Christmas Doings

The kids at our church did a live nativity this year for their Christmas program!

 Elijah was Joseph in the group that sang Away in a Manger. A very old Joseph, apparently. :)

 The twins were in the group that sang For Unto Us a Child in Born.

 Anne's drama group, Girls of Faith, performed a shadow play to Mary Did You Know.

For the first time ever, our immediate family opened presents together before joining the rest of the extended family for Christmas festivities!

 Anne made the twins bean bag/sock dolls.

 Anne still loves summer sausage. :)

 Elijah got jalapeno chips and a new watch

 The twins got new bathrobes and M&Ms

 Peter got spicy chips and a Gerber multi-tool- which has already come in handy!

 I made the girls pillows and a pillow case for Anne's new, fluffy pillow.

 Yay for new hats!

 Christian and his collage from the kids

Christmas Day at Marmie and Boppa's house!

 watching Charlie Brown's Christmas early in the morning

Andy reading the Christmas story!

And then apparently the camera got put away for the remainders of the festivities and Christian's parents' house. But a great time was had- we're so blessed to have so much family here!

Catching Up

*Disclaimer: these are all from my phone- not the best quality- sorry!

Ok, waaay back to October- Laura and I got to go to my cousin's wedding in Spokane, WA- just the two of us; no kids! :)

 We met Mom and Dad there, too, at the tail-end of their last big trip.

 A bunch of us Vaughan-side cousins

Velvetty flowers from one of the centerpieces, I think the yellow one looks like a fuzzy brain. 

 Sillies...

Ryker likes headbands. And he's still very much a boy. :) 

 I learned how to make granny squares this year. These small squares were all I had patience for, though. I made 4 for the youngest 4 kids and am slooowly working on the last one for Peter.

 Cousins playing well together on cousin day!

 One of the first decent snows

 Making pumpkin biscuits!

 Moses occasionally gets let inside and he sure soaks it up when he does!

 Elijah got Anakin/Darth Vader for his birthday- one happy camper!

 I also learned a little how to finger knit- these headbands are all I can do until I get further inspired.

 Berea is our fashionable one. :)

 Us girls went to the Lollipop performance of The Nutcracker at NAU!

 The girls still all enjoy dressing up. 

 Advent calendar!

 Cousins!

 The kids made a collage for Daddy to hang in his shop.

 Peter puts up with a lot- salon time, in this case. 

 Dad reading The Night Before Christmas to all his grandkids- their first Christmas in their own home  with family since who knows when?!

 Elijah got a spy kit for Christmas and turned into a pretty shady character! :)