Christmas Festivities

WOW....where to begin and what to choose to post about!! This is going to be a long post because there's so much to write about and so many pictures to choose from! I swear that I am cutting this down a lot!!

This past week has been so busy and filled with lots of excitement. It was Brady's 3rd Christmas and Jackson's first and the most fun yet, I would have to say. Brady was very excited about Christmas this year and it was great to see the child's perspective and awe of everything about Christmas. We would sing Away in a Manger and Brady would stop when we sang "no crib for a bed" and ask his favorite question: "Why?" He couldn't understand this, and I think it's great to be stopped by a child so that we really think about how Jesus came into this world.

Unfortunately, our week started with an unwanted gift of the flu! Brady was not himself last week Saturday and although he never threw up, he had a low fever and wasn't feeling well. We had a party Saturday night that he did better for with Brett's mom's family. I posted a few Rock Band pictures from this day and as you can see, Brady was feeling well enough to play the drums for us! The sickness then passed on to Jackson on Sunday. We were all sitting in the living room playing (I was actually also talking on the phone) when Jackson suddenly threw up. This is the first time he's been sick! After his LARGE throw up, he seemed fine. Monday was all clear so Brett and I thought we were off the hook, but on Tuesday, Brett woke up VERY sick! Then Wednesday, I woke up sick along with both of Brett's parents! It was a miserable Christmas Eve and I spent most of it in bed. We had to cancel our Christmas Eve party with Brett's dad's family, but we did open a few Christmas presents on Christmas Eve night.

Of course, Brady LOVED opening presents and he also enjoyed helping his brother. This is actually Jackson's present :)

I love this picture....it looks like Jackson is holding up George to show him off :)

Christmas Day we woke up and did presents as a family and then with Brett's parents. We then headed out to Holland to spend the day with my mom's family. My uncle is an AMAZING chef and he made Turducken! My grandpa and uncle got together the Tuesday before Christmas to debone all of the birds and stuff them inside each other. It then cooks for 12 hours - it was AMAZING along with all of the other food!

My cousin Katie (isn't she glamorous!) and Grandpa DeVos

Papa John (my dad) and Jackson

Jackson was pretty happy about his first Christmas :)

Brady and Katie proudly displaying his new tabletop easel

What a cutie!!

We had one final celebration with my parents to end our Christmas day. It was a long day, but a wonderful one :)

On Friday, we moved from Brett's parents condo to Brett's grandma's apartment. She will be in Mississippi until April and we will be staying here either until our house sells (continue praying) or until I am done with school in June! I will post more about our new temporary home soon!! This is probably enough to keep you busy for right now :)

We had another party Friday night with my dad's family. We were very tired after moving and didn't party too late! This is a small get together as it's just one cousin and her family along with my family. It was lots of fun this year because there are three little ones now in our family.

The newest addition : Lucy - 5 months old!

Michael (my cousin's husband) and my dad

Taylor - I remember when she was as big as Lucy! Wow, that really makes me feel old!

Brady loved this sunflower chair at my cousin's house! He also enjoyed telling me that I was too big and I would break it! Thanks...I guess I need to stop eating all those holiday treats!

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas and we still have a few people yet to meet with since cancelling our party on Christmas Eve. We hope you all enjoyed your holiday with family and friends and I hope you're not too overwhelmed with this large post!!!