Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful everyone is feeling well.  Kylee wasn't feeling great on the 23rd, Kent from the 25-27, and Kael last night...but finally everyone is good!

I'm thankful that our Christmas tree is down.  It's such a big job getting all the Christmas things put away! The tree is down but my storage room looks like a tornado went through it!

I'm thankful for time with friends. 

Kael and Kylee had fun rollerskating with friends yesterday.  It was so good to see some of our dear friends who had moved away last summer back for a visit!

Kase and his buddy had fun sledding this morning.

And Kael tried out his new pizza tube! 

Kylee enjoyed making Thinking Putty at the local bookstore with her friends.

I'm equally thankful for time with just my kids.  We had so much fun ice skating at the new rink in town today! 

I'm thankful that we still have plenty of time left over break.  It seems like our days are flying by!

Christmas Day 2017

Is there anything more magical than Christmas morning?

Kylee made sure we didn't forget to set out cookies for Santa the night before. 

Kylee and Kael woke up first and found presents under their Christmas trees in their rooms. So when Kase woke up they made sure he found his under his tree too! Then they made a game plan.  They agreed to open all the stocking gifts together, then go one by one on the rest of the gifts.

It was such a great morning.  Kids were so happy with their gifts and we had a great time lounging around, figuring all their new things out.  Once we were ready to go, we headed over to my dad and mom's to celebrate Christmas with them!

Kylee was so excited to give the cousins glitter water bottles she had made them.

The whole crew!

Kylee got a mirror for her bedroom and the kids all had fun making faces in it.  Berkley loved it too!

I think Kylee looks so grown up in this one.

Grandpa has so much fun with these boys!

Peek! Inside this box was the game Crossfire.  I had it when I was younger and knew Kase would love it! A few days before Christmas, I got an e-mail saying it was delayed in shipping and wouldn't get here in time for Christmas.  Imagine my surprise when it did, in fact, arrive on time! The kids have enjoyed it as much as I hoped!

Kael has already had fun with this Prank Kit he received!

Matching hats are often part of the Christmas fun at my parents' house.

Berkley was not lacking for attention from anyone.  The kids (and aunts and uncles) just couldn't get enough of her!

More fun hats.  Hilarious!

The cousins all had so much fun playing together.  They are all at such a fun age and really get along so well.

Kase was scared of a toy dinosaur hand he received in his stocking.  I would have never in a million years guessed that would be his reaction!

Later he came around and realized how fun it was! My mom and I had bought these a long time ago and were so excited for the boys to open them.

Kael loved all of his gifts!

The girls did too.

It was such a nice day spending time together.  The kids played outside in the cold a couple different times and had a blast sliding around on the ice down at the creek.  We played a few games, ate a lot of great food and just enjoyed being with family.  The day went so fast!

It was such a wonderful Christmas this year.  Both Kylee and I commented this morning how we are sad it's over but happy to be have the next week and a half together at home!

Kael is really enjoying all his new things and wanted a picture- Beats headphones, a new pop socket for his phone, a Vikings mug, new robe and slippers.  He is one happy kid! We really have a lot to be thankful for.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Christmas 2017 was just so great.  There is nothing better than spending time with my favorite people.  Here's how we've spent the last week!

Last Wednesday, with very short notice, Kylee and Kase decided to do the Winter RUNderland Fun Run.  (Kael was at church youth group).  It was cold but a super fun course lit up with Christmas lights and Santa even led the race!

Kase lined up with the big kids!

Running so fast it's blurry! Ha! And my cell phone wasn't working great in the cold. 

Hot cocoa at the finish line!

Kylee and Kase both won their age divisions and came home with some awesome Santa medals! Kylee set a PR for her mile at 6:21 and Kase ran it in 8:30! They were so very happy.

Kase warmed up in his cute Santa jammies then was dying to open a gift from his teacher. He loved his new book!

Thursday I had lunch at school with Kase and Kylee and went to their class parties. The excitement at school that day was so awesome.  So much joy and I love seeing the kids with their friends!

Meanwhile, Kent and the other Ankeny Edward Jones FA's were spreading holiday cheer to those in need!

Friday morning Kylee had some friends over to bake cookies. The girls had a great time! 

Later that afternoon she went ice skating with a friend.  I love these pictures her friend's mom sent!

Friday night we went to Collins for Dunshee Christmas.  We are a loud, fun, crazy bunch. And then all the great-grandkids opened up laser tag guns and we got even louder. It was a great night!

Saturday was Patterson Christmas. We had the best day spending time with family.  Cindy greeted us all with new funny t-shirts as we walked in the door!

Presents were stacked high!

Kylee's slippers were a hit!

Kase cuddled up to Uncle Kyle and Aunt Julia.

And later Kyle showed the rest of the Patterson men how to clear a room, Army-style. We spent the rest of the day playing pinball, doing a fun exchange game, playing cards and eating all our favorite foods.  Late afternoon Kylee started not feeling great, so we headed home.

Kylee woke up feeling better, thankfully! We spent Christmas Eve celebrating at home- just our family.  It was so nice.

Kids requested coffee cake for breakfast. 

Then we opened gifts! Kids were really appreciative of everything and I think the most fun they had was giving their gifts to each other.

Kylee loves to give.  Besides this DVD she got for Kent, she gave both Kent and me 58 drawings, cards and stories she had been working on since October! She also handmade some really cute ornaments. 

The kids had been SO excited to wake up that morning and see snow! After opening a few presents we had to go out and play!

Fox and Geese! This is something Grandpa Terry does every year on the first snowfall! So we wanted to continue the tradition.

I think Kase was trying to catch a snowflake here.

And, of course, family football in the snow.

We saw some friends at the park and the kids had fun zooming down the snowy slides!

Back inside for hot cocoa and then more presents.

These mugs were my favorite!

Both my parents and Keith and Cindy stopped by during the day to see us and have the kids show all their gifts.  Later we went to church.  It was such a special service and I was so proud to have all the kids in "big church" with us and seeing their faces lit up with candlelight is something that always means so much to me.  Even Kase did a great job holding his candle still!

We picked up pizza on the way home, then had our traditional chocolate fondue for dessert!

It was so nice to have the whole day to spend at home together!