The Holiday Season 2014

Christmas was much fun this year! Adam is such a fun age to really enjoy all the festivities, magic and anticipation of Christmas. 

We started December with what has become tradition with my sister's family -- the annual Horse-Drawn Carriage festival in downtown Lebanon. Or, as my brother-in-law would call it, the annual street-fair-of-food-in-the-cold. This is typically followed by some outlet mall shopping to kick of the season of buying!

And as the days and weeks wore on, everything started to look more like Christmas as we prepared our hearts for the special occasion.

We shared a special Christmas morning with just our little family of 4 this year. Sam wasn't overly impressed with the occasion; in fact, a couple of times he handed me the remote control, as if to say, can we just watch some tv instead?. Adam, however, loved the whole morning, especially all his new books and his new winter coat. Later that day we loaded up for Gramma and Grampa's house for a much more active holiday celebration the next morning. (On the drive down, Adam asked why Santa didn't bring him a tanker truck, as he asked. Fortunately Gramma and Aunt Angie came to the rescue with new trucks for him to play with!)

And each year we make it a point to capture an annual holiday family photo, and it's always pretty comical setting up the timer, getting everyone in position, and taking a few times to get the right shot. Next year we'll be squeezing another little one into this photo, as niece Annabelle is due in the spring!

We've taken this photo 3 of the last 4 years, and I hope we're able to keep up the tradition for years to come. (We may eventually need a larger couch, however.)

After all the festivities we rewarded ourselves with a lot of relaxation and family time.

We returned home to host more family for a holiday dinner, followed by a real low-key New Year's Eve.

We are anxious to see what 2015 has in store for our home and yours. We look forward to welcoming a new niece, teaching Adam to ride a 2-wheeler, sending our 5-year old off to kindergarten (!), training for more races and activities, and continuing with Sam's speech and social development to hopefully hear those first sweet words real soon.

Hoping your hearts were as full as ours this year -- all our best for 2015.