Main Family Christmas

We celebrated our family Christmas on Christmas Eve morning when the kids got up.  I was kinda surprised that sis didn't wake up until 8:00 that morning.  Kade was already up anxiously awaiting for the rest of us.  After eating cinnamon rolls and taking the morning pics, we dove into the presents.  After the wrapping paper mess was all cleaned up, we got ready for church.  We chose to go to the first of six Hope services on Christmas Eve, which was at 1:00, so we could get back home at a decent time to host Christmas for Heath's family.  The Church service was amazing as always...they never seem to disappoint!  The message for this year was "The Greatest Gift".  Sis enjoyed all the singing and then went to the kids room to play.  She got some comments from the people around us about her pretty Christmas dress.  She also had fun "flirting" with a high school age boy that was sitting behind us. 
After church, we hurried home so I could get all the food ready for our Christmas Eve supper.  Luckily, I had prepared everything the evening before so all I really had to do was get it all out and heat it up.  Once Heath's family arrived, we all enjoyed visiting while the food heated up.  Alexandria was quite the entertainment and has started to really turn on her charm.  After supper, we opened presents and had to quickly get all of Alexandria's toys out for her so she could check them out.  It was a very nice evening, but it went way to fast.  We sent the kids to bed fairly early so we could unwind and get ready for Santa to come!
Christmas morning came too early!  We had to get up early because Kade left at 8:00 to go have Christmas with his mom.  Kade was pumped with his gift from Santa...a 20 gauge shotgun!  I think Heath might have a new hunting partner come next season...but, not before the hunter safety course!  The rest of our Christmas Day was very relaxing and peaceful.  We feel very blessed this season!  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2012!!!

Hey, it's Christmas time.



Fathead Ravens.

Sis loved her stacking cups.

Angry Birds.

Sis loved her puppy pillow pet.

Bug got a gaming chair.

Ready for church.

The Greatest Gift is Jesus!!!!!

Silent Night.

Sis entertaining.

Scottyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!

The mayhem.

Nice jacket Bug.

Bug got a 20 gauge from Santa.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!

Some Fun Days Off!

Earlier in Dec. I took a few days off of work so I didn't loose my PTO days.  It was nice to get some holiday prep done and spend extra time with sissy.  My first day off I spent the whole day shopping and then an evening with mom, aunt Patty, and Steph.  We ate downtown at Dos Rios and then went back to Steph's to watch Bridesmaids.  It was a fun evening!  The next evening, I headed up to Hubbard to have a little Christmas celebration with some good friends.  We enjoyed some wine, appetizers, and good laughs!  I was also able to get a lot of holiday goodies made and some presents wrapped.  On my last day off, Alexandria and I were able to go to Jaxson's preschool Christmas program at Hope.  It was adorable and sissy really liked it.  After each song, she clapped and cheered...it was very cute.  Jaxson had a lot of family there to watch him and after the program we enjoyed cookies and chocolate milk.
Heath has been recovering from pneumonia and wasn't able to go hunting as much as he would've liked, so no deer this year...bummer.  Kade has also finished his first wrestling season and plans on going out again next year.  Sis is getting more personality and learning new words all the time!!
Here are some random pics.

Goofing around.

Sis loves to be bounced  in her blanket.

Kade leaving his final match of the season.

Not a big fan of Santa!

We took Alexandria to see Santa for the first time. She was very excited by the scenery waiting in line and she was able to watch a couple other kids sit on his lap before it was her turn, but that didn't matter at all.  She started crying the instant I sat her on his lap.  Hopefully she won't be traumatized and will someday love to tell Santa everything she wants for Christmas!

Poor Santa.

She was brave with the reindeer.

Christmas with Mom and Mike

After the Buckley Christmas, we headed to Mom and Mike's for Christmas with them.  The grandkids got very spoiled and had tons of fun playing with all their new toys.  Sis got 3 babies and Kade scored big on the clothes!  It was a very nice evening.

Bug got some Heat.

Sis was drooling over her baby.

Al & Bud.

G&G with the grandkids.

Buckley Family Christmas

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas in Eldora with the Buckley side of the family.  There was so much good food as always!  It was nice to see everyone, including my cousin Jamie who made it back from Idaho with his girlfriend too.  We are asking for some extra prayers for my Uncle Randy as his cancer has returned.  He is undergoing radiation and chemo and continues to be in good spirits.  Please include him in your prayers for a full recovery!

Cousins.

Two shrimps.

Mercy Me, It's a Winter Family Christmas!

Heath, Kade, Brad, Steph and I enjoyed a wonderful concert at Stephens Auditorium to listen to Mercy Me!  They are amazing!  We first heard them at Hope, then Heath went and saw them at the State Fair last year and was blown away by them...so, we all went this time!  I have to say that it was different than any other concert that I have ever been to.  We had 2nd row center stage seats and we sat the whole entire concert, which usually doesn't happen. There were a couple times throughout the concert that I had to fight back tears...the lead singer is such a great speaker...he gave a mini sermon in the middle of their performance.  He mainly spoke about his family and the love for them, which was very touching.  The first half of the concert they played some of their hits, then Bebo came out to sing...yes, that is his name!  He played some acoustic songs to give Mercy Me a break.  He was great too!  The last half of the show Mercy Me played Christmas songs, which was a very nice start to the holiday season.  It was a fantastic show and I think I could have sat there all night long.  I would definitely recommend them and would love to see them again!  Thanks to Mom for watching Alexandria that evening!!

Last weekend we had our first Christmas, which was with Dad and Brenda.  We headed up early per Jeriann's recommendation to avoid slippery roads.  We stopped in to see Grandma Renae and Papa Jon first.  She tore their house apart and had a fun time doing it.  Then it was on to Grandpa and Grandma Winter's for some homemade chicken and noodles and gift opening.  Everyone got nice things and the kids loved playing with each others toys.  It was a nice time and luckily the roads never froze so we were all able to make it home safe and sound.   

 

Mercy Me 

Bart is amazing.

The Ladies.

Gents.

Sis loved Grandma Winter's light necklace.

Momma got some personalized dishes.

Hey, is that Santa's sack?

Nope it was a grill.

Love this one!!!!!

Thanks Kade, for looking at the camera.

Sis got a new vacuum. As of today she plays with the balls.

Grandpa has the magic touch.

Light, check.

Sis didn't know what to think of the power outage.
We were without power for 2 hours last week, which made for an interesting evening right at supper time.  We huddled around the fireplace and watched sis run around like crazy...I think she thought the lights being out was a game.

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to spend it with all of our family!  We had an early Thanksgiving with Heath's family at Shawndra's and were able to spend a day with them.  It was nice just relaxing, chatting and watching Alexandria follow their cat around.  The night before Thanksgiving we hung out at Dad and Brenda's and enjoyed some wine, conversation, and yummy food.  We were able to take Alexandria out to my mom's later in the evening so we could actually sit and relax instead of making sure she wasn't getting into anything.  I went to mom's with Steph and the boys while Brad and Heath headed uptown with the rest of the gang for some more pre-Thanksgiving celebration.  Thanksgiving Day was spent at my mom's house where Grandma, Wendy and Uncle Warren were able to join us too!  It was a nice relaxing day with football, tons of great food, and checking the Black Friday ads!  That afternoon we all took a trip to the farm to see all of Brandon and Jess' critters and to check out the updates to their home.  Hopefully we'll be able to get Alexandria up on one of their horses next summer!
I braved Black Friday again by myself and got some good deals and a good start on Christmas gifts.  I didn't run into any craziness, thank goodness!  It is never as crazy as what most people make it out to be, but maybe that is because I don't go out at midnight?!  When I got home, Heath and Kade went and got a Christmas tree.  I spent most of the evening digging out all of my Christmas decor and decorating the tree.  Alexandria had a difficult time going to bed that evening because she knew I was up to something downstairs.  I brought her down a couple times and each time she just oooo'd and ahhhh'd over the lights and the tree.  She has been pretty good around the tree...we'll see how she does once there are presents under it!    

Chilling.

The definition of chilling (Mike had a knee scope done).

Sis loved dessert.

Kade & Jaxson filled in some holes to pass the time.

The Gamblers.

Jess & Brandon gave us a tour of the homestead. This is the horse pen, any questions?

Brad & Holden straying from the tour for a photo opt.