Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I love this time of year! Everything about it...the lights, being with friends, decorating the house, carrying on family traditions and making new ones, setting aside intentional time to celebrate Jesus coming to earth and just the anticipation of all thats to come.    We got our (tiny) tree up last week.  I love putting it up a little early just so we can enjoy it a little longer.  I say its a lot of work, so we might as well make it last as long as possible.  I'm a "tree is coming down Jan 1" kind of girl, so I love getting it up the end of November.  

The kids were delighted to help pull everything out of the attic and get to work! And the older two are really at an age now where they are truely a big help.  We turned up the Christmas music and got to it! Its always so much fun unpacking the ornaments. Its like seeing old friends again. Remembering when and where each one came from. Its a walk down memory lane. It was fun to share different stories about some of the special ornaments with the kids.  

Kobe, Maddie and Kensi took charge of decorating the tree, while I hung the stockings and set up our Dicken's Village....

Aaron was the official 're-stringer' of the ornaments that had lost their string...

And this little lady was just in charge of crawling around and looking adorable!

I love making all these memories with the kids.  I was just thinking today this Christmas is 10 years now of having kids with us for Christmas and I just love it.  Its so incredible to experience it all thru their eyes.

Last night we made it out to the Christmas parade with some dear friends.  Let me tell you it is no easy task getting 6 kids bundled up for freezing weather, but we did and had a great time!  It was so so cold!

Presley got right in on the action. I set her down there and she just started crawling around right there on Rt 11. Ha! Her little nose was so red she looked like Rudolph, but still looked as delish as ever!

Sweet friends

I love this pic of me and my Maddie. I was just noticing our hair looks exactly the same. You can't tell where mine ends and hers starts. ;)

The Goose was front and center waving and hollering to everyone that passed.  She loved every minute of it. She kept saying " can it be my turn next for the candy." ha!  She thought the people throwing the candy should hand them out right to her instead of throwing it.

Mesmerized by a marching band.

Our girl Jaiden was on a float this year for her church.  Had to snap a pic of our sweet JJ!

It was such a lovely evening.  But we were all glad to come home to hot cocoa and play some games! It truely is the most wonderful time of the year. 



Christmas Eve / Day 2008

Christmas Eve this year was a fun day for us. In the morning we just relaxed around the house and watched a movie. Aaron had to go to work at 3pm again. Ugh! (I hated that he had to work these days, but thats how his job goes. He was off last year, so this was his year to work). In the afternoon, Jaiden and Kya came over and we all baked cookies and made a craft. The kids had a great time together and were hy-per to say the least! They were so excited for the next morning. It is absolutely precious to see the anticipation in their eyes and hear the excitement in their voice as they talk about Christmas.

After dinner we all loaded up in the van and drove around looking at Christmas lights! I loved doing this so much when I was younger, and now this is one of the kids favorite things to do, too! It was so cute, because Kensi was so into it. Every time we would stop in front of a house that was all lit up she would make this really funny, gaspy sound and her eyes would just bulge out. Ha! She loved it!

Then we headed to church for the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service. This has been a tradition for us since the first year we got married. This year's service was probably my favorite of all the years we have gone. It was such a calm, peaceful, worshipful, family atmosphere of just singing Christmas carols together and reflecting on that first Christmas. Unfortunately that nice atmosphere did not affect Kensi in the least, and she was bound and determined to get off my lap and run all around. So me and my girl stayed in the back of the sanctuary most of the service.:)

When we got home, we all watched the movie the Nativity. It was a really great movie and Kobe and Maddie were so into it. They loved being able to see what it was really like to live back then and just to see how the story unfolded. Maddie asked a kazillion times if that was REALLY Jesus and Mary on the screen. So cute. So many times we just hit the highlights of the Christmas story, but this really went into it and showed how Mary might have really felt......scared, alone, afraid to tell her parents and Joseph. Sometimes I forget about that stuff and just think of it as this wonderful, glorious time...which it was, but the initial shock of it all I am sure was nerve wracking for this poor, teenage girl. Also, watching what a long journey they made to Bethleham while she was so far along in her pregnancy. Having had children, I have a whole new appreciation for her situation....riding on a donkey for days on end....Uncomfortable, to say the least I am sure. It was like i had a whole new revelation of the Christmas story all over again watching the incredible, miraclous things that God had orchastrated, so that everything and everyone was in place for the night His Son came into this world. Amazing. It really is such a great movie and one I think we will try and watch each year.

After the movie, I got the kids all tucked into bed. This is the one night a year they never try and stay up later. They are almost eager for bed time to come. :) Aaron got home at 11p and we decided we would try and put the kids big presents together down in the playroom so they could play with it in the morning. Little did we know....ha! By 3:30am we called it quits. We had things mostly together, but who knew it would take so long and so many itty bitty pieces to put a game table together. We only got a few hours of sleep before we were up and back at it! I was almost wishing I was a coffee drinker that morning just to keep me awake!

There is something so special about Christmas morning. I love being up in the early hours (well, I like it if I hadn't just gone to sleep 3 hrs before:)). Just knowing that the busyness and hustle and bustle of the weeks before are done and everyone is in their homes with family. It seems as though the world pauses. Or at least, OUR world pauses. That real life stops for a brief time and the only thing on the agenda is just being together and celebrating the incredible gift of Jesus coming and bringing us life. It truely is such a special morning!

The kids woke up around 7:45a. They were ready to go! I got up with them and we came downstairs and made a breakfast casserole and some monkey bread! yum! After we were done, I let them all go jump on Aaron and get him up! :):):) They got the job done alright! Here are some pics from our morning...

Reading the story of Jesus' birth...(see how intently Kensi is listening. :) )

Aaron opening a gift Maddie had made for him! I love how excited and proud she looks. Precious! (look alive Roy, look alive!)
At long last, the rollerblades he's been wanting!
The Queen Bee supervising the situation...

It was so cute, when she opened this new blankie she made this gaspy sound...she was so excited! Ha!
Maddie's new Cabbage Patch Doll. I was so excited for her to get this. I loved mine when I was her age. (The birth certificate says the name is "Armani". wowser.)
Kobe with his big present...a game table that has Foosball, pool, air hocky and ping pong all in one (each table topper fits in side the table cabinet...pretty cool! He was so excited. We had a blanket over it and had him pull it off when he came down stairs and he got so excited he just started jumping up and down and saying, "this is the best Christmas ever" over and over again. And for Kobe, that is pretty excited as he usually stays so calm even when he is excited. (He was with me when I bought this game table---it was one of my sweet Black Friday finds at Target---but I made him think it was for his cousin. And he kept talking about how his cousin was going to love this and maybe one year we could get it for him, and how he couldn't wait to play it with him, etc., so when he found out it was really for him, he just couldn't believe it. It was so sweet!).

All the kids getting checking out the new 'toy'.

And here is Miss Maddie pulling the blanket off of her big present.....a bike! She has been riding the really small bike, so was happy to graduate on up to a regular size. She told us she really liked the bike, but the doll was her favorite...hahaha....thats my girl. Trying it out in the family room. Go, Maddie, GO!

After presents we ate breakfast and Kobe was still saying.....'this is the best Christmas ever'.....I think he liked it. It was so nice to just spend Christmas morning at home together. I know these are moments I will treasure forever. I know in the blink of an eye my kids are going to be all grown up, so I want to have soak it all up and have it all written down so we can look back on this special time in our life.

At 11:00 we headed over to my sister's house for brunch and presents. So much fun to all be together. We stayed at her house until 3ish and then we all headed to my parents house for a big, Italian dinner of rigatoni and lasagna. MMMMMM! Thank goodness for being born into an Italian Family, it may be loud 100% of the time, but the food sure is great!

Here are pics of our day....

The original crew. Or, as we affectionately call them....Saved by the Bell, the First Class. We have Jessie, Kelly, Lisa and Zach.:)

Papa Clause hard at work

These girls are so cute I just want to squeeze them!

Watching all the kids try out their new presents. (It was such a nice day on Christmas! )
Kya trying out her new Razor Uncle Josh showing her how its done....:)

Jaiden and Parker taking his new 'ride' out for a spin. That Parker, he rides in style, I tell ya!

Check out the baby blues on little Roman. I am thinking he is going to be quite a cutie with his dark skin and blue eyes. Such a sweet boy.

Gigi checking out all the action on her first Christmas.

And the fun continued for us for the next two weeks. Aaron was off from work with us, so we had so much time here at home to just relax and play. It simply was a little piece of Heaven for me for us all to have such a long time off, with nothing much planned but just be together.

The Sunday after Christmas, we had a wonderful time of celebrating with the Johnson side of the family. We had an awesome dinner at Aaron's sister's house. It was great to see everyone and catch up with each other.

Kobe loving on Grandma & Grandpa

Maddie trying to pick up Uncle Robby?! Nice outfit, Reecey. :)

The good times kept rolling right up to New Year's Eve. Some friends came over and we ate lots of food and played Buzz word (which I am sorry to say, the guys completely dominated in) and Battle of the Sexes, while all the kiddos ran wild. :) It was so much fun and a great way to welcome in 2009!

Whew. That was one long post, but wanted to get it all written down for memory's sake.

What an amazing break it was. I feel refreshed and ready to take on 2009!

Christmas Fun

I love Christmas. Everything about the Christmas season. It just makes me happy and giddy inside. The wonder of it all. And having children makes it all the more special and fun. I love seeing it thru their eyes.

This Christmas season was a wonderful one for us. It was filled with many fun things, but also wasn't so jammed packed that we felt busy all the time. It was simply wonderful. Here are some of the highlights........


We love going to the city's Christmas parade. It always seems like its the official "kick-off" off the season. The kids were looking forward to it so much (mainly to see how much candy they could fill their bags with:). But the night of the parade miss Maddie got the stomach bug (yuck!), so Aaron and the girls ended up staying home. :( Kobe had a buddy over for the weekend, so the three of us went down town. It was SOOO cold that night!

Here is Frosty arriving in style.


Kobe and Nick all bundled up. Kobe's poor nose was so red and cold. :)

Here comes Santa Clause, here comes Santa Clause. Right down Santa Clause Lane. Or rather, right down North Main Street. :)

The boys made out on the candy. They each filled half a walmart bag full. Yikes! When we got home, they both took a bunch of their candy and made a bag for Maddie. Sweet boys, I tell ya!


The kids were both in the Christmas play at church again this year. They started practice all the way back at the beginning of Sept (wowser). When I asked them if they wanted to be in it this year , they both said yes but they both just wanted to be in the choir and didn't want to have to say any lines. :) I thought that was really funny because after about the first 3 weeks, Maddie had the whole play memorized. She listened to it every night when she went to bed and in the evenings she would do the whole show for me and Aaron, singing every song and playing all the roles. It was a riot. Kobe, on the other hand, decided after 3 weeks he was over it and wanted to quit. But we told him that once you make a commitment you have to see it thru. So he stuck with it. It was so funny to me to see how differently they both responded to it. Who knows, next year Maddie may even overcome her shyness and try out for a speaking part. Kobe, on the other hand, has let us know this was his last year being in the play. :) Ha!

The ladies that directed the kids are absolute saints. How they can get that many kids all on the same page and doing the same thing and have the end result as awesome as it was, is beyond me. But they sure outdid themselves this year. All the kids were fantastic!

Here is Maddie holding her sign up for one of the songs that went thru all the names of Jesus. It was so cute, she tried so hard, but bless her heart most of the time when she held it up it was upside down. :) And she would fumble with it to put it right side up. It was so cute.


The name of the play was "The Christmas County Spelling Bee."




Kobe holding up his sign. I think this picture is so funny because It looks like Kobe is leaning the sign up against his forehead and doesn't it look like he is wearing a red cape? Its just one of the older girls standing behind him and she was wearing a red shirt. Looks funny, though. :)

Showing off their T-shirts. As you can clearly see, Maddie looks thrilled to be having her picture taken and doesn't Kobe look just as equally ecstatic?!? :)


Here a few other random pictures from December...

These two pics were taken while we were getting ready for a little Christmas party we had here with some friends. The kids were pretty hyper to say the least!

(I just love this picture of my little man. I love how his smile is full of missing teeth, new teeth coming in and baby teeth on the way out. I remember going thru this stage when I was 8 and I sure don't remember feeling cute at all. But i just think he looks so adorable)!


And here we have Maddie being Maddie! She takes completely after Aaron, I'm convinced! :)
What a fun season it was. From the baking to staying up late watching Christmas movies to shopping to laying around and doing nothing, I would say it was a memorable Christmas! We definitely got spoiled having so much time together. Such aniticipation leading up to the big day!