Family Christmas - Hanging at Home

Our Christmas tradition continues... find one day to stay at home and open presents and play play play all day!  It was Christmas Eve this year, and it was GREAT!  The kids were excited, appreciative, sweet, full and tired by the end of the day.  What better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior?  

 

Christmas at the Scheib's

We had Christmas dinner at the Scheib's - prime rib!  Tanya did an amazing job cooking it to a perfect medium rare.  Soooo good!  We spent the afternoon visiting and opening gifts.  It was laid back and the perfect way to wrap up Christmas.  I can't believe how big the older kids are getting - it's such a great reminder to me that I need to cherish every moment with each of our kids, because the days and weeks are slipping away.  

 The whole crew!  They had so much fun playing together and checking out each other's gifts.

Falalalala Christmas at Cedar Hill!

We had such a nice time celebrating on Christmas Eve Eve.  The kids again are one year older, and one year easier.  We all had naps at home and then headed up for snacks and an early round of gifts before dinner.  The food was sooo good - prime rib cooked a perfect rare, scalloped potatoes, twice baked potatoes, Caesar salad, and on and on...  The pickle is also a favorite tradition, and I beat everyone out and found it hidden in some decor in the bookcase in the kitchen.  We rehid it for the kids, and Weston finally found it after staring right at it 10 times in a row.  We figured that because he was color blind he just couldn't see the green pickle in the middle of the green decorations we hid it in.  Poor kid!  

Uncle Todd was quite the shopper this year...  he came through with remote control cars for the boys, and dolls for the little girls.  They LOVED them!  We tried to keep the kids calm as we pulled out presents and slowly unwrapped them and kept them busy.  It sort of worked!  :-)  They all SHRIEKED with joy as they opened their new pajamas that Grandma had made, and they jumped up and down when they realized they each got their own pair of ROMEOS!  Grandma wasn't sure they'd know what they were, but she shouldn't have worried, the boys were THRILLED and wear them every single day.  All in all it was a memorable year - full of fun, laughter, and just relaxing together as a family.  Thank you everyone for working so hard to make it so very special for us, and our kids!

DeGroot Christmas

 We gathered at the "Peoples Place" at the Fairgrounds this year as our group has got to be sooo large.  With grand kids and great grand kids busting at the seams!

Papa again made a craft for all the ladies - LOVE these tree cut outs!  I still remember when he got his first fancy scroll saw - I never could have imagined the hundreds of thousands of things he would create.  Amazing!

 

 Sister was rocking it...  on the GO GO GO!  She is been so busy the past month, it's a good thing she has 3 brothers to help keep her in line!

 "The Scowl."  She is full of it!  The thing is?  I remember scowling at people that same way.  I have heard numerous times at all of our parties that she is the spitting image of me as a baby, and I think I have to agree.  Ruh-roh. We are in for a sweet, smart, and stubborn childhood!  :-)

 My mom's brother Jim and his wife and family

 My mom's sister Shelly and her husband and family

 My mom and her family!  :-)

 My mom's sister Debbie and her family

 My mom's sister Dar and her family

What a fun night!

Groen Family Christmas 2013

Grandma's was a lot of fun as usual this year.  The kids are able to stay up later and later too!  No one had a meltdown - a first!  63 people all together packed in to Grandma's basement and all the adults played a rousing game of ...  not sure what to call it, other than it involves dice, and that's how the Groen's do it.  

Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!

The boys wanted to do gingerbread men so badly, and thanks to a 4pk from Costco we had a fun, stress free time!  The kit was awesome and included everything.  These 3 boys are quite creative, and Addison was quite hungry.  She continues to amaze us at how much she can eat.  I am guessing she is about ready to hit another growth spurt.  I wouldn't trade a quiet Saturday afternoon at home with these 4 for anything.  Love you kids!