Christmas Eve

 We spent Christmas Eve with the Trujillo's! 

 It was a great evening eating yummy Mexican food, playing games and watching the cousins all play together!  We definitely missed Rob, Ariana and the boys this year - it was just not the same without them - maybe a little quieter though!  When all the boys are together the sound seems to escalate!  But we really did miss them...hopefully next year they will make it home for Christmas!

 

 Grandma and her three granddaughters!

 Aunt Lorraine was in town for Christmas which is always a treat!  She loved my enchiladas!

We of course kept the White Elephant tradition alive and the presents definitely got less tacky and more desirable this year...

 Sandy got some red wine and expensive chocolates...

 Matt's present got stolen twice, but ended up with his own - Itunes Gift Card...

 Kodi got an electric shaver - I am sure Josh benefited more from that then she did!

 Eli using a paper towel roll as a trumpet - he will turn any found object into a musical instrument of his choice...

 Lorraine got the best one - a "Butt Head" hat and lottery tickets...

 but Josh swooped in and stole that!  He really is a "Butt Head"...

I ended up with a gift card to the movies - DATE NIGHT!

 The kids LOVED opening their presents and were of course spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa...

 Ashtyn got lots of different crafts to do...

 and Eli got a Saxophone - YES!  He was so excited when he got it and started marching around...

 Eli also got some bells - which I believe was a regifted White Elephant present from last year - but Cheyenne loved playing with them!

 Brooklyn and Cheyenne got a kid IPAD to share...

 Eli LOVING his new present...

Elfie came to visit again this year and brought them their Christmas Pajamas!  It was so cute, because when the door bell rang they all ran to the door to see what it was - Yeah, they are finally getting old enough to enjoy the tradition!

 Cheyenne was so cute when she got her pajamas - she hugged them and just walked around with a big, cheesy smile!  She is just so precious!

Christmas Eve was very relaxing and fun this year! 

I think as the kids get older it will get better and better for us adults.  We are starting to actually enjoy each others company again while the kids play peacefully! 

Afterwards we headed home and got ready for Santa...Ho Ho Ho!

Christmas Crafts

While out Christmas shopping the weekend before Christmas - again not something that helped with my Mrs. Scrooge attitude - I decided to pick up a gingerbread house which Ashtyn had been asking to do since last Christmas.  I found a really cute Barbie one at Toys-R-Us, so after a long and stressful day of shopping we did a little Christmas Craft before bed...

 I have never personally built a gingerbread house, but if you buy a kit it makes it VERY easy!

 Matt was in charge of warming up the frosting which was hard as a rock when we pulled it out of the box...

 Do you see my lovely kitchen in the background...it's a beaut!

 I did all the frosting, while Ashtyn and Eli decorated with gum drops, candy canes and skittles...

It turned out pretty cute - Next time I will buy my own frosting becuase what they give you is awful and makes decorating for a 4 year old impossible - but at least we got to do one Christmas Craft this year...

Our New Home...

 On December 10th, Matt and I closed on our new home! 

 It was such a huge relief - you have no idea!  The idea that we had our own home, that we could actually afford, located in an area we actually LOVED - was a dream come true - not to mention the simple fact that we LOVE our house!

Closing was of course long but went great and afterwards we headed home, hooked up the trailer with our first load of crap and headed over to our new home to start moving in!  We were lucky enough to borrow the cabinet trailer from my work to help with moving, which allowed us to pack up our first load that weekend before.  We still had four more loads after that, but at least we got off to a good start... 

 

The home was move-in-ready except for the bedrooms - so Matt and I spent all day and night Tuesday and all day Wednesday stripping wall paper and painting, so hopefully we could spend our first night at the house Thursday with the kids!  We were highly motivated and with the help of our family and our awesome friends - we actually got to stay Wednesday night in our freshly painted rooms and made up beds!  It was an awesome feeling to wake up Thursday morning and it just be our family of four in our new home - plus the kids slept great that first night!

We spent the rest of the week unpacking boxes and by that weekend it was pretty much put together - minus pictures on the walls!

Ashtyn and Eli definitely found ways to have fun, while we were in the midst of unpacking - I found them playing in the dirty laundry one time...

 Ashtyn was very persistent on getting the Christmas tree up and even though that was the last thing I wanted to deal with, I knew how important it was for her to get the tree up, so it felt like Christmas - never mind the stacks of boxes to unpack!

So I took a break, made some coffee and we decorated the Christmas Tree on Thursday!

I was actually happy Ashtyn was so persistent on getting it done - it made me take a much needed break and just enjoy being a family in our new home, while doing a tradition I normally LOVE!

 Eli tried helping, but after throwing several ornaments on the floor, he was removed from the tree decorating area...

 Ashtyn spent all day hanging ornaments and did such a good job decorating the tree and yes I will admit afterwards it felt like Christmas in our new home!

Its funny how among the millions of boxes to unpack, stacks of picture frames, trash bags, and just pure chaos, it felt like home - do you know how long I have been waiting for that?

We had our first Saturday Pancake Breakfast...

 And spent the rest of the weekend settling into our new home we LOVE so much...

Besides for finally having our own home again we were so excited to entertain our friends again! 

We owed alot of them drinks and food for always hosting us these past couple years, so we wasted no time in having people over...Shannon and Kole brought pizza and champagne on Thursday night, The Roddas came over for Mexican food on Saturday night,  The Ohlheiser's brought dinner over the following Friday night and Pam, Steve and Mari came over with margs and pizza the next night! 

I don't know what we would do without all the love and support from our family and friends, but it was awesome to have such great people to share this exciting time with!

It's funny, and something Matt and I comment on all the time - but I don't think I would have ever been so grateful and appreciative for my own home or for the ability to simply entertain friends if we had not sold our house and moved into my in-laws basement two years ago.  I am not going to lie - it was a rough two years, but very humbling. 

I will forever be grateful for our home - it's nothing special or grand, but its ours and I can't wait to spend the next 50 years raising my kids there with Matt, making memories with friends and family, installing a new kitchen and of course adding our personal touch to every space! 

I LOVE our new home!  Let the projects begin...

Christmas...really?

Christmas is typically my favorite time of year and not because of presents, but because of the all the traditions involved and I love recreating them every year for my own kids, while of course making our own!  But this year was a little different - with going out of town, moving into a new home, so not really having a home to decorate and with the weather feeling like spring time - I did not get into the Christmas spirit at all.  SO unfortunately our only "Christmas" outing we did this year was going to the Annal Christmas Parade in Louisville - that's it!

 Pam invited us over for drinks and apps beforehand and then decided to join us for the parade.  I always love when my Aunt Pam comes - she adds the FUN to any situation which is desperately needed at these parades!  Steve made us some Irish Creme coffees to keep us warm, so that helped a little with getting me into the Christmas Spirit!

It was a FUN night with my kids and family! 

Plus, we finally got to see Santa "Come to Town" which of course got Eli and Ashtyn all excited!  That's all that matters right - whether I am being a Scrooge or not, my kids were having fun and feeling the Christmas Spirit!