2015 Christmas: Part One

Christmas was busy this year! Ben's immediate family came to spend the night on the 23rd, we opened gifts with them Christmas Eve morning, then hosted Diane's family that night. Christmas Day was spent with Jeff's family out in Estacada. My parent's came to spend the night on the 26th, and then we hosted them and my sister on the 27th. That's a lot of partying! It was full of fun, family, laughter, food, presents, pictures, and even a little snow! 

Without further ado, here are pictures for Morris side Christmas, starting with one of our little family in front of our Christmas tree:

The big boys received the Little House on the Prairie books from Nate and Holly. I asked them each to hold one up so I could get a pictures. Sam gave me a #1...a true sports fan I guess.

Ellie was so sweet and fun to watch. Here she's trying to get her gun to shoot.

Joshy was thrilled with his farm blocks from Nate and Holly

More of Ellie. She's was hilarious trying to put on her own pants and open gifts.

New pajamas for their baby due in June

Joshy and Mama

Grandma Deedo helping put together Josh's trailer for his cozy coupe

Uncle Caleb sitting down for a picnic with the kids.

Levi played basketball (or wrestling/tackling) with the boys. They had a blast!

We bought Josh this trailer for his car as a Christmas present. We were so excited to give it to him because we knew that he would love it. Little did we know it would save us from Josh and Ellie having to take turns with the car; now they would both be satisfied because one could drive and the other hopped in the trailer. It was so cute to watch them interact! 

Grandparents and Grandkids

The whole family

Now we come to hosting 22 for Christmas Eve. Here's the food spread for the night!

Some of the group

 The kids entertained everyone by playing balloons in the living room

Little Ellie had everyone in stitches as she showed off with her balloon

The boys received Oregon Ducks shirts from Uncle Bruce and Aunt Julie 

All the grandkids (and great grandkids) with Grandma Luscombe

And finally, a few pictures from Christmas Day at Aunt Tani's. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the twins playing the hay loft with Tani--they have said that that's one their favorite memories from this Christmas.

Every year the Morris' reenact the Christmas story. Ben is a shepherd wearing his cowboy hat. 

Seth and Sam were the Wise Men traveling on their camels (Tani and Glenn). I was so proud of them for participating! They are overcoming their shyness!

 Tani and Glenn are so good to the kids. They love them! 

 Caleb and Ben: no one can tell that they're brothers, right? Ha!

 I had to put in this picture because of the look that Nathan is giving me in the background. Stinker!

Still to come: Ruda Christmas and Snow Day!

Fun Family Outings

To be honest, the thought of taking the whole family to a Blazer game kind of stressed me out. Actually having Josh there was most the stressful piece for me. Often instead of picturing the fun we are going to have, I visualize all the uncomfortable parts: meeting Ben somewhere and having two vehicles to juggle, eating out with food allergies, traveling during traffic, walking to and from the stadium in pouring rain, keeping Josh busy during the game, being out late, etc. However, in the end it's not those pieces that we remember! It's the being together as a family, cheering and high-fiving during big plays, eating the best pizza ever at Mississippi pizza, and seeing the excited looks on all the kids faces. We had a really wonderful night, and I'm so thankful that instead of cowering at home and having a "safe" evening, we had a night on the town creating memories!

Brothers getting ready to eat pizza at Mississippi Pizza.

 Ben noticed that we were matching in flannels. So we decided to have the boys take a picture of us. This is Seth's attempt. 

 Thankfully, Sam's was much better! I love this picture of us!

 All the boys at the game

 Joshy started the game out very unsure and tentative. He was pretty funny covering his ears during the opening announcements!

 The big boys and their daddy. They have so much fun at games together, fully embracing the "sports" thing: knowing the players names, strategies, scores, etc. 

Josh really did quite well, all things considered. He warmed up a bit and did some clapping and cheering. He shared a seat with Sam, and whenever Sam stood up to cheer (which was often), he would get sandwiched into the chair as it folded up. It was pretty funny. I love this picture of him and me together. It's such a Josh look: full of joy with a little rascal mixed in.

Sam, Seth

As the night progressed, and it got late (9 or so), Josh got really wiggly and into the "crazy because I'm so tired stage". So we kept him busy with a straw for awhile. He kept shoving it into my mouth and then pulling on it from his mouth. It made him laugh! He's a hoot!

Another one of those "this may not be very fun, but let's do it anyways" experiences came a couple days later. We decided to visit a u-cut lot for the first time. Usually our Christmas tree hunt includes listening to carols on the way to the cheapest lot we can find, picking out a decent tree, slapping it on the car...the end. 

This year, we did it differently, going for the full-package experience: tractor ride, pick your own tree, get mom totally turned around in the woods, use a hand saw, another tractor ride, warm hands by fire, get free hot drinks. It was freezing cold and wet, but such a fun experience! The kids are still talking about it and we plan on making it a new tradition. Also a new tradition: getting the kids a second tree for their bedroom. Not only do the kids love having a tree in their room, but I love no homemade ornaments on my main room tree. Win-win! 

Joshy loved the tractor ride!

 The tree!

 The boys' tree

 The twins even got to use the saw some

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the decorated tree. Hopefully soon!

Walks

I love our daily walks. I love the views on our daily walks. Where we live is truly such a blessing: a neighborhood, yet in the country. 

It used to be that Josh was in the stroller during these walks. Now he's zooming along on his balance bike. It makes the walks slower, but is really good for exercise. The big boys always complain before we begin, but I know that they love them. We rescued a salamander from the middle of the road the other day...it was quite the adventure. And Rosey the dog, lives for walks. If I put on shoes in the morning, she's in a tizzy because she thinks we're walking. 

These are some pictures from a Thanksgiving Day walk with daddy. It was cold and crisp, but such a beautiful morning.

 This is the road behind our house. It connects to our back lot. There are very few cars that drive on it, so we don't have to be concerned with the kids staying on the side. It was also paved last year, so is wonderfully smooth!

 Such a big boy!

 The big boys usually opt for scooter and do lots of cool "tricks" on them

 

 Seth is in green

 Sammy in orange (with no front teeth!)

 This a dairy farm in the background, so we get to see cows a lot

This is the road that leads to our house. We are about 5 houses down. Isn't the view spectacular? Oh, how we love our little canyon!

 This morning we got quite a surprise when we looked out front and saw our neighbors with a camera and binoculars looking out at the field. Ben shouted "elk" and we bundled up to see the herd...it was in field in front of our house!