Christmas 2023 worked out

    Another fun Christmas with a few silly tricks. A fun sibling gift exchange and the cutest grandkids happy for one more gift to open.

Christmas Eve gift, new pillows!

Christmas morning lineup.

Charlie got a good amount of stuff from her list and she was happy.

McClane hit the jackpot.

Brock was super happy about the weighted blanket.

    Santa couldn't resist a little joke gift for the three older boys. Toy guns and weights had to be the opener gift.

Toy or real shotgun? Carter's happy with both.

Isaac wasn't sure about the toy weights but he was relieved to see the real ones slide out.

Another toy gun before the real thing.

I think these weights are adorable.

A 9 mm Glock for the win!

A little spice for Greg in addition to McClane's other spicy box.

    Here comes all the sibling gift exchange photos and you will see duplicates but this is how I document it for the photo records.

Charlie giving and receiving. 

Now Brock's turn.

Then Isaac

McClane's turn.

Carter's exchange.

And Kayli at the end.

Cute girls were happy with their clothes, money and doodle pads.

    I got a little something for the girlfriends too.

First Morgan's turn.

Oh, and the kids chipped in and got us a much needed new crockpot.

Greg's thoughtful gift to me.

Greg's gift.

Rachel's turn.

    Not photoed was Rio but she did get my gift. There's also other fun things, like all the gifts the boys got from and gifted their girlfriends. And, believe it or not, Christmas is all put away and the house is back to normal, I even put away the Christmas countdown. Until next year, Christmas 2023 is in the books! Lets do again next year.

Christmas programs

    We started Saturday with a fun dance recital for our favorite ballerina, Maddie. She was amazing!

Lots of love for this cute girl!

    Charlie got to see lights and visit the 'tree of life' tree with her favorite family.

At least Charlie's getting in some fun Christmas festivities.

    Then we attended Beau's preschool Christmas program, which was the best!

She did so great!

 

Brock and Harley were getting pretty silly during Beau's program.

We may have over populated the small program but we had to be there to support cute Beau.

    Next, and far from least, we went to the Christmas singing program at the elementary school for Charlie. This is the second to last one before we no longer have this program to 'look forward to' at Christmas time.

 

Singing about socks.

 

    And what I'm loving lately, sneak peeks at baby Reese. She's changing by the second.

Adorable!

    It's the weirdest feeling this Christmas season. Having older kids makes the season feel different. I am looking forward to Santa coming though and Santa may or may not have some fun tricks up his sleeve. 

    THREE MORE SLEEPS!

Charlie, Baby Reese, a titch of Carter & more Charlie

    This week Charlie got to build candy houses with her favorite two families, take photos,  & play in a small bell group for her fellow classmates. 

    I got to cuddle baby Reese for a bit, which was a welcome treat! 

    Carter's working hard with the #1 brown Santa, uncle Josh at UPS. 

    And a small little bag that speaks volumes!

 

 

Sweetest baby!

Baby Reese.

The look on Rachel's face is my favorite. (I think she likes Carter just a little bit.)

Baby Reese with a little sass and side eye!

    

    And this little bag makes me want to cry. It's a symbol of sacrifice and selflessness that may be unmatched by any other human I've met. This is Rachel's breast pump kit that she takes with her so she can pump milk for the baby she selflessly gave up for the promise of a better life. I'm beyond grateful for Rachel and her love and sacrifice for baby Reese. Her selflessness has NOT gone unnoticed.

 

    More cute photos shared of baby Reese right out of the bath. 

 

Brown Santa and his helper! 

Charlie performing bells with some friends.

She had the best support group show up to watch her performance.

    So there you have it. Another week in December in the books! 9 sleeps until Christmas! 

Welcome to the world baby Reese!

    Sweet baby Reese arrived safe and sound early December 2. She's perfect! 7 lbs. 15 oz. 20 inches long. We are in a world of happiness and super sadness. We're beyond thrilled for her adoptive family and we look forward to watching her grow from a healthy distance. We can't sing the praises of Rachel enough, she's amazing and has sacrificed more then most girls her age could ever imagine. 

 

 

I have no words!

    We definitely didn't envision this event for our 18 year old son, but life throws curve balls and thank goodness for opportunities to grow and for miracles to occur. This gift for Reese's adoptive family is truly priceless and we're so glad there are silver linings even in the midst of sorrow.

We couldn't wait to meet this sweet baby girl! 

 

 

 

 

 

    And then there's the Christmas tree. Thank goodness we had Beau to help with the star and decorations.

Beau saw the star and said, "I can put that on the tree when Papa lifts me up." Definitely! (In 10 years we'll have to recreate this photo for sure. Ha ha.)

And look at the cute coats Isaac bought the dogs. 

    Definitely a big week! We are happy baby Reese is here and pray for continual peace for all who wish things could have been a little different. Maybe another day!
    And 17 sleeps until Christmas!