We drove up to Cadillac on Christmas Eve and went to the Christmas Eve service at First Baptist. The next morning, everyone came over to Curt's parent's house early and we spent the whole day together having lots of fun. The kids were all very excited to open stockings and presents. Lucy ended up getting sick later that day (throwing up :( ). I felt so bad for her because we had plans to celebrate her birthday the next day. The next day she was doing better, so we were still able to go bowling with the family. Then, we went over to Mark and Betsy's to have birthday cake and open presents. There's always a lot to squeeze in at Christmas time!  Christmas morning present time!   Lucy loves dresses!   Her face cracks me up.  Brady and Ben had fun taking over as Lucy's helpers.   Lucy and Jenna   Squishy nose smiles :)  Someone is pretty excited for her birthday party! 

We celebrated Christmas at our house in between our trips to Grand Rapids and Cadillac. Curt took a day off during the week so that we could have all day together. We didn't really take many pictures that day, but we got a few of the kids opening presents. The rest of the day, we played games, played with new toys, and just enjoyed our time together. 

This year, we spent a weekend in GR and a separate weekend in Cadillac to celebrate Christmas and Lucy's birthday.   We got to meet Ashley's new kitten Nessie. She was super sweet and the boys didn't have any allergy trouble!   My mom watched the kiddos while Curt and I saw the new Star Wars movie with my brother Matt.   Lucy had fun doing puzzles with Molly at the Christmas party.   Lucy got to open a lot of presents since we celebrated her birthday and Christmas.   Aunt Jess made yummy cupcakes for the party. We were sad that she couldn't make it to the party because she was in the hospital not feeling very good.   Ben and Caleb anxiously waiting to open their presents.   Lucy got a huge pack of Disney princess barbie dolls.  Ben and Caleb both got cool robots! 

Botanical Gardens In December, we visited the Botanical Gardens in downtown Fort Wayne. It was decorated beautifully for Christmas. The kids got to visit with Santa and do some other fun activities. It was a little crowded, but we didn't have to wait in the line for too long. It was our first time visiting the Gardens, which is crazy since we've lived here over 8 years! Lucy saw her friend Norah waiting in line to see Santa.   Ben found his friend Evan (Norah's brother) too!   Petting a reindeer.   She looks like she might be a wild driver! :)   Our friend Glenda took a family picture of us with her camera while we were waiting in line to see Santa.  Gingerbread Houses In the past, I have bought kits to make the houses. This year, I decided to use graham crackers and make my own royal frosting. It was a little tricky cutting the graham crackers, but overall I think it was more fun than the kits....