Christmas Afternoon with the Brixeys

After a full morning of eating and opening presents . . . we were off to Grandma and Grandpa Brixey's house for more eating and present opening! We were greeted by Cousin Aubrey, Uncle Loren, Uncle Andy, Grandma and Grandpa. They were all ready to start opening the mountain of gifts in the living room. Soon after starting, Uncle Flake, Grandma Freda and Matt arrived. It was an action packed adventure--five kids tearing into gifts with wrapping paper flying everywhere! Every now and then, a grown-up even got to open something! After the marathon gift-opening, we had dinner together and then had a chance to relax and catch up. The kids were kept busy playing with their gifts--shooting video with their new Disney camcorders and throwing the football around the backyard. What an exhausting, but truly great day. And, we were reminded of just how blessed we are, not just by material things, but by the gift of family.

It's Christmas Morning!

We heard Daniel sneak out of bed at 1:30am to see if Santa had come. Benjamin crept out of bed just as the sun was rising to check things out himself. Soon thereafter, all of the boys were up and were just dazzled by what they saw in our family room. Two little scooters--one for Ethan and one for Noah, and a pile of wrapped gifts for the rest of the boys. And, stockings stuffed to the brim with goodies. What a magical morning. We opened our stockings first. Then, it was time for breakfast--gooey cinnamon rolls! The boys scarfed them down and then it was back to more present opening. First, we opened the rest of the gifts from Santa. In addition to a scooter, Noah also got some new board books. Ethan got pears along with his scooter (yes, that's what he asked for!), Benjamin got some cool new Star Wars Lego sets while Daniel got a Star Wars Lego set and a new green light saber. After opening the presents to and from each other, it was time to play a little bit before heading out in the afternoon for more celebrating!

Christmas Eve With The Kellers

We had a great time celebrating Christmas Eve with the Keller side of our family. Grandpa Chet, Grandma Kathy, Grandma Gerty, Aunt B, Aunt Kim and Uncle Vince all came over for lunch and stayed for the afternoon opening gifts and watching the kids play. We had a wonderful time together and are blessed to have such a caring and generous family!

After everyone left, it was time to get ready for Santa! We tracked Santa's progress around the globe on Norad Track Santa and once he arrived on the East Coast--we knew it was time for bed! After setting out milk and cookies and carrots for the reindeer, the boys jumped into bed and covered up their heads and fell right to sleep! Mom and Dad stayed up late, working around the house, and we were able to sneak a peek at the big guy himself as he arrived in our family room!! It was great to see Santa. He was in a good mood, but very tired and in a hurry to finish up the night's work. The boys were all excited to see the great pictures we got from Santa's visit! What a fun night!!

Hoop-De-Do!

On Saturday, December 19, Daniel and Benjamin's Cub Scout Dens were invited to attend the ASU vs. San Diego State University Men's Basketball game. One of the dads from Benjamin's den is the Marketing Director for ASU Athletics and he was able to get each family free tickets and parking passes for the game. The boys were thrilled!! Even Noah and Ethan were excited to be a part of the action--watching the game and clapping when the Sun Devils scored. At half time, all of the scouts were invited down to the court where they were introduced to the audience and were able to wave to the camera as their faces were shown on the gigantic TV screen hanging in the middle of the arena. It was a close win, and to celebrate the victory, the scouts were able to go down to the locker room after the game and give each player a high five. It was such a fun evening, a real "score" for our family!

Christmas Lights!

On Saturday, December 12 we celebrated our 10th anniversary of visiting Cherry Lane. This is an amazing street where all of the houses are decorated to the max. And, the highlight is the house at the end of the cul-de-sac, where for years they have opened up their backyard Bethlehem to the public. It's an amazing walk through the story of Jesus' birth, complete with a pasture of pretend sheep and a stable with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. The first time we visited Cherry Lane was in 2000. We bundled up our one month old baby, Daniel and headed out as a family of three. This year, the six of us all walked the street together, hand in hand! After Cherry Lane, we were pleasantly surprised to find another amazing Christmas display. A garage filled with Christmas villages. The homeowner has collected village pieces for over 25 years, and for the first time, she made a display of them in her garage for the public to enjoy. We were in awe of the collection, the beauty and the detail of this display. We are hoping this is the first year of many to enjoy this new Christmas treat!

Ice Skating!

On Wednesday, December 9, Daniel's and Benjamin's Cub Scout Dens had a field trip to Polar Ice in Gilbert. Each of the 21 scouts that attended earned their Ice Skating Beltloop. Including Daniel and Benjamin! They did awesome--it was such a great evening--full of fun, friendship and falls!! Mom and Dad were even able to take to the ice, helping the boys skate and even getting a chance to skate a little bit together! Before skating, the scouts watched a video on how an ice rink is made and they even had a behind-the-scenes tour of the rink--including a chance to sit on the zamboni! After skating, we were able to enjoy cookies and hot cocoa together. What a memorable night!

Our Gingerbread Village!

For this year's gingerbread creation, the boys picked an awesome gingerbread village, with five miniature gingerbread buildings--a church, a chateau, a flat-topped building and two houses. We assembled our village on the morning of December 5. It was a blast!! All of the boys loved adding candy accents to the houses, being creative and careful! We did catch Noah sampling some of the candy, what a surprise!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for! Including a wonderful family-filled Thanksgiving Day! Our day started out early with a visit with sweet Grandma Gerty. She was at Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Chet's house and was looking beautiful! She really enjoyed watching the boys run around the house! We also had a chance to see Aunt Kim and Uncle Vince, who had also stopped by. Then it was off to have a Thanksgiving feast at Uncle Andy's condo. He said he could do it. We may have had some doubts beforehand, but no longer! He did a fantastic job!! He made a flavorful, moist turkey, a standing rib roast, potatoes, stuffing and rolls. The rest of us brought side dishes, pies and desserts. We were all stuffed after this delicious meal. It was great to have a chance to visit with Grandma Bettie, Grandpa Ron, Uncle Flake and Grandma Freda, too! What a great day and what a blessing to share it with so much of our dear family!