Lots of fun Christmas celebrations to write about!
Kase and Kylee had their youth group parties and they each had fun at their own parties.
Kael and Emma went to the Iowa Hawkeye women's basketball game with Keith and Cindy and had a great time!
Friday night we celebrated with Grandpa Bill. Everyone but just one cousin who lives in Maine made it- I couldn't believe it! Almost the whole Dunshee clan. It was really great to catch up with everyone.
The redheads. Love 'em.
Kylee does such a good job- she just gets it. At one point she noticed Grandpa Bill was sitting alone so she pulled right up and chatted with him for quite awhile. I think he really enjoyed that.
Saturday was Christmas with the Pattersons! Is there anything cuter than this matching jammie cousin crew?! We all especially loved Kael's commitment to wearing the pajamas all day long.
Pop a shot basketball was a hit. Kael had gone over the day before and helped set it up which was much appreciated!
Kellen was proud to show me how she can read!
Kylee loved hanging with Beau.
The girls.
More basketball fun.
The kids all loved all their gifts. Mine all seemed so grown up and mature just waiting patiently for their turns while the littles went.
These two are cut from the same cloth, that's for sure!
Uncle Kyle gets Kael. This Sleep Token flag was a hit!
The uncles admiring Kase's new shoes.
Kylee letting Kellen give her a makeover with Kellen's new makeup kit!
Uncle Kent was a huge help and dove right in and put together one of Krue's gifts so he could get right to playing with it.
Kael got a new game from Kevin and Kaity so here I am being the card reader- it was pretty fun!
Kase loved his new gel blaster Nerf gun!
In the end, Kylee was crowned Pop-A-Shot Champion!
Brother Nerf gun duel.
Kylee always a big help with the little cousins.
It was a great day and it's so fun to see the kids all getting along and playing together. We had a big breakfast, snacked all day and had tacos and lasagna for dinner. Kylee even went to Portofino's to pick up garlic knots while the rest of us played the gift exchange game- she had opted to not play this year. So it's great having a driver who volunteered to do that! We all gave and received some fun gifts in the exchange game this year. So proud of family and so very thankful for my extended family who we enjoy spending time with and are always so great to my kids and Keith and Cindy always do a great job with gifts!
Christmas Eve is always our family day and it's one of my very favorite days of the whole year. We have a few traditions but also mix it up each year and this year we decided to go out for brunch and tried a new place in town!
Kase saw a specialty hot cocoa in a picture on the door as we walked in so he tried it and loved it.
Kylee loved her cute little coffee drink too.
Me and Kael buddy. We didn't take a picture of Kent because at the time he was a little grumpy about the table we got- he thought it was too small and too close to the door but the rest of us didn't mind!
We had great food and great service and in the end even Kent came around and declared it to be a great start to the day. Love this mural right outside the restaurant too!
We came home and went for a quick, chilly family walk before the rain came! Then the kids wanted to give their gifts to each other- they always do such a good job and are so proud to give their gifts. Then they opened a couple gifts from us and then we all took turns choosing games and activities for the fam. Wii party is still a hit and Kase was winner of Board Game Island and also got to pick the first of our grab bag gifts which was a game we just played on and off throughout the day.
After a few more gifts and games we set up some snacks. Kase was having the time of his life shooting baskets and playing out in the rain. He and Kael both just love a good rainy day.
We did a few more gifts (this one is from Kase's barber who saw it and thought of him- so sweet!)
I didn't take a lot of pictures, honestly. We truly were just enjoying spending the day together. We played Clue, ping pong, Perudo, watched football- it was just a really nice day. We got changed and went to 4:00 Christmas Eve church which was a surprise to Kylee who thought service started at 5:00 and RUSHED to get herself ready. She pulled it off and we made it just in time to snap a picture before the service and even still found five seats together!
I just love, love, LOVE the candlelight at the end of the service. Truly one of my favorite moments every single year.
Snapped a couple more pictures at home since we had been too rushed before!
Kase clearly was ready to get comfy again.
Then we had a really lovely time preparing a nice steak dinner with all our favorite sides and Simon's red velvet cake for dessert!
We ate by candle light, joked about me burning the garlic toast and how Kase kept calling it "red cake velvet." We talked about goals for the upcoming year and reviewed highlights from this year. I will remember this night for a very, very long time as I believe that we are in that short but awesome window of time where my kids are adult (ish) and able to have meaningful conversations but also we don't have any "extras" yet- it's just us original five. Special night for sure. We ended our evening watching the third Die Hard movie- the kids are loving that series right now!
Sunday morning the kids slept in! I don't think they were all awake until 8:15. Long gone are the days where we were up at 3:30! Ha. Kent and I enjoyed coffee by the Christmas tree as we waited for them to get up.
Again, I didn't take many pictures but just enjoyed watching the kids take turns opening gifts. They were excited about all of their presents and I just loved seeing all their smiles.
Big gifts this year were a pitch shifter for Kael for his guitar, a chunky knit weighted blanket for Kylee and a new xBox for Kaser.
We loaded up and headed to my parents' around 10:00. So bummed to hear that Tyson was home sick but we tried to include him on FaceTime as much as we could!
The cousins are always so happy to see each other.
And of course we jumped right into card games after breakfast!
Love this one of me and my dad.
The grandkids with Dad and Mom- peep Tyson on the phone Brooklyn is holding!
We played a really fun "Guess Whose Gift This Is" game!
Kent (and kind of Tammy) was (were) the winners! Here they are enjoying their prize!
The cousin gift exchange is always a hit too. They do a great job shopping for each other!
I think my dad and mom liked their gifts too! Can't wait to start marking down our catches up at the lake!
A double calendar year for my mom! One for Ankeny and one for the lake!
These boxers made us laugh. My parents always try to find something fun even for us adults!
Clear Lake hat crew! Kase actually was happy I just accidentally uploaded this one where he looks less than thrilled but he was good!
More cards, more snacks- a lovely afternoon!
Love to see funny pictures my mom took.
The girls always have fun crafting and chatting.
And these buddies had a blast outside on and off all day even in the rain! They loved their new moon balls!!
And Kase's very favorite Bundt Cake!!!
We did bundle up and go for a quick walk. Always good to get a little fresh air!
Sister Squad. Love these two.
The kids were all happy with their gifts and I loved all the surprises for us girls too! (See our new sweatshirts above!) My parents always make sure everyone is happy, thought of, fed, loved. We truly are so, so blessed. Feeling incredibly thankful and fortunate that we get to spend Christmas with both sides of our family and that we don't have to travel far to do so and that we all get along so well. Really appreciate all that my parents do for us to make the day so awesome!
I'm also happy that we have another whole week to spend at home together enjoying our new gifts, hopefully hanging out with friends and cousins and love that my kids are so appreciative of their things.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!
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