Our Blessed Nest: Christmas wrap-up.

So, this is going to be a Christmas "wrap-up" (pun intended, but it's still going to be long).

We did our family Christmas (previous post) on Thursday the 20th. Friday morning, the kids had small gifts in their stockings and then it was pack for the weekend as efficiently as you can. Matt took Friday off of work, and though it took us all morning to pack we were on the road for the Twin Cities by 12:30 p.m. We drove to Elk River, MN to visit the Kleins. The kids always love to see their cousins Logan and Julia. Friday night we had pizza and went to bed, but Saturday they were able to go sledding and that night we did a gift exchange.

Here are all the Thompson-side cousins:

Nathan (6 1/2), Evelyn (8 mos), Ella (4 1/2), Logan (6...almost 7), Julia (4 1/2), Adeline (3)

Sunday we drove to Edina, MN to celebrate Christmas with Matt's dad, grandpa, and aunt & uncle.

Here we are in the party room at the condo. It's strange that have them be the only kids around!

Matt and his Uncle Brian.

Whenever they're together this is what they do. You see how Brian's arms are crossed and Matt is holding a book. They're sitting off by themselves and discussing great theories and/or projects they've been reading about...or constructing themselves.

They're engineers. They're nerds. I love 'em.

Grandpa Bob.

Who as far as I'm concerned is the most loving, caring older gentleman in the whole wide world.

Matt's favorite Christmas cookie: Sanbakkels.

Prepared by Aunt Jodi with love.

This is Ella's 5th Christmas...she knows what to do with a sanbakkel.

Nathan and Addie are yet to learn to enjoy the sanbakkel. They only lick off the frosting.

Nathan opted for a more chocolatey treat.

More cookie time.

Matt's dad told us we could bring treats to the Christmas dinner. We laughed. Jodi always brings enough treats for a small county. Needless to say, we didn't bring treats, and no one was in want.

After dinner, we of course opened gifts. Nathan's final gift was an accordion which was Jeff's (Matt's dad) as a child. About a year back, Nathan told Grandpa Jeff he had wanted an accordion his entire life (which he said at Cracker Barrel while looking at a toy accordion). Nathan remembers saying this and was pretty excited about it!

Evs and Me.

The Thompsons: Matt with his Grandpa, Dad, and children.

So, three Christmases down, three to go!

After Thompson Christmas, we drove to De Smet, SD to celebrate with my side of the family.

We arrived there about 10:00 p.m., and unfortunately during the car ride Evelyn had started to break out in hives. Christmas Eve morning it was worse.

So, baby's first Christmas, all broke out! It's hard to see it in the pictures, but she was pretty pathetic looking. It was all over, even her eyes were swollen.

Thankfully, she wasn't bothered by it. So, we used a little cream and moved on!

We are blessed that the entire Widman side is still able to get together for Christmas Eve. It is great to have a time of year to see all my cousins, aunts, and uncles. This year we even did an ugly sweater party. Matt's idea was pretty good. He didn't have an ugly sweater, so instead I stitched a squirrel to his back (if you haven't seen Christmas vacation, this isn't funny to you, but in my family this is hilarious). To finish off the outfit, he wore his dark green wool "nursing home" pants.

Kearns'.

There were even prizes. Amy won 1st prize!

Matt got 1st runner up!

His prize was a fruit cake...unfortunately I looked at the ingredient list and opted for us to not eat it:)

All the cousins and their spouses.

Here we are after a change of clothes (we didn't want to wear our sweaters to church):

And then ensues the craziness of Christmas Eve.

It may be my favorite day of the year, but every year the house seems to get a little fuller!

There are 10 cousins total on my side (Nathan is the oldest and Evelyn is the youngest). Unfortunately we never got a picture of them all together. In fact, I didn't really take any pictures at all. Sometimes it's best to just put the camera away and enjoy the moment!

I did take a photo of the Santa plates though!

We are likely the only parents in America who try to teach their children the truth about St. Nicholas and have their children argue with them that Santa is indeed real and magical. So be it I guess!

Here is Nathan's note:
"For Santa Love Nathan Lego City"

Ella's note:

"Santa i want a kitten"

The older cousins worked together to leave out some drinks, cookies, bows, candy canes, and of course, cocktail shrimp and cheese.

It was all gone in the morning, to which they exclaimed, "See, Santa does like shrimp!"

Christmas morning everyone opened their gift from Santa, and most departed to celebrate with their other families. We had already done that, so we stayed and celebrated with a few of my mom's relatives. My mom has been battling cancer for over a year, and though she is truly an inspiration and tough as nails, I was thankful that we were there. My dad and I were able to handle most of the meal preparations so my mom could rest, and afterwards my aunts and I cleaned up so she could take a nap. We kept telling her not to over do it, but it was a full weekend and I'm glad she was well enough to participate in all the celebrations.

Last Christmas photo opp with the kids: