Early Christmases

I am always looking forward to Christmas time, but it usually sneaks up on me. This year, though, I was pretty on top of things. Kyle and I did most of our shopping the weekend before Thanksgiving, leaving plenty of time for decorating the tree, wrapping presents, watching Christmas movies and anticipating the big day.

One of my first Christmas celebrations was with my Bunco group. Once a month I get together with some crazy, hilarious and fun ladies. We roll dice, drink margaritas and laugh (and eat) until our stomachs hurt. It's a great time. I'm so glad Donna asked me to join the group almost four years ago because I wouldn't know 75% of these women if she hadn't.

Next up were my OSUF Christmas parties. The all staff party was at Fuzzy's again this year, which is always a good time. We did dirty Santa gifts as usual but afterward they handed out silly office awards for a fun twist to the festivities. Our department won the Buddy Award for "always paling around." I can totally see that because we love having fun with each other! Our department Christmas party was proof of that. We met at Michal's house to paint pictures that relate back to our One Words. We did the same thing last year and had so much fun that we decided to continue it this year. I don't know that my painting skills improved at all, but I was still pretty happy with the result.

 Oh the things you win during office dirty Santa. If you can't tell, this is a tape dispenser/paperclip/Post-it holder. 

 And these are our masterpieces...

This one is mine. My word is give, so I chose to paint a beach scene to remind me of our service trip, which is coming up in a few months!

The day after our department celebration, it was time to head to Hennessey. Kyle dropped me off the same day Zach arrived, and I stayed through the weekend. It was so nice to see him and to finally have the whole family back together. Ty and Lisa got there on Friday and we busily prepared for Christmas Eve game night. We did Minute to Win It games again and, although my team came in last, it was still a great time! Since Kyle couldn't come until Saturday night, we waited and did our Christmas morning on Sunday. That left lots of time for relaxing, debates about fracking and a house tour on Saturday. 

 These two spent lots of time playing with Uncle. I believe here, Asher was pretending that he and Quinn were kittens getting wrapped up for Christmas morning. 

As you can see, Asher is not very gentle with his little sister. He is always wrestling her to the ground, carrying her across the room and grabbing her head (because her hair is so soft). She handles it all very well, so we can tell she is going to be one very tough little girl!

 Maybe he learned it from Uncle... 

We did game night at Josh and Stacy's so they could put the kids to bed while we played. Aren't they cute in their jammies?

 Then  it was time to get down to business.

Team Jingle!

 Asher was on our team and got to play games for the first half of the night. In fact, he earned us our only point in the first half with his mad candy cane fishing skills! 

 The object of this game was to roll the ornament onto the red square. Asher didn't quite make it because "that ball just loved my slippers." 

We usually stay in our pajamas for present opening, but Asher had a Christmas program at church so we got up early and dressed in our Sunday best before tearing into the presents. Asher had no trouble being patient this year and got lots of dragons, which distracted him in between gifts. Quinn isn't really old enough to know what's going on, so Asher got to help her open all of her presents. 

 Santa had two special helpers Saturday night, getting Asher's dragon castle built. 

 It was Quinn's first Christmas. It's crazy to think Stacy was still pregnant last year and now the little miss is WALKING! She will be one before we know it.

 The bow didn't last long.

We made it to church just in time. Asher had two lines in the program. He knew them well, but we were afraid he might get shy and freeze up. As it turns out, he did GREAT. He remembered everything and spoke loud and clear so everyone could hear him. After church we went back to Mom and Dad's for lunch and a lazy afternoon. Before we knew it, we were heading back to Stillwater to put in a few more days of work before actual Christmas.

My dreams came true when Quinn got a doll house for Christmas! (Asher isn't responsible for that black eye. She fell in the nursery.)

Zach can't have a dog, so we let him spend plenty of time with Oliver.