Merry Merry Christmas

The holidays have come and gone and we couldn't be more thankful for our wonderful family!  The time leading up to a much-needed two weeks off was a little stressful, but it was all worth it to be able to see Brenden and Jackson enjoy their first Christmas.  We decided to do it right this year and get a real tree and it looked great.  We even had our first family Christmas and watched the boys tear into their gifts.  Dad definitely received the biggest surprise of all when he opened his eyes to a new banjo!  Mommy did well!

The trip back home was a great opportunity to enjoy Christmas for all the right reasons!  Brenden and Jackson are so lucky to have such loving grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  Our first stop was Teutopolis.  The boys were greeted by open arms and did plenty of cuddling in their free time.  However, they weren't really in the mood during Christmas eve mass.  They squirmed and struggled their way through while providing plenty of entertainment for the people behind us.  Then, it was off to Great Grandma and Grandpa Esker's house where the boys started off rough, but found their second wind around 9:00.  And, it was a good thing because Santa decided to stop by like he always does!

The next morning we woke up and opened gifts with Grandma and Grandpa Esker.  Aunts and uncles were all sure to get their last hugs and kisses in before the ship parted for Newton.  Dad even managed to score some of Grandma Esker's famous slippers in the gift exchange.  Score!  In Newton, Brenden and Jackson were showered by more gifts from Nana, Pa, Kaleigh, and the Wolfs.  The boys had to work the wrapping paper quickly before “the storm of cat shit” (as Nana puts it) arrived at the house.  The decibel level soon rose from a 2 to a 10 in a matter of minutes… Haha.  As always, the Beavers were all in the Christmas spirit.  We enjoyed plenty of home cooked food and cheer.  A good time was had by all.

The remainder of our stay was accompanied by a pretty good size snowstorm.  Newton got around 7 inches of snow which meant Pa had to put in some late hours in the snow plow.  But, that didn’t stop us from getting out in the ranger for a ride.  Nana had some time off that week and enjoyed every minute of it hanging out with Brenden and Jackson.  We eventually managed to squeeze all of Brenden and Jackson’s gifts in the SUV and made it safely back to Elmhurst.