Christmas Morning!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!


(L-R: Jake, Mike, Katie, Liz, Jesse (back), Sarah & Diana. MISSING: LeeAndra.



So here's my disclaimer about my pictures with my brothers and sisters....



I wore absolutely NO make-up (next to my super-model sisters...)



AND...


I had YET to take a shower that morning...but we were still late to Mom's house! Go figure!!! (LOL) It was a rough night. Matt would NOT go to bed! Argh! 11:30pm came and he was finally snoring, so that "SANTA" could come. But by that time...Mr. Claus had fallen asleep....So it was left to me!! (As well as cleaning, laying out clothes, getting stuff ready for family to come over....!)

(These are the aprons my mom and I made! Totally reversible, no ties, they criss-cross and are scalloped in the back and on the bottom. We're thinkin' of selling them on Etsy...as we can now make them in our sleep!)

L-R: Kim (Mike's wife), Cami (Jake's wife), ME!, Diana, Sarah
Front: Katie



But my tree and decorations turned out pretty nice...

You can barely tell that the lower half of my tree is "naked" with the presents blocking it!

And I LOVE my stockings!

I made them! Embroidered and everything!! With Aerin & Mary's help...

It was pretty fun. We had a blast! With the economy being what it is...no one is doing remodels or new construction - so things have slowed down quite a bit....and it's not been quite as prosperous as it has been in years past....









But we have been able to give of ourselves...


AND Our time....


And we've also been learning how to receive this year. This one was a hard one!!



But we enjoyed seeing our families.





I had made my MIL a wedding album. Probably not the best scrapbooking ever done, but it was from the heart....





And I did my best. :)


I also made Gigi (Grandma In-law) a quick little scrapbook filled with the faces of our family (past and present) that she could look to and remember some fun vacations and the fun times we've had together.




Again, didn't cost a whole lot, but I really tried to go "beyond" myself and give of my time and talents....





(I'm still finishing Mom & Dad's quilt! LOL) Luckily Mom and Dad were okay with the colors (Soooo Mom's colors...yellow and purple!) And Dad's always happy if Mom's happy. :)





My boys' each got a set of tools (complete with a drill that actually makes "drill noises" which the LOVE!)


AND....

This year we got them Cabbage Patch Kids that they could adopt....which I'm hoping yet again, puts another positive spin on adoption for our kids!!



They look like the boys. SERIOUSLY look like the boys. It was pretty cute! Joshy sleeps with his little baby (Linus) and Matty totes his around (Scotty) and puts him on the couch to watch TV while he "fixes" things. LOL
Maybe a little too indicative of how we parent while doing our "fix-it" projects?? LOL.









Anyways....

We hope you all had a very wonderful Christmas!! We love you all!!

Now go have a wonderful NEW YEAR!