Time with Friends

The Flender's invited ours friends to join us at their house for a party and the Iowa Bowl Game. We were able to catch up with the Fords, Flender and Hodgins. It was a fun night with friends. Kaylee and Trace ended up having sleepovers with Chloe and Zach. Kaylee also managed to fit in sleepovers with Brittney Comer and Lily Ford. 

I was able to have a nice breakfast with Jamie Ross and Stephanie Prohaska. It was my first time seeing Steph since her son, Alex, had died unexpectedly in August. My heart goes out to my dear friend as she mourns the loss of her son. 

Our time in Iowa was wonderful, but as always its nice to get back to our own house again. 

Christmas with the Gaskills

Scott and Emily invited us over to their house for the evening. It was great seeing their new house and spending time together with the family. We were excited that Grandma Sue and Grandpa Wayne were able to make it back to Iowa in time to celebrate Christmas with us. It was a fun night with family.

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning, we had a nice morning with the kids when they opened their stockings. We normally have monkey bread, but we were still stuffed from our Christmas Eve meal, so decided to wait until another morning. One of the girls gifts were tickets to the Hamilton Broadway show in February at the Kravis Center. They were thrilled!

For lunch, we headed over to Stacie and Patrick's house where Stacie prepared us a delicious meal. It was a fun time with our family. 

Christmas Eve

Rizzo and Bella are doing great too!

We arrived in Iowa just in time for the Christmas Eve Eve service at Oakland on the 23rd. One of our favorite Christmas traditions is Christmas Eve at the Langfalds house. Aunt Sam does a great job of preparing fun, creative games for us to play. This year did not disappoint. We competed girls vs boys and I'm happy to report that the girls won this year. Although the boys did beat us at Jeopardy thanks to Bruxen and his knowledge of Santas reindeers.The food was amazing as usual. Mike made ribs which were amazing. Grandma made some special sandwiches and I made my fondue. It was a great day!

Gingerbread Houses and Ice Skating

While Dad's away we having been having some fun of our own. The kids and I had a Gingerbread Contest, saw some snow at church and went ice skating. It was a fun weekend, but we're ready to be back with Daddy.

Our Family Christmas

We had to celebrate our family Christmas early this year due to Trevor having to travel to Cedar Rapids for a work trip on the 18th. He decided to stay there until we arrive on the 23rd, so we don't have to pay for his plane ticket.

Trace got a new electric scooter, Kianna got a new fuzzy chair and comforter for her bedroom and Kaylee got a computer for her birthday that carried over to Christmas as well. I made each of the kids a memory book from our summer trips to NYC and San Diego.

We'll save our stocking for Christmas morning. The kids had fun preparing gifts for each other. Kianna had some silly gifts she prepared for her siblings. She made Kaylee a saran wrapped gift which she made her unwrap with an oven mitt. She made Trace a roll a toilet paper with something written on every piece of paper. She's a silly girl!!! My favorite gift was from Kaylee. She gave me a deck of cards with 52 things she loves about me typed on each one. She connected them together with a key chain. I love thoughtful homemade gifts and I love my family!!!

Christmas Candy

The girls decided that we had to keep up our Christmas traditions by making Christmas candy. I love the delicious treats we make but don't love the calories. But in honor of tradition, I made Swedish butter cookies and haystacks, Kaylee made peanut butter blossoms and peanut butter crackers dipped in dark chocolate, and Kianna made Oreo truffle balls and pretzels with Herseys Kiss and M & M's. As always, our treats did not disappoint, yummy as always.

Dad's 80th Birthday

Libby got engaged while we were all together!

I was blessed to be able to fly to Arizona to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday with him, Sue and Debi. My dad was so happy that he was almost in tears several times as a result of having "his girls" there with him. He kept us busy playing miniature golf, pool, Cribbage, Eucre, Up and Down the River, going on walks and riding in the golf cart. We also watched the annual Christmas Boat Parade. 

In addition to his birthday, this weekend was extra special because it was their last weekend in Sun City. They sold their winter home of 20 years and close on the 16th. They sold it fully furnished, so thankfully that meant they didn't have much to do in advance. My time with my family was so precious!!! I'm blessed with a dad who loves me unconditionally and has always given his time generously. He is a wonderful Grandpa to my kids. I love him dearly!