Christmas is HERE!

Christmas Eve we attended the five o'clock service at church and then opted for a quiet evening at home with friends. The Ross' joined us for a first annual lasagna Christmas Eve dinner at our house. It was so nice to let the kids play around and have a casual/early night at home before the chaos of Christmas day!

After dinner, the kids slipped into their pj's for a few pics 

before William and AC headed home to wait for Santa.

Charlie was anxious to set out his cookies and milk for Santa - 

and even more anxious to lick the icing and sprinkles off the cookies before leaving them for Santa!

Charlie was off to bed and Josh and I were quick 

to pour ourselves two glasses of Baileys before getting to work - 

assembling gifts and stuffing stockings.

Christmas morning we were up around eight like any other day. I'm sure the day will come where he will beat down our door around 5 a.m. ready to see what Santa brings, until then I will enjoy the fact that we actually still go in to wake him up! He was so excited to see what Santa had brought.... "TOOOLS!!"

This pile was his "Iowa" pile! 

Big Hits!

 

 

 

The aftermath was scary at our house but we packed 

up and moved on to yet another Christmas in Carthage.

My sisters scheme (I swear) on what they can gift Charlie that will get under my skin the most - i.e. a FULL size tee-pee for his 1st bday... REALLYY? - So this year he opened a guitar and inflatable Buzz Wings! 

Both HUGE hits for Charlie Habel! 

And really haven't proved to be that annoying. Love you both and can't wait till you all have little ones for me to "spoil"!

 Mom and Dad - deep in their new books!

Sisterly Love

Dad did some shopping of his own this year... always proves to be interesting and amusing! This years treasures... a yellow metal bowl, cornbread muffin tin and a metal lunchbox with JC Penney inscribed on the bottom. All flea market finds - all purchased on the 23rd of December I'm pretty sure. But for sure... a step up from when he did his own shopping a few years ago and came up with an XL Nike jacket HE ended up wearing on their ski trip that year!

My mom's house is always so lovely for Christmas. 

She is such a gracious hostess and we have made so many memories under this roof.

A new laptop from MeMaw and Baba -

 a necessity for every two year old!

Christmas night my mom prepared duck and lots of yummy sides. We had a lovely dinner and drove through the lights in Carthage.

 On the morning of the 26th we loaded up and headed to KC to be with our extended family. 

First stop... 

The Rockenfield's to spend some time with this darling face!

and eat lots of dip...

open more presents...

and share more time with our loved ones

catch up on some emails - work is BUSY!

The second stop was the Ferrantelle's to be with the Armstrong side. This year has given us lots to be thankful for. 

My grandmother and grandfather are still with us and in good spirits. My grandfather fell and broke his neck in October giving us all a scare. He is one of the strongest men I know and continues to set such an example for his children and grandchildren through his day-to-day healing process. My grandmother's mind is in and out and her sight is all but gone. 

They continue to laugh the days through and love each other so much - what a blessing it is to have them in our lives.

There is NEVER a dull moment in this group.

Lots of fun things on the schedule for the coming year!

Cousin will is always a source of entertainment!

Fun "old man" hats for the boys from Uncle Dick and Aunt Dorsey.

Wednesday morning we had a big breakfast and said our goodbyes. The holidays are such a wonderful time for family and friends, I hate to see it go but look forward to seeing what God has in store for the Habel family this year! Blessings to each one of you who keep up with us through our blog. Happy New Year!