I failed at putting out another post before Christmas, so this one (a month after my last one) is going to be packed with pictures of our holiday fun!!
The boys had a scout meeting/potluck dinner (which is no surprise to us that Johnny absolutely loved and had 3 plates worth!) and small award ceremony where they were given some of the awards that they had earned thus far this year. It was a really nice night!
One of my favorite things is watching the boys walk into school together each morning.....the only thing that makes it even better is when they are carrying in Christmas gifts for teachers.
I got sent this selfie from some sweet girls who were on a bowling incentive trip for school....technology can be so great sometimes even if I hate it so much most of the time haha!
Cargill Christmas party date night.... it was a casino night and we played the craps table the whole night and had a blast!
Our little family Christmas "morning".....Several years ago we started giving our gifts to the kids and them exchanging their gifts between each other the Saturday before we left for KC. This gave us some time together before the "crazy" starts and it also means that we don't have to travel with even MORE gifts! Win-Win!
This year was extra special!! The final gift that the kids opened on that morning was a scavenger hunt through the house for some small gifts they would need for their "final" gift.....which was a puzzle telling them we were headed to DISNEY WORLD!!! The kids have been begging for at least 3 years to go and and I've been planning it for like 5, but, covid mixed with other conflicts kept pushing it back until we finally started planning it this past spring! I'm totally amazed that John and I were able to keep it a secret for so long, but I'm so glad we did because they were in such shock and it was perfect! Definitely a Christmas they will never forget and we are counting down the days!!
I help in Johnny's classroom a few times a month and on this day another mom brought in some cookies to decorate....it was so fun and such a great activity. The kids really loved it.
Johnny happened to take his gift in to his teacher on this particular day as well. Johnny gifted him a Chiefs "Karlaftis" shirt and Chiefs flag. Mr. R is a huge Purdue fan and grad, and Karlaftis is one of his favorite players (he played for Purdue..) so Johnny thought he would gift him the shirt to convert him to become a Chiefs fan through George Karlaftis. Sounded like a good idea to me! It was super sweet because Mr. R put the shirt on as soon as he opened the gift and it made Johnny's day!
I tried something different this year when it came to packing. I gave each kid a list of items they would need and how many and they gathered the items then brought them to me to put in the suitcases. It worked like a charm and took WAY less time! Charlie needed a bit of help, but overall it was amazing and I'm planning to continue the process for future trips!
Once we were there, the gaming began!
Christmas Eve with John's family....
....and Santa boxes!...a Covid "pivot" that I don't think will ever end....
Miss. Quinn loved reading with Nana and Uncle John...
Christmas Morning....SANTA CAME!
An "off-roading" hoverboard for Charlie
Christmas Day with my family
....and the hall of honor which had a huge tv screen that showed past games...
A PlayStation5 for Johnny
A TV and bedding for Mellany
"Santa Loves Kansas City Football"
Christmas Day with my family
Day after Christmas with my family.....somehow the only picture I got was of the boys shooting off their nerf guns...(likely because several times I was in major tears over my Uncle Brian being absent from Christmas this year...)
My dad and Teresa's gift to all of us was a private tour of arrowhead stadium! It was FANTASTIC and I would highly recommend!
We toured a suite...
....Mellany got to sit in one of Taylor Swift's seats and was in HEAVEN!...
We toured the locker room....
....walked through the tunnel to the field....
....visited the press room...
....and the Lombardis!..
After the tour we hit up an arcade and Bass Pro Shops....
We celebrated Teresa's 55th Birthday!
I got to have dinner with one of my HS besties and it was so good to catch up!
We headed home on New Year's day completely happy and exhausted. We had some happy kiddos when we opened these up!
Winston was also extremely happy we were home!
Charlie forgot his "foxy" at Gammy's so she shipped it to us and he was one happy boy when it arrived!
Johnny wanted to enter the 4H handbook cover contest, so he looked up on YouTube how to draw a certain kind of lightsaber and submitted this drawing. I thought it was so good!
When I'm at home and in the living room, this is where Winston likes to be :)
Whew! That wraps up our 2023 Christmas holiday! It was so great to have the time with family and for the kids to be out of school and John off work. Going back to "normal" life has been tough for sure.
Here's to an incredible 2024!
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