New Years Eve Eve!

Back on Thanksmas, Papa & Ruth gave these wonderful baskets with all sorts of fun things including money to go to the lights at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. A couple days after Thanksmas I went online and there were only 2 spots still available....9pm-10pm on 12/30 or 12/31. I chose December 30th because we typically celebrate New Year's Eve at Ga-Ga & Pa's on the 31st. 

At Christmas we found out that the Kuch family would not be able to make it to New Year's Eve this year. One of my main goals during Christmas break was to have as many days as we could without us going anywhere. I know that sounds weird after the year 2020...that we would want to stay home more, but really we had a great year and made the most of it as you can see from this blog. 

Since Michael works in the water industry his day to day life hasn't really changed. He still goes to work everyday like normal. My extra gift to him for the holidays was to make his 11 days off be as relaxing as possible. Keeping this in mind, I decided to see if Ga-Ga & Pa would be okay celebrating New Year's Eve on the 30th instead of the 31st. That would make it so we would go only out on the 30th and be able to stay at home on the 31st. Ga-Ga & Pa were all for it! 

We came down around noon and got a bunch of snacks set up. We planned to have a taco bar for dinner...yay for an easy dinner! The kids went off and played for a bit and then later we started playing board games. That's usually what we do the whole day. We introduced Ga-Ga & Pa to Play 9 and they enjoyed it. We tried to play El Dorado and got frustrated. We played a few other games as well like voice Monopoly and Uno. After dinner Pa gathered the kids around for something fun! 

Normally when the Kuch's are here we play a silly game and the kids get gifts. This time around there was no game there was just gifts. Pa read some fun statements that he wrote to each of the kids. I asked him to send them to me so I could include them in the blog. 

For Bein’:  THE FIRST BORN!!  The TALLEST,  For LOVIN’ Books,  And Playin’ Mine Craft,  Monopoly,  Other Board Games,  Card Games,  Like Tripoli,  AND For Buildin’ EXCELLENT Sandbox Volcanos . . .   I Present THIS GRAND PRIZE TO:  O.W.E.N.  Owen Michael Martin!! 

SIDE NOTE:  I LOVE the memory of askin’ Owen:  “How do You spell Your NAME??”   HE must’ve been 2..   AND He said:  “O.W.E.N.  Spells:  Owen Michael Martin!!”   I’m not sure that O.W.E.N. Believes,  that he said that… 

For Bein’:  THE FIRST TO BE BAPTIZED!!  The GRAND MASTER Of Bey Blades,  For LOVIN’ and WANTIN’ GAGA From DAY 1!!   For Lovin’ Red Shirts AND Shoes Too,  And For Never EVER EVER Bein’:  JACKSON FROST . . .   I Present THIS GRAND PRIZE TO:  Jackson Daniel Martin!!

For Bein’:  THE FIRST,  FEMALE Martin Child!!  For LOVIN’ Logan,  Kendra,  Lilyann,  Addison,  Anna,  PLUS:  Daddy Martin,  Mommy Martin,  Owen Martin,  Jackson Martin,  Zeke Martin,  Gaga Martin,  AND Pa Martin . . .   I Present THIS GRAND PRIZE TO:  Ella Grace Martin!! 

For Bein’:  THE FIRST To Get A GAZILLION 100% At The Martin Family Christian Academy!!  For Bein’ The Shortest,  Busiest Jitterbug,  For LOVIN’ Dinosaurs,  legos,  Star Wars,  Mints,  AND MORE Than Just ONE HUG . . .   I Present THIS GRAND PRIZE TO:  Zeke Russell Martin!!  

This was such fun for the kids to hear all those neat things about themselves. The gifts they got included fun things that were personal to them. Jackson got hand wipes with a poop emoji on them, Zeke got his very own container of mints, Owen got this big box of chewy Nerds, Ella got white Tic Tac's. They all got a $10 Starbucks gift card and a box with apples slices and caramel. Unfortunately I didn't know that those needed to be refrigerated until a couple days later. I felt so bad!! All the apples had gotten mushy! :( 

We left about 30 minutes prior to 9pm to get to the Holiday Magic Lights at the fairgrounds. I thought it wouldn't be so busy since it was later at night, but there were lots of people there. 

There was a long line to get in, but thankfully it moved pretty quickly. 

It was fun driving by all the tree displays that were set up by different businesses. 

As we were driving in we could see different inflatables. I thought it would be fun if they had a scavenger hunt for certain things. When we got up to the front they actually did hand out a little scavenger hunt paper. When you found what was listed you got to scratch away the circle next to it to reveal a letter. Once you scratched them all you had to unscramble the word. 

We were having the hardest time unscrambling it and then Michael finally figured it out. It was WONDER! 

They had a whole section that you could drive to and get in line to get yummy fair food. I did not want to get a bunch of food at 9pm at night so we skipped it. Thankfully right around the corner was the stand for the Kettle Corn. You can never pass up Kettle Corn. That is actually our truck in this picture. I didn't take any pictures at the Holiday Magic Lights...these are all Ga-Ga & Pa's pictures. 

At the very end was this cool light tunnel you drove through. Right before this on the right was a bunch of movie scenes from different Christmas Movies. My favorite of course the the trashy trailer set up with a guy dressed like Cousin Eddie. He was so great! 

Inside the tunnel! 

Once we got to the end we turned in our unscrambled word and got 2 tickets to the spring fair. I'm not sure if we'll go, but at least two of us will get in for free if we decided to. It was a super fun activity that we probably wouldn't have even thought to do if it hadn't been for Papa & Ruth gifting the money for it and bringing it to our attention. 

Christmas Day 2020!

On Christmas, we headed down to Ga-Ga & Pa's around 11:30am. Since it can take us a while to get all the gifts opened we started right away. 

We always gather in the living room to open all the present. With the tree, all the gifts and all the people in there it's stuffed! 

Zeke with his pile of gifts! 

Jack surrounded by this presents. 

Ella ready to rip into her gifts! 

Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie...it was so nice to see them. We hadn't seen them since we visited their new townhouse back in May. 

Ga-Ga & Pa...ready for the festivities! 

The word of the day for Zeke was LEGO!!! He got 4 different LEGO sets! This one was the Hulk Buster! 

Ella's theme for this Christmas was Doll stuff! She got this travel set for Kyra who she has now decided to call Kayleigh. 

Ga-Ga & Pa got each of the kids their own special treat. Jack got 2 giant and I do mean giant bags of Skittles! 

Owen got this cool LEGO Star Wars set which is really fun. It's this whole set that you can play with someone else. You shoot at each others base and it will make the LEGO mini figures go flying or make the small AT-AT walker fall over. It was really clever! 

Zeke's treat was 2 boxes of Cheddar Blast Goldfish!!!! 

Jack got a BeyBlade stadium! I'm not sure how many BeyBlade stadiums he has now, but it's probably creeping up towards how many pairs of shoes I have! 

Owen really wanted this new version of Monopoly...it's Voice Banking. I thought it was going to be a waste, but he really wanted it. It's actually really fun especially when Michael tries to say something to it and it doesn't listen and he gets all frustrated!! :) 

Zeke's 2nd LEGO set....a Mandalorian set!!

Everything Zeke was getting was in a box so he started stacking all his gifts up! 

Ella got the living room furniture set for her Doll! 

You guessed it....a BeyBlades! 

Owen's treat was numerous bags of Takis and thankfully this year his tastebuds weren't messed up so he was actually able to enjoy them! 

Zeke's big LEGO set was the Avengers Quinjet! 

Uncle Ry and Aunt Stephie got Ella this marker making kit....it was so fun to make them. She's only made 12 markers and she can still make 24 more. So fun to be able to customize your colors! 

Jack got a Rival gun....it shoots small yellow balls instead of darts! 

As you can see Owen is pretty stocked about his D&D Monsters book! 

Zeke's last LEGO set was from Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie. It was a battle droid tank! 

Ella's treat was 1 box of Nutty Bars and one box of Hostess Cupcakes. She's pointing to Daddy because these are his favorites and she doesn't have to share with him! 

Here's Jack's 2nd BeyBlade stadium! 

Another game Owen really wanted was Jenga Quake. The reviews weren't the best for it, but Owen never really plays Jenga like you're supposed to. He uses the blocks to make his own set ups. The fun thing is he's used the base for this one and made huge buildings and then turned it on and filmed it to see how long it can still stand with the shaking. Maybe he's got a future in Structural Engineering! 

Zeke tower was getting really tall! 

I'm always so good at getting pictures of the kids and then I never take any pictures of the adults opening their presents. We got Uncle Ry a gift card to Amazon and then the rest of their gifts were mostly for Aunt Stephie....I got her some foaming Bath & Body Works soap, the personalized calendar I make every year and then a hot pad and a couple cocktail napkins that match all the other kitchen stuff I made for their new townhouse. 

Ga-Ga & Pa got each of us adults $50 cash and then they gave each family a wooden cross that's painted like the American Flag. Uncle Ry & Aunt Stephie got all us adults these cool mason jar mugs that had our first initial and name etched in the glass. 

While we waited for the Kuch's and Papa & Ruth to show up we put a few things together. This little living room set was actually quite difficult to screw together. I ended up having to get Michael to build it because I was afraid I was going to strip the screws. 

Once everyone else got there we started round 3 of opening gifts 

Ga-Ga continued her theme of getting each of the kids some sort of treat. Addison got Ding Dongs, the other two got Twinkies and Ho-Ho's. 

I don't remember all the gifts that the Kuch kids got, but Aunt Stephie gave Anna this super cute snuggly animal that has all these compartments that you can stick stuff in. We got the girls each a Christmas scented chapstick and then all the Kuch kids the game Maze Racers.

The Kuch's got us the game Play 9 and it's now one of our favorite games! 

Papa & Ruth got us the game El Dorado. We tried to play it on New Year's Eve Eve and we were playing it wrong. It was super frustrating...rightfully so since we were playing it wrong. We're gonna give it another go soon though! Ruth also got me some cool flashcards to use with the kids for homeschooling. It's really going to come in handy since Ella and Zeke are both learning multiplications. 

We got Bill & Christina Bath & Body Works soap, a Christmas piano CD and one of our homemade snow globe. 

They got a cross as well! 

Love these people so much!!! 

Michael got his Dad this cool fisherman backpack. It had compartments and pockets for everything. It was very cool! 

Michael was really excited about blessing his Dad! 

Of course Papa & Ruth got a cross as well. We also got Papa & Ruth some Bath & Body Works soap and the yearly picture calendar. 

For Michael's work Thanksgiving they had a smoked turkey. At one of our family nights, Michael was telling us all how yummy it was. In fact we are planning on getting a smoker this year so next years Thanksmas we'll be having a smoked turkey instead of a roasted one. After Mom and Dad heard that Michael enjoyed a smoked turkey so much they decided to also get one of those for Christmas too. It was to super yummy and a nice surprise for Michael...there's always room for more meat! 

The whole crew ready to dig into Christmas dinner! 

Uncle Ry's favorite thing is Fluffy Tapioca. Ga-Ga makes it for him every year and he loves it. Surprisingly there were others that enjoy partaking in it as well...Papa & Ruth loved it too. :P 

These are the moments that I love at Christmas....everyone's bellies are nice and full and we just get to visit! 

Bill, Papa & Pa sat in the dining room talking Biblical theology for quite a long time. You know super light conversation! :) :) 

Jackson was so excited to put his dragon together that he brought it to Ga-Ga & Pa's. Caleb and him both worked on it together! It's a pretty impressive looking dragon! 

Ella cherishes her time with these sweet girls! 

Love all these people and these precious times we get to share together!

We always spend Christmas night at Ga-Ga & Pa's. After everyone left we got into the Aspen and drove over to this house that's in the same neighborhood. 

It was A-Mazing!!! 

There was this screen off to the right that showed scenes from movies or just went in time to the music. The big light tree on the left would do the same thing. It would even turn into Santa's face and t It was stunning really! I could have sat there for an hour, but of course the kids only made it about 20 minutes. Such a fun way to end Christmas!