Christmas was SO much fun! As always, it was wonderful getting to spend time with our families. This year, we spent the weekend before Christmas celebrating with GG and Grandad. We had an excellent time there and Hank had a blast playing with his cousins. While we were in town, we went to the zoo (Hank loves going to the zoo) and it was fun seeing all the animals in winter, they were much more active than when its warmer out. Hank and his cousin, Ainsley had fantastic sleep-over with GG and Grandad while Ainsley’s parents were at a party and Hank’s parents went to Six Flags (we love Holiday in the Park!). They baked cookies, went to look at Christmas lights, saw Frosty the Snowman (a person dressed up as Frosty) and Santa (again, a person dressed up as Santa), got treats and stayed up WAY past thier bedtimes (which is kind of the point of a sleep-over). Hank’s cousins, Micah and Johanna came over to play while we were there (along with thier parents, Christiane and Monty). It was so much fun, when it was time to go home, Hank negotiated to stay a few extra days with GG and Grandad by himself. That worked out well for everyone.
Uncle Ben (Sarah’s brother) and his family came into town from Ohio (their timing coincided with Hank coming home from GG and Grandad’s) and Hank had the best time playing with his cousins, James and Paul. They went to look at Christmas lights, all bundled up in the wagon. Hank adores Christmas lights and we found ourselves taking him to look at the neighbors’ lights nearly every night in December. Sometimes we’d take him in the wagon, sometimes we’d walk. Sometimes we’d take him in the stroller or pull him in a trailer behind one of our bikes and sometimes we’d just hop in the car and drive around. He’d ask to look at the lights every night even before it got dark enough outside to see them. It was really sweet.
This year, we stayed home on actual Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was lovely waking up in our own beds. Hank had fun making cookies with Mom and Dad and wrapping gifts. He enjoyed signing his name to several packages. On Christmas Eve, Hank hung his stocking and put out some cookies and carrots. Then he took a cookie from the plate saying, “Santa won’t mind if I eat one, he likes to share.” – we thought that was funny. On Christmas Day, Hank awoke very early and was so excited to see all the surprises waiting for him by the tree and in his stocking. He was so joyful and we had a really lovely morning with him. We met Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Donna and Uncle Dick for lunch and Hank had fun sharing hugs and laughs with everyone.
The day after Christmas, we got together with family and celebrated Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. That was super fun! My side of the family is rather large so even though it was just “immediate” family, it was quite a gathering. Hank loved playing with all his cousins and it was a wonderful sort of chaos watching all the children open their gifts. The food, as always, was delicious (so many sweets!) and it was wonderful to see so much family. Aunt Laura (Sarah’s sister) and her family came into town from Houston for the week and Hank had fun playing with his cousins. Just before the new year, we had Megan, David and Christopher over to our house for a sleep-over. Hank loved every minute of it! They painted, ate junk food, played with all Hank’s new toys (and some old ones) and after Hank went to bed, the older children watched a movie and had popcorn and hot cocoa.
We rang in the new year at Uncle Josh (Sarah’s brother) and Aunt Dayna’s house along with Aunt Laura, Uncle Jon, Grandpa, Grandma and several cousins. It was a great family-friendly party. Hank really enjoyed himself and completely surprised all of us by staying up well past midnight. He had so much fun with his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents (his parents too) and he thought it was fantastic that he was tall enough to reach the cookies and fudge on Aunt Dayna’s counter – he helped himself to quite a bit. We didn’t really take any photos of our new year’s celebration, but there are quite a few from various Christmas celebrations and get-togethers. Enjoy!
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