other. Matt made breakfast, as I opened boxes and assembled toys. It was a great morning! The afternoon was just as lazy, time spent with John and Charlene as the kids slept and played! It really was as simple as the description but full of moments that make my heart swell! 

Christmas in Iowa: We packed up on Wednesday between Christmas and New Years and headed for Iowa. The weather was perfect, the roads were perfect, and our little travelers were next to perfect! Once in Iowa we spent the first couple of days laying around and visiting. Matt and I took the kids to see Angela and her family on Friday before Christmas that evening. We spent some valuable time with Uncle Jim, Aunt Marge, Laura, Chris, Brooke Papa, and Nini. Traditions were not the same this year but the love and time spent together was unchanged! Saturday, we spent some time with Great Grandma Von Bon too! The hit gift in Iowa was a swing set for our backyard! Dad spent the time putting the swing set together so Mckenna and Brooke could play on it there. I don't know if Mckenna quite understood that the swing set will be coming to our backyard but when it comes to MO  I know she is going to LOVE it!

I know this post was picture overload, but I didn't want to miss anything! As I was adding pictures I kept thinking to myself, "How could I forget to talk about the playhouse at Papa and Nini's?", "How could I forget to tell about Mckenna saying "yes" and using her arms to help express her excitement?" There were several moments of sentiment and memory making in that short week that I hope I can remember and  tell the kids about some day!

Love from the Lucas Family!