Rainy day = fun day!

So, the two boys decide that wind & rain wasn't going to stop them...it was going to invite them to play outside! Jared & Kyler put on their rain boots, a warm jacket and headed outside to find the deepest puddle in our yard! They had lots of fun running around making giant splashes and seeing how deep they could get! Glad they didn't blow away!

Visiting friends

We had two of my best friends and their kids come over to play today! What fun watching the kids tear through the house exploring all the toys! We had kids from 8 wks to 10 years old playing and having a blast. We amazingly got a chance to chat (or yell over the sounds of kids!) and catch up a little. It was so nice to see my friends!Evan, Miles & Madeline (Hilmen), Caitlyn, Alex & Drew (Beeman) Luke, Kyler & Jared

Christmas morning

We woke up early on Christmas morning to see what Santa had left for all the kids. The boys got a new TV for their video games, Luke got a little quad and Sister got a video camera. They were all very happy, except for Luke, who is terrified to ride his new quad "too loud!"

It was a nice quiet morning with the kids opening gifts and admiring all their goods...then the rest of the family came! It is always crazy and fun when the rest of the Becksteds show up! We had all the kids tearing into presents and trying to open new gift! It was crazy, but isn't that what the holidays are?

Christmas Eve

The boys got home at 9pm, from their mom's house, so we finally opened up presents. Luke, Jared & Caitlyn were so patient waiting for their brothers! It was nice to share the evening with my family and enjoy each other on this joyous day!

About 10:30pm we finally had all the kids in their new Christmas jammies and ready for Santa's arrival. Everyone picked out the perfect cookie for Santa and went to bed....dreaming of sugarplums I'm sure!

Christmas Eve Minute to Win it!

So for Christmas Eve I decided we'd have a family Holiday Minute to Win it competition. I went online and downloaded the ideas for the fun Christmas games and put together the necessary props! What a blast. We were all rolling on the ground laughing watching one another try to complete these silly games. What a blast! Nobody won a million dollars, but it was worth a million laughs!

Cookie decorating

All the kids (minus Jared)

Kyler & Caitlyn
Ev, Tallulah & Luke

We have been decorating christmas cookies with the Pearls since we moved back to Eureka, we have added the Najera family and the Downey family too. It has been so fun to watch the progression of cookie decorating over the years. We've added lots of new kids to the tradition and watched as they have gone from licking the decorations off the tablecloth, to actually decorating a cookie! What a fun tradition.

Grace

Makayla & Dylan

Caitlyn turns 9

Opening gifts & making

s'mores in a jar

Caitlyn always has her birthday in the middle of the Nutcracker madness, so we postponed her slumber party until this past weekend. She had 5 friends come over for crafts, baking, cake decorating, movie watching, talking (she actually wrote that on her list of things they could do), make-overs, Wii and staying up late! They were all really sweet girls and had a great time. Kinda nice to have a house full of girls for a change!

Caitlyn...after trying to stay up all night!