Christmas recap

This year Christmas felt a little crazy. Which is weird because we stayed home on Christmas Eve while Marna, Terry, and Heather came to us, but for some reason we felt like we traveled a lot. 

As I said, Christmas Eve was at our house and the girls were anxious all day long. They couldn't wait to open presents. 

The living room

 We made a delicious ham, potatoes, corn casserole, and had some snack food.

The girls opened some presents and then of course their Christmas jammies:

"Say cheese sis!"

Crazy kids!

They made cookies with Grammy and got them ready for Santa.

We had the girls sleep in our room with us for a fun sleepover and they actually went to bed pretty easily which was shocking.
When morning finally came (6:45 am), Bria popped up and was ready to see what Santa brought. We had to wake up a groggy Reese but once she remembered it was Christmas she was ready to go.

Bria: a set of 5 babies Reese:Barbie RV camper

Both girls were super excited about what Santa brought them and had fun going through their stockings.
Then they passed out presents to everyone.

We always take turns opening presents and the youngest goes first. I actually love this tradition because I enjoy seeing what other people get and their reactions. Reese is pretty nonchalant about things, even when she likes them. But Bria is like me, she gets very animated and excited with each gift.

The girls had a great Christmas and were very grateful for all their gifts. I generally stick to the 4 present rule:
Something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read.

It keeps things simple and I like that. I didn't get too caught up in the hustle and bustle this year. For some reason it became very obvious to me how crazy we all get during the Holidays. I don't want anyone to feel the need to run out and buy me a set of lotions or something random just to be able to hand me a gift. I truly would rather people spend time with their families and donate their time or money. That's not to say it's not fun to spoil your kids, it totally is and I enjoy it so much. But I don't want "things" to take priority, I love thoughtful gifts that have meaning. Alright, I'll step off my soap box now.
Reese's "want" was an Anna dress and I was thrilled with the quality, it's such a pretty dress:

Bria got Anna and Elsa Barbie dolls that were riding a little bike. Then they got books and clothes, Reese needed a helmet and Bria needed footie PJ's.
Of course, they did get a little spoiled by grandparents. We headed down to my Dad's around 11 am and they couldn't wait to open presents there.

Barbie set for Reese

A Barbie carrying tote for Bria along with 5 gorgeous gowns for her Barbies!

We ate and then Lance and Kayla and Ames stopped by! My siblings had already gone to my Dad's the previous day so it was just us Holcomb's on Christmas day.

I love this kiddos smile!!!

The girls played with their new toys, I played with Ames, and we all had a great time. After we put the girls to bed we went to the Jensens to play dominos and see how their Christmas went. We had so much fun playing dominos that we bought our own set :) 

The next morning we headed up to Salem to have Christmas with Brian's Dad. I think this is where we started to feel like we were traveling a lot! Our girls were good sports though and we were grateful. 

Bria adores her cousins Becky (Brian's stepsisters daughter) and Josh so the girls stayed completely entertained and busy the whole time. 

Becky and Bria

Um, hello teenager?!

Heather and her mini me

The Holcomb grandkids (minus Gabriel who was there in spirit!)

Grandpa David and Grandma Kathie with the kiddos

After a fun and eventful evening we made the drive home, put the kids to bed, and sat our butts down in front of the tv to veg out. 

It was a fun Christmas season and we were exhausted!

Another program and Pronghorn!

Clearly our December was full of music programs and I truly loved it. Brian? Well he survived it ;) 

My little Reese

Proud big sister

Reese's class sang a few songs and I loved seeing her participate. She is one who does NOT like attention on her and gets embarrassed easily, but she was singing and doing the hand motions the whole time.

That's Reese's shy smile and I adore it so much

That next weekend we packed a crap ton of stuff and headed to Pronghorn to Scott and Randi's new vacation home! They were having furniture delivered and trying to get moved in so we offered to help.

The first thing I did was pour Randi a glass of wine, because, obviously.

Get ready for moving in fun mixed with Holiday stuff!

 We got it started off right with some sugar cookie baking and decorating...

All the girls slept in their "bunk bed room" and although it took them awhile to get to sleep, all of us adults commented on the memories they were making. It was pretty fun to listen to them tell jokes to each other.
Saturday morning, Randi and I worked out and then went into Bend to a furniture store. I have never had so much fun in a furniture store. I mean, Randi was furnishing a house so we need a lot of stuff and we got to go crazy. The owner of the store and the sales lady ended up coming out to the house (I don't blame them, I would've wanted to as well) and helped pick out some stuff.
After that we made gingerbread trains with the kids:

 They have this incredible outdoor space that is kind of indoor with heaters and a heated floor, it's perfection...especially when you don't want a mess indoors.

Get it Reese

A little slice of Heaven

Love these two

We headed in to Bend that evening to finish up the furniture order and go out to eat. The furniture store has the sweetest dog ever. His name is Buddy and all four girls didn't want to leave him alone for a second.

 I'm telling you, that dog could turn a non pet lover into a dog lover. He was so patient and kind.

Relaxing by the fire

 Sunday morning Randi and I got.it.done!!!! We headed into Bend once again and got a crap ton of stuff at Fred Meyers...dishes, decor, etc. We stopped by and got Randi and her girls snow gear since it started snowing pretty good and they didn't have any.

 While we were out, the kids and Brian got in the hot tub. This isn't a normal hot tub, it's like a hot pool. It's huge and incredible.

 Also? Their guest bed is castle-esk.

The girls loved it

So yeah, it was a fantastic weekend and we got a ton of stuff done. Plus, the girls had a blast playing and made some unforgettable memories with their friends. Success all around!

Christmas Program

This picture is random, but I had to share it because her new thing is to "meditate" ?! Hysterical.

Every year the girls get to contribute in Marna's church program and they look forward to it so much. Bria has been a sheep since she was little and this year she graduated to an angel! She was nervous and excited at the same time. Her nerves were calmed when she realized she recognized other girls that had been sheep in previous years.
Reese was Baby Jesus and then a sheep and this year she was still an adorable little sheep. I wasn't sure how she would feel about doing it without her big sister, but I was so proud of her for being brave and not even skipping a beat about it.
The program was on Sunday and practice was Saturday morning, so Heather drove the girls down to Marna's on Friday night and Brian and I had ourselves a night alone! What did we decide to do with our big night?
Bowl of course! Yep, we are addicted to bowling.
We also received a pretty hilarious picture from our babysitters:

Reese's face KILLS me

Brian and I did some Christmas shopping on Saturday and then headed to Marna's. We had dinner and then went to our friends, Tiff and Eric's, Christmas party. We hadn't seen them in such a long time and it was really fun to catch up. They are the kind of friends where you can pick up right where you left off, no matter how much time has passed.
Sunday was the program and I may have teared up a bit as I saw my little angel walking the aisle:

Then my sheep came Baa-aaaing down the aisle on all fours and I wanted to squish her cuteness. But I refrained and let her do her thing.

Both girls did so well and I was definitely a proud mom.

We headed home that night for our bowling league and it was Holiday spirit night. Guess who won most spirited team?!

 Damn right WE did!! We went all out. I wish I would've taken a picture of our table, we put a small christmas tree on it, lights all over and even had our kids walk around and hand out candy canes.

This kind of thing is my jam. I love going all out and being spirited...makes sense that I was a cheerleader right?

Team Red Hots representing!

Scott is sporting his knee bandage, he is hardcore!

We did awesome and of course had so much fun. Who knew I would love bowling so much?!

Oh, hey, remember me?

So wow, it's been a looong time. I don't have a solid excuse accept that I just stopped making time for blogging. Instead of sitting at the computer and journaling our lives, I chose to nap or instagram or candy crush. Also, I've been spending a lot of time working on math with Bria...have you ever worked with a 6 year old on math? It takes every ounce of patience I have and even then it's usually not enough. But we do it diligently everyday after school and slowly but surely we are seeing progress. Whew, this school thing is already exhausting and we are only in the first grade.

I don't know where to begin on a summary of our lives, we haven't had anything too crazy or eventful, just lots of little stuff and then of course the Holidays. 

Brian traveled nearly the whole month of November, his new position in mergers and acquisitions is going to be quite a growing adventure for us...see how I worded that all positive and shit? Yeah, my feelings towards the international travel is not positive, it's quite the opposite in fact. But he likes his job so I put on my supportive wife face and drown my anxiety in wine. That's healthy right?

While he was away, we went to Zoo lights with Aunt Heather and although it was freezing, we really enjoyed ourselves. We rode the train and the girls thought it was pretty neat.

Snuggling closely on the train!

My favorite of Reese, this just shows her personality perfectly

Thanksgiving was spent at Brian's Dad's house and we all ate and drank merrily. We were even successful in snapping a few family photos so I could finally do our Holiday card. Thanks to Heather and her camera!

Reese takes gymnastics at the rec center, it's just once a week but she loves it and her teachers are the cutest. I had to snap a picture on the last day!

Reese with her gymnastics instructors

Bria had a music program at school and I loved it. The kids had been learning all about the different ways people celebrate the Holidays and the questions Bria would ask at home had me puzzled. We had to look up Hanukah traditions and Kwanza information.
At the program they sang and danced and I just thought it was so neat.
  

My little sweetheart

Wouldn't be a Holcomb family picture without someone being a goof

We had even more to look forward to after all this fun: Reese's Christmas program, a trip to Pronghorn (near Bend), Christmas, etc...