We did a few things differently this year.
First – we put the Christmas tree in the family room and rearranged accordingly.
The second was that everyone FINALLY agreed to DO LESS. There were so many fewer gifts this year and that was such a blessing in many ways. 
We still had princesses galore. Because that is how we roll…
The boys got the same shirts from my sister as I had put in their stockings. Okay. One of the same. 
Marie got a blanket from Nene.
How to decide which dress to wear??
Mama and Daddy gave each child one gift under the tree and one in their stockings. Katriel got her very own princesses. She’s in the big leagues, now.
Johanna got the sleeve of princess Barbies. (As I am just putting this blog together on 2/1, I can tell you she has only played with them twice.)
Tab was elated with her Lego set. She received 4 on Christmas and spent 7 hours assembling them on Christmas Day.
Marie was speechless with her iPod Nano.
Nigel got a Lego set, as well.
Stewart got a new engine for his motorbike. (Which, ahem, still didn’t solve the problem.)
Each girl had another dress with her stocking.
And Marie got a case for her iPod.
The boys each had a t-shirt rolled into his stocking.
John gave me a treasure map that led to this beautiful piece of wall art. 
Tab’s dinner.
Really.
The rest of us had prime rib.
holidays
Christmas Eve
The weather was crazy-good. Short-sleeves and bare legs were a treat.
I am so blessed. They rock.
With more food than necessary, we enjoyed our long-time tradition of Christmas Eve festivities with our friends, the Brookses. More like cousins than friends, it’s nice to see the girls, especially, get to catch up on holidays.
We were also honored to have our friends, the Hoyts, join us this year.
We had a difficult time getting a photo of all the kids. Anna was having none of it. (We are kind of scary…)
Later we grabbed a photo of the Brookses and Butler’s moms and kids. We forgot to put our wreath up this year, so we have that family portrait reflecting the hanging lamp to look at. Oy.
This was 2008.
We then went to church for a beautiful candlelight service, and then to the Hoyt’s for a smorgasbord of more food.
Yum.
Christmas Adam
I can’t find the photos my mom and sister sent me from their annual Christmas Adam sleepover with the kids…
All six kids went over for day-time fun, and the oldest 5 slept over. They ate treats, watched movies, played games, and took selfies. John and I used the time to cook and wrap. We picked up Katriel at 5 for some mall fun.
I think she got a mouthful of mustard.
I got my twice-a-year-treat: food court Chinese. Yum.
We took a spin on the carousel. She picked a horse on the upper level; but then when it started to move and she waved down to daddy she got a little nervous.
We had fun poor out attention on just one little girl. She ate it up, too.
My helpers
The girls helped me with pizzelles by eating the parts I cut off.
Thanksgiving 2015
I am so thankful. But I am probably not Enough Thankful…
I am thankful for a job. I’m so grateful that I don’t have to work full time, but I am grateful for the job God has provided me. I volunteer to work each Thanksgiving, and we normally have a nice feast. This year was NO exception.
I am thankful for our beautiful yard and home. It’s not always cleaned or manicured, but it exceeds any expectation or hope I’d ever had for a house. I was especially thankful this year to arrive home from work to a warm November day with kids throwing footballs in the yard.
I am so thankful for food. We have oh-so-much of it. I don’t buy all organic, or GMO-free. I just buy food for our table and watch the kids grow. This Thanksgiving I was grateful for the group that gathered to dine with us. We had some games afterward and too many desserts.
Aunt Betty, Aunt Jackie, and cousin David came to visit and bestowed presents on the kids. There were a lot of smiles.
I’m thankful for my kids knowing their family and that good health prevails for so many of my relatives.
I’m thankful for my kids knowing their family and that good health prevails for so many of my relatives.
I’m thankful someone thought of buying my kids gloves and mittens. Because I am so unorganized and my mitten bin is pathetic!
Labor Day 2015
We rarely do things on Labor Day, as I usually work. But I wasn’t scheduled this year so we quickly invited over friends, as well as Nan and Nene & Nan’s friend.
When we first issued the invitations, we were simply hopeful it wouldn’t rain. The fact that it turned out to be 90 degrees was a fantastic blessing.
The boys played badminton and football, and there was a lot of swimming. There was more food than we could shake a stick at. It was so fun.
I almost didn’t post this as I look super cheesy, but I ♥ this sweet sister.
And we had leftovers for days. YUM!
Fourth of July
After three years of having guests for the holiday we had nothing going on.
I had to work evenings, so we couldn’t invite anyone over.
I was hoping John and the kids would get an invitation somewhere.
But they didn’t.
Easter 2015
I’ve already posted about Easter morning. The rest of the day was rather low-key.
Marie’s delicious Beast’s Quiche.
Marie’s delicious Beast’s Quiche.
As I mentioned, Easter snuck up on me this year. Consequently, we didn’t invite anyone to join us, nor did we go anywhere. Nan and Nene joined us for supper.
Stewart sang at church and had to be there at 8:00 AM.
After church John hid the eggs around the house. It was just too cold outside. Katriel was too hungry for fun and games so we fed her a fast lunch and got her to bed. After lunch she found her six eggs.
Dinner was steaks on the grill with au gratin potatoes and asparagus. I don’t know why I didn’t take dinner photos…
We had more dessert choices than necessary – and you can see the little girls thoroughly enjoyed them.
We had more dessert choices than necessary – and you can see the little girls thoroughly enjoyed them.
I think this might be my favorite picture from this year. ♥
Dayspring Disciples 