Christmas in Omaha

After we got home from our trip to Branson, we decided to make Saturday the 29th our day to celebrate Christmas in Omaha. In the morning, we opened the gifts that we had bought/made for each other, and then later that night, we went over to my parent's house and celebrated Christmas with them.

 

Clara opening presents with Makenna's help 

 

 Hudson opening his basketball hoop (one of the two BIG reasons we couldn't bring the kids' presents from us to Branson)

 

Makenna opening her dress up storage piece that John made and I painted and decorated (the other BIG gift, that we couldn't pack with us). My brother Lance had made one of these storage pieces for his daughter, and then offered to help the other dads in our family to make them for their daughters. Makenna LOVES it, and now has a place for all of her princess dresses and accessories. I love that it is one of a kind, and that Clara will one day be able to use and enjoy it too!

Saturday night we went out to my mom and dad's for dinner, and to celebrate Christmas with them and uncle Morgan.



 

 Makenna got this cute little pink chair from my parents.

Hudson's favorite gift of the night was Hungry, Hungry, Hippos, which he played with all night long.

Christmas In Branson - Part 3

The best part about Christmas in Branson was spending time with John's family. The kids LOVE hanging out with their aunts and uncles, and were also so excited to meet their first Pawlowski cousin, Olivia, who was born in August.

 

Attacking Uncle Dan with 'Butterfly Kisses'

Decorating Gingerbread cookies with Aunt Annalee and Aunt Natalie

 

Reading Books

Some of the other things we did in Branson included, attending church, going out to eat, taking 'Old Time Photos', seeing an amazing production of Joseph, and driving through the Trail of Lights.

 

At Church

The view from our house rental was pretty beautiful (even in the dead of winter).

 

Hudson with Mike and Natalie

 

Uncle Joey, and baby Olivia

 

 

Clara also learned some new tricks while we were in Branson:

 

the plank

 

hands and knees

Christmas in Branson - Part 2

Christmas

 

Travelling at Christmas with little kids can sometimes be a little tricky. Does Santa 'travel' too, or does he come early? Does he come while you are gone? This year since we were driving to Branson, it was easy for Santa to 'travel' to Branson also. The gifts that John and I bought for the kids were too big to bring, so we decided to wait and have our own family Christmas after our trip.

 

 

In John's family, their tradition is to open presents on Christmas Eve. This worked out great, because we opened all of the exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, and then Santa came while the kids were sleeping.

 

Uncle Dan was Santa's Elf, and handed out the gifts

 

Since our kids wake up early, we were able to have some time in the morning with just our family, to see what Santa had brought.

 

 Makenna and Grandma CeCe coloring her new purse

 

 Clara got a few gifts from Santa too

Christmas in Branson - Part 1

This year we spent Christmas with John's family in Branson Missouri. John's parents rented a big house so that we could all stay together. We had a great time seeing and spending Christmas with them.

Silver Dollar City

We spent our first full day at the amusement park Silver Dollar City. We arrived when it opened, and stayed until after dinner. I was a little worried about going to an amusement park in the middle of winter, but the weather was beautiful that day. All of the rides were open and running, and we didn't even need our coats during the first half of the day.

 

Clara in front of Clara's Cappuccino shop

We spent the first half of the day going on rides. The kids loved all of the kiddie rides, and although we spent most of our time on them, John and I were each able to sneak in a couple of 'big' rides too.

Believe it or not, this is the ONLY picture I have of any of us on any of the rides! It was a boat ride where you shot targets on the walls as you floated by.

 

Clara was the best baby all day!! She was so happy to just sit and hang out in her stroller, and was very entertained watching everything going on around her. She also took a couple of naps in her stroller, which enabled us to spend all day at the park.



 

Decorating sugar cookies in one of the toy shops

After spending the morning on the rides, we spent the afternoon seeing some of the shows. The kids loved the Frosty the Snowman show. We also saw a live Nativity show that was really neat. 

We stayed at the park for dinner, and then watched the parade of lights.

The Christmas lights at Silver Dollar City were AMAZING! All of the shops, restaurants, and buildings were completely lit up with lights. The parade was also quite spectacular. The kids loved it. We had a great time there, and would definitely love to go back sometime.

Makenna's Preschool Program

Makenna was so excited for her preschool program again this year. Since her preschool is based out of a church, their Christmas program was very much focused on telling the story of the birth of the Savior, which we all loved. Makenna did great, and knew all the words and actions to the songs they sang. She is not shy when it comes to being on stage!

 

She was the STAR of the show...literally. :)

 

Getting ready for her big moment!

 

Leading the wise men to baby Jesus

 



 

 

Family Photos 2012

While my sister was in town for Thanksgiving we had family photos taken. It had been about 5 years since our last family photos, and we had added 8 grandchildren since then! The day we had pictures taken, it was FREEZING!! We tried to brave the cold as best we could, and although we took them as quickly as possible, our photographer (a friend of mine... Melanie Miller Photography) was still able to get some great pictures.

The whole group

Grandma and Grandpa with their 14 grandchildren

Our family

The kiddos