More Vacation Fun

Our second week of vacation is already flying by and I'm beginning to bemoan the thought that school starts back up on Monday.  I'm also already starting to look forward to summer vacation.  Ha!

This week started with another fun surprise from Laurie's parents.  They called on their way back through town with Allison and Aaron in tow, so we were treated to lunch and a fun visit with A & A.  Michaela and I were the only ones that had met A & A before, but you wouldn't know it.  Ami and Allison paired up like they had been buddies forever with giggling, telling secrets, and swapping stories.  I guess they feel like they know each other because they've seen lots of pictures and videos of each other online.  

We also enjoyed an evening out to eat and Going Bonkers (yes, both parents and children go bonkers there!) thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Clark.

Christmas Day

The advantage of opening part of our gifts on Christmas Eve is that we don't have to get up super early on Christmas morning.  :)  Benjamin and Elijah were up at 5:30 am working on their Legos, though.  Good thing they kept their door shut and didn't wake the rest of us.

We were all up soon enough and had our traditional Monkey Bread for breakfast.  With peppermint coffee to get us going, we dove into the rest of the presents.

Ear protection for working outside with Dad

Memories from our summer trip

Snowball makers

Seriously?!  This was his request.  It's official; he's old.

Cutest bug ever!

After a quick pick up around the house, we had the Halls over for Christmas dinner.  We needed a Grandpa and Grandma here and they needed some grandkids for Christmas, so we made a good match, just like last year.  They came bearing yummy, yummy cheesecake and some beautifully handmade gifts.  We enjoyed a meal together and spent the afternoon visiting.  Mr. Hall has a deep voice with a Mississippi accent that I could listen to forever.  :)  What a very special Christmas!

Christmas Eve

What a beautiful Christmas Eve we had.  It was storybook perfect waking up to four inches of snow, and it continued to snow throughout the rest of the day.  The kids played out in the snow for quite a bit; I think Elijah easily spent 5-6 hours total outside!  It was great packing snow, so wonderful for making snowmen, forts, and snowballs.  Because the snow was a very wet snow, the roads were still okay for getting out to go to Christmas Eve service.  So after celebrating our Savior's birth we hurried home to the awaiting tree.

At our home, we combine Wolfe and Clark traditions, so we open about half of the gifts on Christmas Eve (as it should be done, ha!) and the other half Christmas morning (as God intended it ;P --editor).  Yes, receiving gifts is fun, but it's so neat to see the reactions to the gifts we have given the kids.  I also love watching the kids give gifts to each other with eager anticipation of approval.  Here are just a few shots of the joy and merriment at our home Christmas Eve.

Our future fashion designer

Crazy Sing-a-ma-jigs

Made with love by Johanna

Yes, tears of joy in B's eyes!  Uncle Jeremy, you rock!

Merry Christmas!

Our family wishes each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas.  We have a lot of family and friends that are so far away.  We wish especially that we could celebrate with our Wolfe and Clark families that are around the globe, but we will hold you close in heart and in our family traditions that we carry on.

May you each enjoy celebrating the birth of our Savior in your own special way.  What an amazing Gift we have received, the Babe in the manger, our King of Kings!

A White Christmas!

Look what we woke up to this morning!

SNOW, BEAUTIFUL SNOW!!

Thank you Mr. H!  Not only did our long driveway get cleared, he helped push piles for the snow forts that the kids were building.

Vacation Fun

Here is a mix of pictures from our week of vacation so far.  We have had the best time relaxing together, playing together, visiting friends, and enjoying the warm fire.

The Magic Tree

Benjamin's creation from Rokenbok, reindeer and sleigh

Chris mastered the 5x5 and Benjamin is working to master the 3x3

I think the kids miss school because they "played" school with Elijah teaching them Chinese writing

We got to meet Laurie's parents!  Ami just loved Marge.

Too bad the McD staff isn't trained in photography.  Ha!

Ginger and Midnight even have a tree

My amazing daughter....she has spent hours on helping us get our new blog up and running.  Thank you, Michaela!

The Reason for the Season

We are really enjoying having time at home with not much of a schedule at all.  The kids are even sleeping in until almost 7:30.  Unheard of!  We're enjoying breakfast together, playing games, and listening to Christmas music.  The younger three are even "playing school" with Elijah teaching Chinese.  Do you think they really miss school that much already?  Ha!

I posted pictures of our decorated house earlier, but felt like I totally missed out on posting the REAL reason for the season.  We do have several nativity sets around the house to remind us of what we are celebrating, CHRISTmas.

A fun fridge set from Uncle Eric and Aunt Kate

A set Chris and I purchased our first year married

Love this set from Uncle Kevin and Aunt Alicia. The star

 lights up and it plays Away in the Manger.



Set Johanna made in Sunday School



From my BIL's parents

From Uncle Eric and Aunt Kate, plays an intentionally

AWFUL version of O Little Town of Bethlehem 

Benjamin's set from Sunday School

We are indeed celebrating the birth of our Savior.  For unto us a child is born, unto us a child is given!