Ruda Christmas 2012

Christmas was wonderfully full. Here’s a quick recap: Ben came home Friday night, officially on vacation. He brought me a Christmas bouquet (which I had been dropping HUGE hints for) and my gift: a Kindle Fire. I’d been thinking about using my babysitting money to buy one, because it would be much more convenient to use in the kitchen for all those allergy free recipes I’ve been trying. It was a great surprise and I’ve been having a blast with it! (Favorite App I discovered last night: wunderlist…I’m in list heaven!!)

Saturday we went out to lunch with Grandma Luscombe and then my parents came in shortly after that to stay with us through Christmas. Sunday we went to church as a family, my mom and I went out shopping, and then Ben and I went on a date to Andina and to watch the Hobbit. Christmas Eve we hung around home (while my parents spent the day with Katie and her kids), and then hosted them for a tri-tip dinner and went driving to look at Christmas lights with the boys (as we drove around, Sam was VERY concerned that we were weren’t going in a clear direction, and wanted to make sure over and over again that daddy knew the way home—it was very sweet).

I hosted all the Ruda’s for Christmas here at our house, and it was a blast. Katie and her family came around 2:00, so we opened a few gifts and stockings with my parents in the morning. Christmas dinner was an allergy free feast (Katie’s husband and one of her daughters have food allergies, along with my mom, and the boys and I). It’s amazing how many different kinds of food God made—we had a wonderful meal even though we are combined allergic to so many foods!

After dinner the cousins played and played. The house was loud, messy, joyful and fun. The boys and their Papa had matching shirts for church. Ben had taken both boys shopping separately for gifts for one another. And then I helped them make a card for each other. It was very sweet and special to see them open gifts from their brother! (Seth in stripes) Love!  The boys and Papa Seth and Grandma We bought the boys each their own Bible—they were thrilled about their new “Bible book” as they call it We also bought the boys “Hungry, Hungry Hippos.” I was pretty excited about it, because I have very fond memories of playing it as a kid. It’s not as fun to play as an adult (what’s the point again?), but listening to your kids laugh and play with it is pretty priceless! Grandparent/Grandkid picture not a huge success this year. All the cousins received homemade hats from aunt Julie and uncle Tom! They loved them! Poor Papa didn’t have much to open because his gift from all of us was tickets to the Transiberian Orchestra in November Mom and Dad got both Nick and Ben smokers. What an amazing gift!

The great surprise of the day was that my mom and dad made all the grandkids their very own horse. They were amazing and the kids all LOVED them!  Clara and “Snowbell” (all the girls got unicorns and the boys horses…and each horse was named and given a history) Seth and “Ferdinand”

 

Sam and “Nakoa”, Aidah and “Black Beauty” Miriam and “Firefoot” Sam and Seth ready to conquer the world The attempts to get all the grandkiddos with the horses were not successful The oldest four did a bit better This one is pretty darn cute And this one cracks me up because Seth is looking a Clara like, “Huh, so that’s what a smile looks like?” And here’s the grandkids with their horses and handmade pj’s from Grandma And definitely my favorite—I love the movement!

That night as we put the boys to bed, we asked them if they liked Christmas. Amidst the “yeses” Seth told me with great conviction, “Yah! I got a horse!” All the grandkids wanted to sleep with them that night. A huge success with the horses and a wonderful Christmas day overall!

Merry Christmas!

I had this really cute “Merry Christmas” post all planned out, which I would post Christmas morning. Well, December 29th is close, right? The holidays have been delightful—and busy—around here. And then, because they were so busy, afterwards I took a lazy vacation from all normal and structured activities. Instead I’ve been playing with the kids and new toys, reading, shopping after Christmas sales, not doing anything purposeful.

So, Merry Christmas to all (4 days late):

(Sam in blue, Seth in white)

And to all a good night…   Seth Sammy

Love, the Morris Family

Morris Christmas 2012

Between it being our “off” year with the Morris’ and Caleb and Levi’s basketball games, last weekend ended up being the best time for us to celebrate Morris Christmas. It turned out wonderfully because we were able to watch Caleb’s high school basketball game on Friday night, Levi’s middle school basketball tournament on Saturday, and then all be together for the rest of the weekend. And it even snowed, much to everyone’s excitement! Caleb taught Seth and Sam all about free throws this weekend. We’ve been doing lots of free throws in our house now. Levi and Ben have the same cool Nike jacket. I LOVE this picture; what perfect portrayal of a teenage boys’ reaction to his mom’s hugs. All those handsome Morris men So excited for the snow! (Sam) SOOOO cold from the snow (Seth) Nice outfit Nate!

We opened presents on Saturday evening. But not until after the traditional “kid” picture

And Grandparent picture

   And the reading of the Christmas storyI caught Seth doing his “tired hair twirling.” I love watching him do this!  Now…time for presents. We had the boys open their basketball shoes from us first. Sam promptly put his on and showed us how fast he could run. Traditional hugs…can you believe how old Caleb is? Twin hug for Uncle Nay Nay—the boys have grown quiet attached to Nate! Levi looks so handsome in the new jacket we got him! We all pitched in and bought Ben a new scope for his gun. He was so surprised and thrilled! Sammy and Grandma Sam and Seth opened up wooden blocks from Grandparents and Seth exclaimed, “It’s just what I needed!” I got the warmest, fluffiest blanket from the Morris’ (which Sam is now obsessed with)

Sam, Mama, Seth

Sam and Seth’s night ended with books read by aunt Holly. The rest of the family stayed up late playing Wits and Wagers and Apples to Apples. It was a wonderful Christmas evening. (And I haven’t even documented the fun in the snow the following day, but didn’t want to post too many pictures in one post!)