Christmas this year... I have no words. It was so wonderful that I was in a serious funk for about 10 days after it was all over. It was just so great to have everyone here and get to enjoy each other's company and just be together for several days. My Aunt Becky, Uncle Greg, and cousins Graham and Gretchen from Ohio came, as well as my parents and my Mimi, and my two sisters and their families. Everyone stayed here except for my aunt and uncle who stayed at a hotel really close by. We had so much fun!
Here my cousin Graham is telling us all about a very special girl in his life. :)
Christmas morning... We got several videos but not too many pictures.
Yay!! Santa brought the Lego Star Destroyer!!
And he brought Preston Stormer!
And a Super Why costume for Reid!! :) Hilarious.
Olivia got walkie-talkies and you should have seen her and Reid using them... They would just hold them up to their ears like phones and talk to each other. "Oh, HI Olivia!! Oh, HI Reid!!" It was so funny!
Santa also brought motorized scooters that Daddy found used but in great condition (and very cheap) on craigslist! We were dying over Reid on his scooter with his "helmet and goggles" and his cape flying behind him. LOL!
Davis loves to use the non-motorized scooter now to feel like a big boy.
Early Christmas afternoon we opened more presents when Becky and her family got here from Indiana.
The adults in our family draw names so we each just buy a present for one other person. I had Becky this year which was fun. :)
Here my Aunt Becky is demonstrating "the turtle" where you stick your neck out a little while a picture is being taken to avoid a double chin. LOL!! We were laughing about that and doing it all weekend.
Oh that baby and that thumb!!! She loves to be held and snuggle.
The day after Christmas was a beach day...
What a great picture!! We were so happy to have you guys here!!
The wayfarer crew...
The kids got to ride home in the back of Popeye's truck and they were ECSTATIC!
Time to watch "The Holiday" after dinner...
Lots of snuggling on the couch and just hanging together in the family room...
Reid was almost asleep here... He played so hard with no naps those few days!
Becky got my dad the fedora he'd been wanting for a while and it looks really good on him!
And Nana and Papa Swoop got Reid the helmet, goggles, and gloves he's been wanting for FOREVER!!! He was SO excited!!
I was so glad that our weather was pretty good the whole weekend... We had had a ton of rain before Christmas and I was so worried it would rain the whole time. But it turned out to be great! We spent a ton of time out on the porch. We had a fire going all day on Christmas with Christmas music playing outside... it was so great. The fire extended into Christmas night, too... I love this pic of everyone all bundled on the couch in front of the fire! Lol!
Like I've said a million times... it was just so great to sit around together and chat and laugh! I couldn't decide which pic I liked best (with flash or without) so I posted them both. :)
My aunt and uncle brought some great prosecco down and we had mimosas every morning. So good.
My sweet cousin, Graham, was so kind to help J and E with their new Lego sets. They are really good at putting Legos together, but these new Star Wars sets they got were pretty involved and Graham spent a ton of time "helping" them (aka doing a lot of it himself). I think they mostly liked just being with Graham. ;)
Graham was the ring bearer in our wedding and now he's about to graduate from Miami University! Time flies. Here he is with J and E and the completed Lego sets. He and Gretchen were so sweet to the boys and I am so thankful they all got to know each other better this weekend.
On everyone's last night in town we went to a local beach restaurant/bar to celebrate my dad's retirement!!!!!! He retired on January 1 and we are all so excited for him! He has worked so hard for so long at a really challenging job and we are all just so glad that he gets to enjoy stress-free time to himself now! Congratulations, Dad! We love you!!
I thought Phil and I looked too much like good buddies here rather than people in love, so I wanted to take another pic. Lol. Then of course I had a weird face in that one. I think I was trying to do the turtle.
This is how you take a proper couple's photo! Isn't this a great pic?? Love you guys!
Everyone got to experience a little of the local beach/biker flavor here in town as it is the off-season so there were only locals here listening to this biker band. It was an experience for sure! But we were all good sports and got up and danced and had fun. Even my Mimi was dancing up a storm!
I was about to take a picture of Ryan, Becky, and my dad taking a tequila shot, but instead I caught Ryan in the middle of spilling a shot on the table! LOL!! Love his and Becky's expressions here.
Go Beck!!! :)
Ryan's instructing her... "Now suck the lemon." Ha! :)
Ryan was so sweet wanting to dance with his wife all the time! Most of our group left early since they had to drive home the next day. Becky, Ryan, Phil and I, and my dad and mom stayed for a little bit longer.
Beck and Ryan stayed a few days after everyone else left, which was wonderful. Here are just a few pictures from that time.
B & R wanted to take Grace to the beach one afternoon while Davis was napping, so I stayed home and the other boys went with them.
We are really blessed with such a wonderful family. Thanks to everyone for making this Christmas one we will never forget! It sure will be hard to top it next year. :)