Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years Baby

We had a great Christmas and New Years spending time together as a family.  We tried to keep things pretty low key and didn't travel any where this time around.  I think this was a real blessing as we've talked to numerous friends these last few weeks who got stranded on I-80 in Wyoming traveling to Utah due to blizzard conditions and road closures.  We couldn't help but remember last New Years making it as far as Rawlins, Wyoming on our way back to Colorado from Utah before having to turn around and drive back to Utah.  We successfully made it back to Colorado on our second attempt the next day.

This Christmas we had a special beautifully wrapped package for the children to open as the last present.  Inside they found a sleeping baby doll, with a note that they'll be getting a new baby sister in June!  Whitney excitedly asked, "So mom, are you starting to get pregnant?"  Spencer's reaction took the cake when he asked in all sincerity, "Is this (toy) truck over here Michael's?"

For New Years we were fortunate to have Tim's sister Becky and her boys over for a few days.  The cousins loved playing together as always, and it was wonderful to spend part of the holidays with extended family.  Becky's kids and Sarah and Spencer managed to stay awake all the way until midnight, but despite Whitney's valiant efforts, she conked out on the family room floor around 11pm and slept through the whole thing.

Although you could consider our baby announcement on Christmas morning as our "Christmas Baby", we actually have a New Year's Baby tradition where the New Year's Baby leaves a single small gift for each child on New Year's morning.  (This stemmed from a Bellamy tradition when sometimes not all of the Christmas gifts made it on time for December 25th!)  Almost all our children received a puzzle for New Years, which we enjoyed helping them put together over the next few days.

Our kids love the tradition of sleeping by the Christmas tree one of the first nights of the Christmas season

Our annual Christmas letter assembly line

Using the same assembly line for folding clothes.  We typically sort each child's clean clothes into their own basket.  They thought it would be fun to climb into their basket first, which admittedly makes it easy to remember which basket belongs to which child. :-)

Michael strumming some Christmas carols on his guitar to help us get into the Christmas spirit

On Christmas Eve the kids get to open one gift from Grandma and Grandpa.  Michael and Spencer were thrilled with their new Super Why and ninja costumes.

On Christmas morning it's time to line up on the stairs before heading to the Christmas tree!

Here's the sight that greeted them this year

Playing with Christmas legos

Brooklyn and the "Christmas Baby"

Let's make some noise for 2016!

After waving around sparklers in 10 degree weather, the kids warmed up in front of the fire with some Oreos.  Whitney is laying under the blanket on the right, fast asleep and unaware that it's now 2016