Christmas Eve was on a Sunday this year, so the kids’ church Christmas program was during the morning service. It was a modern telling of the Christmas story. Graydon was a news anchor.
Bella was Mary.
And Curtis was a representative for “President Herod”.
My cousin got matching Christmas pajamas for all the “Fourth Genenration” Brockhaus kids to wear at the Brockhaus family Christmas. We weren’t able to make it this year, but she got jammies for our kids anyway, which was super sweet and thoughtful.
All dressed up for the evening Christmas Eve service.
I don’t normally get a photo of myself, but my dress and purse were a Christmas gift from my brother’s girlfriend, Jen, and I planned to text her a photo of me with them. (Still need to do that!)
Since Christmas Eve was on a Sunday, we only had one evening service instead of two. That made our service extra full and we ended up towards the back of the balcony. Bella and Graydon helped pass out candles this year, so Curtis was the only kid with me at this point. Tom was in the row ahead and Andy’s parents were across the aisle.
Annual Christmas family photo.
We had extra family with us this year. Instead of us driving up to WI like we always do, all the Kilpses and Meades came to us!
“Santa” arrived!
Bella lit our Christmas morning candles this year.
Time to open some presents!
Bella is taking a ceramics class and she made me these adorable mugs. I LOVE them! They are the perfect size for when I drink tea.
She also got me this journal to keep track of books I’ve read and my thoughts about them. I currently keep a note on my phone with just the book and title I read, but after several months, I can’t even remember what the book was about. I’m excited to use this!
The rundown on gifts:
Bella - Instax phone photo printer, journaling Bible, Sadie Robertson devotional, wind breaker jacket, and cross body bag. She also got a hand warmer from Graydon and mystery book and Hi-Chews from Curtis.
Graydon - mini refrigerator, smart scale, GNC gift card, and protein snacks. He also got creatine gummies from Bella and a water bottle from Curtis.
Curtis - mini refrigerator, Bucks/Pacers tickets, Nike gift card, and beanie hat. He also got basketball lights from Bella and a sweatshirt from Graydon.
I got Andy a flannel shirt, neck fan, hot sauce, and chocolate bar. He got me a new exercise bike!
After presents, we all downloaded the app that is connected to Graydon’s smart scale and compared things like BMI, bone mass, fat mass, metabolic age, etc. Exciting Christmas conversations in our house that morning! Then it was just lounge/relax time for a while.
The Meades arrived around dinner time and we all sat down together for a Christmas meal of ham, cheesy potatoes, bacon-green beans, winter salad, and rolls. Christmas Day is also Gaga’s birthday, so Bella made her some brownies.
Mabel loved all the extra attention, but she stayed up very late each night and was still tired in the morning. She was more than happy to snuggle in my spot once I got out of bed.
We had a “wine” tasting the following day.
The top two favorites and almost a complete tie between the two were White Sparkling Grape and Red Sparkling Grape. The least favorite was Strawberry Daiquiri which some said tasted like medicine.
Playing a game of Uzzle.
The weather was pretty mild, so we went for a walk to the square. Andy opened up his soda machine and the kids all picked out a drink.
We hung out at the park for a little while and Andy’s parents treated the grandkids to snacks from Swiss Maid.
We went out to eat that night and used the opportunity to get a family photo.
When we came home, we played some holiday-inspired Minute-to-Win-It games. The teams were: Jacob/Andy, Bella/Tim, Tyler/Laura, Charlie/Tom, Graydon/Papa, and Curtis/Gaga.
There were two Nutcracker trophies.
And the winning team was Team #5: Graydon and Papa!
Here’s the scoreboard.
Bella had a basketball tournament the next day and the whole family came out to watch. Here are some photos from the newspaper.
Here are the boys during half time. A lively group!
The Meades took off yesterday and Papa, Gaga, and Tom left earlier today. Before they left, Andy decided to test out the new flying airplane he bought “for the kids.” It was a bit wet outside, so we watched from the back window as Andy and Tom set the airplane to flight. It went high and far and ended up soaring behind the church, at which point Andy lost control. A few moments later, Tom, Papa, and Gaga found it in the middle of the road as they were driving away. Unfortunately, in that little bit of time it was missing, someone ran it over. It was kind of cute to see two grown men playing with a flying airplane and it kind of broke my heart that Andy barely had any time to enjoy it. But I do think this is something we’ll laugh about down the road.
The next big celebration is less than two days away, Graydon’s fifteenth birthday!
