In with the new!!

Mark loves me. 

And so does the universe. 

Because today was one of those perfect days...a summer day in December. And Mark went out and built me a greenhouse bed for my garden. 

The kids mastered the balance beam.

And I planted seeds in the middle of winter. 

Fingers crossed!!

Oh....and we fried up some mozzerella sticks, wrapped bacon around some lil' smokies and said goodbye to 2021. 

See ya!!

We skate

 It's never too late to ice skate. Looks like it's just us ladies this year. 

We stopped at the Giving Machine and selected a few items we could donate. A very cool idea! It's like a vending machine, except you buy a goat for someone, instead of a stale bag of cheezits. 

A clear win-win.  

The weather was perfect.

The cookies were plentiful.

And the cocoa was self-serve...just how we like it. 

Everybody found a friend. 

I love these babies of mine!!

Let's wrap this up

Ok, fine, I confess! 

We procrastinated the gingerbread houses this year. 

So we're doing it before all the Christmas decorations disappear. And just to make up for it, we're going OLD SCHOOL and finally making our own gingerbread dough. 

 

Mine: 

Megan's:

Laney's: 

Anna's:

Everly's (more is more):

Once the sprinkles were swept up and the countertop has been scraped with a razor blade...we settled down into gentler pursuits. 

Three puzzles in two days. 

The Christmas purge is near!

Christmas Day 2021

Mmmmm....those peaceful morning moments. 

Yesterday's plan is perfectly executed...que celebratory jig!

Megan does the honors. 

Presents delivered to stations!

Megan clearly appreciated her new fuzzy chair...that's a station upgrade, if I've ever seen one.

A digital camera for Everly

Pottery wheel for Anna

Feeding Laney's obsession with The Mandalorian

Mathew was surprised with a Nintendo 64 system, straight from the home of a heavy smoker. Gives it that air of authenticity. 

All Cubbies, all the time.

The rest of the day we spent chatting with Elder Hufford

Trying out gifts (in rooms without carpet)

And dreaming of smoked ribs

There were plenty of new puzzles to choose from

Aaaaand we made it! Mostly in one piece. 

 

Christmas Eve 2021

I have often found myself bored and anxious on Christmas Eve. It's hard to wait all day for the Eve part to begin!

Not this, year, my loves.

We got stuff to do. 

Everly is head chef for our meal tonight...saugage potato casserole!!

Mathew and Riley had some gifts for us, and we had some for Riley, so we had a mid-morning gift exchange!

Maybe needs a present...poor poor Maybe. 

Rules and regulations for Christmas morning territory must be proposed, posted and ratified. 

Stocking delivered! (And handmade, might I add....)

Laney got to put the star on the tree this year!

Yummy dinner!

And Anna secured the rights to calling out the bingo numbers

Classic bingo faces. 

Dad wins first!!

A quick intermission for carolers!

Mathew up and joined the circus!

Everly seems to always get stuck at the end, somehow almost getting blackout before bingo.

The jammies!!

Mark bought me the biggest fluffiest pants ever made. Ever. 

Big buns. The biggest. 

Even the sales lady had a good laugh when I returned them a week later. 

A few last minute requests for Santa, and off to bed!