Christmas 2015

Our last Christmas as a family of 6! That sounds a little strange but it's a fact, so we decided to do something a little different this year for the kids. Around September Kendal and Maddy asked if they could go to Disney for Christmas and as I am sure many of you know Disney is not an inexpensive "gift"; so we told them we would think about it. After some discussion Curt and I thought it would be a good idea to spend the money on making memories verses gifts (even though they did get some gifts under the tree). We were even able to include the grandparents in on the gift!
So the weekend before Christmas we headed to Disney it was a blast for all the girls even mom and dad. Charlotte and Olivia loved seeing their favorite characters mostly... Minnie, Daisy, and Pluto. I was worried they would be afraid but the looks on their faces were absolutely priceless and even brought tears to my eyes. The hugs, the kisses, the smiles were so amazing to watch. Kendal and Maddy looked forward to the rides and had a blast on some of their old favorites. It was a great time and we certainly look forward to taking them again. We loved making this memory with the girls and hope that they too will remember it for years to come.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was pretty low key just the family relaxing and enjoying some of our favorite traditions; making cookies and our annual Christmas Eve "party". Making cookies with seven kids...two of them 2 year olds is a lot of fun and entertainment for the adults. My sister in-law usually does all the prep (thank you!) and I take the photos and watch the kids eat the dough and icing. The twins love to add the sprinkles on more than just the cookies and the older kids love to make designs on theirs. Cookie making is not complete without at least one cookie consumed during the process.

My husbands family has had the tradition of a Christmas Eve party for a long as I can remember (I'm pretty sure I talked about here last year). This year was no different we celebrated with family and hung out played some cards and waited for Santa to show up. Christmas morning was so much fun; we are staying with family right now so there was seven kids to open gifts...the smiles and happy faces were plenty. It's so much fun watching the kids excitement with each gift. Charlotte and Olivia had a blast I just loved how they were concerned if the other one didn't get the same gift they had just opened. I love this aspect of twins... so heart warming.  We literally sat around all day munching on stocking stuffer goodies and left over Christmas Eve snacks. After a late dinner the kids pretty much passed out from all the excitement and playing from the day. It was a great Christmas celebrated over a week and spending it with family (even though we don't always have all of our family near) makes it all the more special. Next year we will have a new little one to celebrate the holiday with and I can't wait to continue our traditions as a family of 7.