With December comes a season of celebration, and the annual time of gathering with family near and far. This is a sweet time. A time that is cherished. A time to be fought for. For some, Christmas is the only time in the whole year they see their loved ones. So we hold on to these moments tightly because so much can happen in a year. Will we all be here next year? Will we all be in such good health? Will certain relationships grow deeper or grow strained over the coming year? Only time will tell. For this reason, the yearly gathering of family around the holidays is to be treasured.
Here are some memories we are cherishing after our time with family this December:
-Seeing Tom, Karlene, Alivia, Grant, and Jenna from WA state. What a sweet time of reconnecting and making new memories with this delightful family!
-Annual baking day with friends.
-Watching our parents bond even more with our daughters.
-Making the grueling 6-7 hour drive to Edgerton with our sleepy 3 month old and our crabby-crying-I'm-only-going-to-sleep-20-minutes 18 month old. I've never been happier to drive onto my parent's gravel road.
-Having prayers answered as Grandma VW's knee replacement surgery went smoothly, and having her recovery go well so far!
-Watching Dan and John play ping-pong...then sting-pong.
-Tucker! No, he won't be on our Christmas card next year.
-Lydia learning to say "Amen" ("May-men"). Actually, the best part is getting her to say "Amen" without a torrent of tears and screaming.
-Annual big-sister little-sister coffee date with Abby :)
-Watching my nephew Landan get a Hawkeye jersey for Christmas. I can't remember seeing a kid as excited as he was. The funny part is that it was the second one he got this Christmas! Would've loved to see him open the first one.
-Toffee Delights...need I say more? No Christmas goodie compares to this one. Not even oreo balls.
-Watching Lydia sit on the floor at home surrounded by all her fun, colorful Christmas toys trying to put on her boots for 10+ minutes. These are the same boots that she kicks off her feet in the car before I can even back the car out of the garage.
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| Three artists and one pretend artist. |
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| Clara meeting Becca and Alethia! |
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| Six kids on the couch! |
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| Carrie and Alivia helping Lydia learn her shapes |
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| Lots of work getting done over here! |
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| Never can get too many snuggles with a sleeping baby :) |
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| The pink girls! |
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| Lydia is loving her new train set! |
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| Kisses. |
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| It looks so serene, doesn't it? |
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| It is never too early in the day to read a book. |
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| Smooch! Lily and Lydia are fast becoming friends! |
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| Baking taste-testers! |
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| Yummy hands. |
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| I don't know what I'd do without Lydia's help. |
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Three months old.
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| Smiles for Daddy. |
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| Leddy - "I want to hold Clara!" |
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| Great-grandpa Hofland has his hands full! |
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| Lydia and Tucker. They don't know it yet, but they are going to be best friends. |
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| Grandpa facilitating the interactions between Lydia, Tillie and Tucker. |
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| Clara and John are NOT paying attention to the WWII naval battle history lesson. |
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| Thank... |
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| you... |
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| Abby... |
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| for... |
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| Tucker!!! |
Karlene gets the photo credit for these last few...
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| Our 18 month old "angel" all aglow. |
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| I just can't stop kissing those cheeks! |
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| We've been blessed with a content baby :) |
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| If you want to see some drama come on over...anytime. |
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| Then this picture happened about 20 seconds later. |
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| Life is never dull with Lydia! |
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