Christmas 2022 Celebrations!

How did time jump from November 1st to (almost) mid January so quickly? It is hard to believe that another Christmas season has come and gone. 

We enjoyed many of our yearly traditions with the family. The week of Thanksgiving, we decorated the house for Christmas. We even added a few more trees this year.

Maddie purchased a small tree for her room.

My mom found a free tree for the girls - it was a perfect fit in their tv room.

The front porch went through a "remodel" this past year, allowing more space to decorate. I found these cute birds and trees and created a winter wonderland of sorts. 

We also added a medium sized tree to the basement (a special request from Will last year). 

I love seeing the trees from outside! It makes my heart happy!

Early December - baking time! A family favorite, peanut butter cup cookies.

I sent some cookies home with Dad one morning but told him that he couldn't eat any of them until he was home and could share them with mom. He thought that was very unfair!

I sent the kids to Chick-fil-A one morning (before heading to Iowa City for the Hawkeye basketball game) to meet Santa Claus. I am thankful that they appease my requests.

Maddie & I made a quick trip to East Peoria one afternoon to hunt for the ornament. We didn't have any luck with the hunt, but did find the real FELOPI (behind Maddie).

My boss, Jeremy, loves to decorate the store for Christmas! It is a beautiful display of lights! He also has a huge manger and nativity that is on display in the parking lot. I didn't get a picture of that this year.

One Sunday (after church), we headed north to Platteville for a day of shopping at several Goodwill stores and an early dinner at Pizzeria Uno, followed the light displays in Dubuque and Clinton. 

Sadly, Alex had a huge school project due that week and Will was under the weather, so the family wasn't complete for our day away.

We made a quick stop in Bellevue, IA to enjoy their lights along the river

Matt and I had a work party after church one Sunday, so I had the kids grab pizza and work on their gingerbread houses (while we were gone). They enjoyed their time together. I put the pictures on Facebook for a "Best Gingerhouse" vote...

Kaitee's cute little house received 4 votes.

Alex and her boyfriend Alex worked on this house. It received 9 votes.

Will's house won with 16 votes.

a decapitated reindeer?!?!

Maddie's house had 12 votes.

As promised, the winner (Will) received $10 for Whitey's! I love their creativity and the time that they spent together working on their houses. 

One of our favorite days (out of the whole year) is Christmas Eve. We attend the Christmas Eve service at church (always such a wonderful, moving service) then eat a late lunch/early dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

This year we were joined by Alex's boyfriend's family for the Christmas Eve Service. It was nice to have them there! 

After our delicious meal, we headed home so the kids can open their Secret Santa gifts to each other.

Kaitee got her raffle ticket drawn first. Her gift was from Will. 

She received a few "Tangled" stuffed animals, Corner Gas the complete TV series as well as Corner Gas, The Movie. Totally surprised her!

Kaitee then found Will's raffle ticket. His gift was from Maddie.

He received a Spikeball set (he can't wait for nice weather!) and lights for his room (see the after photos, below). The lights are very cool!

Next up was Alex! Kaitee picked Alex's name and surprised her with a skateboard with knee/elbow pads. She is also anxious for warmer weather so she can get out and try out the board.

Maddie finished out the Secret Santa gift opening. Her gift was from Alex. She received a pair of airpods and a few miscellaneous chargers/phone pieces. 

We finished our evening together by watching our traditional two Christmas Eve movies - The First Noel and The Nativity. 

Just before bed, Santa stopped by to fill up the stockings...

Christmas morning was a bit different this year since it fell on a Sunday. We woke up around 8 and had our usual breakfast of egg/sausage casserole and monkey bread. After breakfast we headed to church for the Sunday Christmas service. 

Once home, we started opening our gifts. Everyone got comfy and settled in!

Matt was the first to grab a raffle ticket (hidden throughout the tree). He opened the envelope and it had his name on the back! Lucky duck! Even though he was pretty excited to see his name, he quickly realized that the joke was on him..he had to locate the gift with the same raffle ticket number! Also, I utilized all 4 trees in the house - there were gifts under each of the trees! 

Took him a little while, but he found his gift!!

I have learned to be deceptive when I wrap the gifts! As Kaitee is showing in this picture, a small DVD was wrapped in the huge box (I taped it to the bottom of the box so it wouldn't rattle around in the box)!

Next up was Maddie, then Kaitee and Will got turns (with a few double gifts here and there).

After a few rounds of raffle tickets/gifts, we realized that Alex's name hadn't been chosen yet. We continued on - all secretly hoping that Alex's name was picked...but laughing when it wasn't. It was a sad situation!

Will "spotting" the tree while Kaitee goes under to locate a missing gift!

Matt started filming every raffle ticket opening, in hopes that it would be Alex chosen. 

Yah!!! It only took 15 gifts to finally get one for Alex! Let me disclose that each of the kids received the same amount of gifts, so it was completely randomized. What are the odds!

This gift for Will is a light set for one of his Lego sets. Looks pretty neat, all lit up!

Maddie felt like she got robbed! The box was only half full!

Check out the wrapping job!!

The kids utterly took my breath away with this gift! I couldn't believe that they purchased this for me. The KitchenAid mixer is something I've wanted for years...but could never bring myself to purchase (or let anyone purchase for me). With limited counter/cabinet space as well as the fact that I don't cook/bake a lot anymore, it just wasn't worth the money spent. All the while, I look at them every year, thinking maybe this is the year I will cave and purchase it. I couldn't believe it when I opened the box! I didn't want to believe it, honestly! What a wonderful surprise!

About a month before Christmas some of the kids asked Matt about a piece of artwork he did when he was in school, that his mom had professionally framed. Matt explained that he had done that piece in the first week of his 8th grade year. His teacher entered it into the Scholastic Art Competition ~ and he ended up winning a Gold Key for the piece.

Flashforward to the beginning of his Freshman year, and he noticed other students put various pins on the lettermen jackets, and he decided to do the same with his Gold Key Award. The first day he had pinned the award on his jacket, it went missing (presumably stolen), never to be seen again.

Maddie went on to Google the Gold Key Award from Scholastic and found one identical to the one Matt lost his Freshman year. This was a very touching gift to Matt this year. Thanks, Maddie.

Matt can't say "Charcuterie" to save his life. The kids thought it would be funny to get him a charcuterie board - if no other reason than to hear him say the word! Maddie had fun wrapping it too.

Kaitee was hunting for another gift and ran smack into a tree branch. Kaitee, Meet Tree...Tree, Meet Kaitee. HA!

Maddie wrapped 2 bricks in a box, taping a gift card to one of them. Matt literally got a box of rocks (bricks)! LOL

At this point, we had to put a halt to the hunt so we could head out to my parents for our extended family celebration. We had 11 gifts left to unwrap. What a fun afternoon!

We had a very nice evening at my parent's! We ate lots of great food, opened gifts/stockings, sang some songs, the kids (under my mom's direction) performed a very simple Christmas pageant and played games. It was an enjoyable time with family.

These 2 - Trouble with a capital T!

Once back home, we finished opening our gifts.

What a blessing this Christmas weekend was! Two church services, wonderful friends and family fellowship, a bounty of gifts and food - all the while, celebrating the birth of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ!

We ended our Christmas celebrations on the 30th, when we headed to Kewanee, IL to walk through Windmont Park. This has become a fun tradition over the last few years. We always stop at Paxton's Corner Coop in Annawan, on our drive to Kewanee. Paxton's has amazing treats! When we realized that their winter hours meant they were only open on the weekends, we changed up our plans to head out to Kewanee on the 30th, instead of the 26th. Sadly, Paxton's was closed (reason unknown) when we arrived that Friday night. No special treats for us that night. 

Kaitee's friend (from last year!)

As I write this blog post, all of the Christmas things have been packed away for a few weeks. Christmas has come and gone. While it is getting harder to get out and enjoy these traditions as a full family, we cherish the time we have with each of the kids. We pray that these are fun, wonderful memories in their hearts and minds for many years to come.