Nonstop Christmas fun.

Connelly Christmas was early this year as the Oliver family headed south to be with Jeff's family. We had dual celebration as Anna turned 7 the same day. We had dinner and played games before opening presents. The kids were so good. They loved every second of their time with cousins. Greta, Capri, and Anna even put on a Christmas show. The fun lasted until 10pm, the latest we have ever stayed out since life with kids (we are getting a tiny glimpse of our future).

We continued Christmas on December 22 as we hosted Dave's family. It is honestly one of my favorite gatherings of the year. We start the prep work months in advance researching the best 'minute-to-win-it' games and prepping the menu. There is a lightness in the air- everyone arrives for fun and family, Dave is in his glory and my heart is so full. We went out on a limb this year and made beef tenderloin, after two trials, the third time was a charm as the meal was incredible. We will definitely do it again next year.

Dave and I were up until 2am cleaning and reminiscing about the fun that was had, which made Saturday pretty quiet as we recovered and prepped for more fun.

We went to 'Ferdinand' on Christmas Eve morning. It was our first time going to a movie as a family and it actually went better than we had anticipated. 'Ferdinand' is a favorite book around here, so when we saw it was coming to the theatre, we were all excited. We had lunch after and then went to a party at Alex and Mandy's that evening. It was loads of fun- we ate and played more fun games. We got home late- the kids were all falling asleep on our laps by the time we hit the road. We came home and hit the pillows hard, so hard that I forgot to do all of my bedtime 'chores' before Santa came (I woke up at 4am and was able to get everything done, in the nick of time, literally).

We woke up Christmas morning to Greta (in our bed), so excited she could have burst. We were able to push her off for a few minutes before she woke Sully and Piper. Everyone was happy and satisfied with the haul- it was so fun to watch their excitement. We rounded things out with nachos navidad with my parents and two of my aunts. Dave and I both fell asleep putting the kids to bed between 9-10pm and woke up late into the night with nothing cleaned up. It was worth it and nice to get a good nights sleep.

We survived the many nights of fun and are already talking about next year's celebrations.

Christmas cookie tasting. 

Cheering on cousin Maddie at her dance recital- she was so good . 

Connelly Christmas matchy match. 

Pic with these two as Pip naps. 

Connelly Christmas fun.

Grandma and Grandpa Banana with the g-kids. 

Mama gets in the on the antler fun. 

Sweet sibs. 

End of the night fun (I'm sad I hadn't taken any more photos).

Munce Christmas card 2017

Ferdinand. 

Subway for Christmas Eve lunch. 

Matching hats for the Munce boys. 

Christmas chaos :).

Christmas joy.