Tyler & Brady

Sunday, January 15, 2023

Christmas Day, Part 2

We were so excited for my parents to arrive on Christmas day! They came over at around noon, and Tyler and Brady were definitely happy to get to open more presents! We had ham sandwiches and pasta salad for lunch. My mom made the pasta salad using my Aunt Deloris's recipe.

Brady was very excited to give my parents their special notes & a special painting. Tyler was so excited to get another pair of new shoes! I loved that my mom and I bought each other Valentine's Day decorations as gifts. :-)

We really appreciate my parents making the long drive to our house on Christmas! We love spending the holiday with them!

I love these photos of my dad! He and Dan looked so cute chatting at the table together...

Wrapped gifts just make me happy (and I love the heart decoration I found for my parents in honor of the 51st anniversary of their first date, which they celebrated on New Year's Eve!)...

I loved seeing my boys just lounging around later in the day...

I love these family photos from Christmas over the years, and seeing how much the boys have grown...

In addition to making adorable cards for his grandparents, Brady also made cards for family members we wouldn't be able to see on Christmas. I just wish I'd had him make one for Dan's sister, Caroline, our brother-in-law, Brian, & our nephew, Liam. We were supposed to see them on Christmas Eve, but they got sick and had to cancel at the last minute. We are so glad they are feeling better, and we hope to see them soon!

Saturday, January 7, 2023

Christmas Day, Part 1

Despite this being the 14th time that Dan and I have woken up on Christmas morning in the same place, he said it's the first one in memory where he woke up smelling something cooking in the kitchen! That's right, I cooked on Christmas this year! And not only did I cook, but I cooked three different things in the oven - monkey bread for breakfast, ham & swiss cheese sandwiches for lunch, & pumpkin cake for dessert!

We knew that Brady and I would be up earlier than Tyler & Dan, & we also knew that we couldn't put any Christmas gifts under the tree until right before it was time for the boys to open them. (If Brady saw any gift under the tree, he would assume it was for him to open!) Thankfully, I had a birthday gift for Brady that he hadn't opened yet, so I gave it to him early to keep him occupied until our big boys were up.

Once Tyler & Dan were awake, I had all my boys wait upstairs so I could move all of the gifts from Dan's office (where I kept them locked up all morning!) to under the tree. One of my favorite moments on Christmas morning is seeing Brady and Tyler walk downstairs & see their gifts under the tree. Both boys were very happy with their gifts, which made us very happy!

I love these photos of Skye watching Brady on Christmas morning...