Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday afternoon we headed out to buy a Christmas tree for Kase's room. I had told Kael and Kylee I wasn't ready to put our big tree up yet, but I would let them put theirs up anytime so we had to get one for Kase too. 

After we got the tree we stopped by Dad and Mom's house and we all went to Bass Pro. Kent was already out there for a work thing so he met up with us. I hadn't even planned on seeing Santa but his Wonderland was calling and the place was nearly empty and there was absolutely no line. 

I had no expectations (maybe you remember that Kase cried hard last year upon meeting Santa) so I was thrilled with how our evening turned out. First off, Kylee had a full out conversation with Santa. He was one of the best Santas I've ever taken my kids to. So patient, so real, so thoughtful. Kylee asked him about our elf, they talked about what Santa's house looks like, they talked about Christmases past and it felt like for a moment, time stood still. I think finally they got around to discussing gifts but that seemed secondary to the meaningful and certainly memorable conversation they had. 

When we finally rounded up Kael and Kase (shooting a bow and arrow and driving a remote control car, respectively) and headed back to Santa for a group shot, Santa greeted Kylee warmly, by name. Kase didn't want to sit on Santa's lap but stood nicely beside him as they captured probably my favorite Santa picture ever of my kids.  

We headed home for pizza and a movie, which seems well on it's way to being our family Friday night tradition. 

Saturday morning we woke up with really nothing we had to do. Kent went outside to fix some of our Christmas lights and surprised me by adding a few more strands on the too peaks. I was so excited- I love Christmas lights and I know Kent doesn't love hanging them so it meant a lot to me. 

With time on our side, I decided to go ahead and put the tree up. This is certainly the earliest I've ever done it but the kids were so excited and really helped out. I had been planning to do it this week when the kids were home from school but now we can just enjoy those days off instead!

Later that afternoon I did a little Christmas shopping, Kylee had a birthday party and the boys watched football. 

Sunday morning I taught at church then we headed up to Collins. With all the kids activities and Kase's nap schedule, we don't make it up for Sunday Dinner at Grandma Doe's nearly as often as we would like. We also stopped at Grandma Jenny's and played the kids favorite Hide and Seek in the Dark at Keith and Cindy's house, and the big kids even got to play at Aunt Chris's house. A great day.

Looking forward to a great week and lots of family time!