Christmas in Iowa!

I am only a month or so behind on blogging, it's all good though! :)

On Sunday, Dec. 21st, we loaded up the durango with all of our presents and hit the road just in time for Jordyn's afternoon nap around 1ish! We like doing that because she sleeps for a good 2 hours of our trip.

We arrived at Grammy and Grampy's house just before supper and it smelt like HOME! Of course my mom had supper cooking and the smell of Christmas just filled the house. I love being home!

Monday was a girl's day! Daddy went to the gym with a buddy of his and the girls were off to shop for the day! We had a few last minute gifts to get. It's kind of a traditional shopping day before Christmas to get even more in the spirit.

Tuesday was a snow day! :) Yep, Jordyn got her wish for white Christmas!

Jordyn and Daddy played out in the snow for alittle bit. This was her very first time "playing" out in it. She really didn't know what to think of all this white stuff.

Mom and I got this sled on a Black Friday deal because we know we'd get some good use out of it...I don't know who had more fun, daddy or Jordy!

Jordyn was exhausted from playing outside in the morning so during her afternoon nap time mom and I made cookies for Santa!

Christmas Eve day was pretty low key. We got food prepped for after mass and just relaxed all day up until mass at 4:00.

 Finally, the official kick off to the Christmas festivities! We went to our traditional Christmas Eve mass at 4:00. We usually try to get there around 3:00 to get a good seat where we can all sit together as it fills up pretty fast! Of course we had to snap a few pictures first!

After mass we all came home and dug into all of the yummy food! My mom plans such a delicious spread on Christmas Eve: roll ups, taco dip, hamburger cheese dip, BBQ wienies, sausage-cheese-& crackers, fruit salad, and of course the ladies had malibu and diet coke while the guys had coors light :) I didn't even mention all of the Christmas goodies my mom makes that we get to graze on all week! Tis the season!

 Opening gifts is tiring!!

Jordyn did pretty good with opening presents this year. I would get her started tearing the paper and she would tear the rest of the way and then go on to something else so mommy ended up opening most of them. She loved everything she got and she is one spoiled little girl, to say the least!!

My mom and dad are so generous with gift giving. Every year we tell them to cut back on us adults and put more towards the kids, but I don't think they comprehend what we're saying ;) hehe. We are very blessed and grateful.

The big day that everyone anticipates all year is finally here. Baby Jesus is born.

That morning we were all up pretty early. My sister and her family were set to arrive around 9:30ish. Of course mom made a delicious breakfast and then we exchanged gifts with their family.

Before heading to my Grandpa and Grandma's for Christmas lunch, we snapped a few pictures. These are pictures and memories that we'll look back on forever.

We switched things up for lunch alittle bit this year. Instead of a traditional Christmas meal, we did more of a pot luck that consisted of a whole bunch of delicious food!! Green bean casserole, mac n cheese, strawberry pretzel salad, cheesy potatoes, steamed veggies, cheesy chicken dish, and much more!! My mom has a big family and everyone brought one dish, so you can imagine how much food we had!

After lunch, everyone was in a food coma, including little Jordy! She fell asleep in Grammy's arms and then we laid her down.

All of the cousins were actually there except ONE!! That hasn't happened in quite some time now with us getting older, getting married, and going to other sides of the family.

We also got a picture of Grandpa and Grandma with all of their Great Grandkids!
Mackenzie, Jacie, Landon, Miles, Mollie, Brenna, Shayla, Adelynn, Jordyn, and Brady
Not pictured: Sofia and Nora

 3 Generations: Grandma, Mom, Me, and Jordyn

The great grandkids had alot of fun opening their gift! Jordyn got a toy wagon full of big legos! Looks like Miles wanted to join in on her fun with it :)

Friday was a day just to kick back, relax, and recover from the whole week's busyness! A fun time was had by all and these are memories that we will hold on to forever. Having kids makes it that much better, I love seeing Jordyn's excitement and having her interact with all my cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.

We did head over to Sioux Center Friday afternoon to get some after Christmas deals and eat at our favorite Mexican place. We try to make the best out of Wal Mart, these hats lit up:)

And on to Saturday... We headed to Sioux Falls for Addie's 2nd Birthday Party!! (Future post)

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas, vacation, quality time with the ones we love, and had our share (and more) of delicious food and goodies!!! #makingmemories!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with the ones they love most. XO