Random Christmas Break Happenings!

That wonderful time between Christmas and New Years where you have no idea what day it is and you have nowhere you need to go. It's the best time of the year if you ask me! 

Right after Christmas the kids spent 4 nights at Ga-Ga & Pa's while Michael and I stayed home lounging on the couch in our jammies doing whatever we wanted to. We did finally get dressed and go out on Saturday morning to see Gladiator II. In all honestly it was better than I thought it would be. It still didn't come close to the first though. After the movie we went over to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch and used a gift card Michael had gotten from a co-worker. 

On Sunday the kids left Ga-Ga & Pa's and drove right to church. 

After church Justine came over so he and Ella could open up their Christmas gifts from each other. Of course they had to change into jammies to open gifts! 

The pictures I took were mostly posed, but I did take a couple videos so I ended up taking a still shot from the video. I love to see them laughing! Justine got Ella a tumbler that says 'Best Girlfriend Ever' and a necklaces with a heart and an infinity symbol together. Ella got Justine a hoodie....of course she bought herself the same one so they can match. 

I got them 3 matches t-shirts since they love to match each other! 

After watching some TV we took the kids out on another double date. I want to take them out to a restaurant once a month. For one it's fun to try new things and Ella and Justine are great eaters so it's actually worth it, two it gives us one on one time to spend with just them and it's also nice for Michael and I have a date night out as well. 

This time around we went Trapper's Sushi since Ella had never had it. Trapper's is my favorite!

 

Justine got the Vader roll and it was fried so it was warm. 

I got the Skywalker which is the one I always get. 

I think Michael got the Sounder. 

Ella got the Volcano.

The best part was she liked it! 

My goal for New Year's Eve was to play games and watch movies. We played Racoon Tycoon and Michael won. We're all still trying to figure out the best way to win since there are so many options. 

We also lounged around and watched movies...we were having a Mission Impossible movie marathon. 

When the booms started Charlie got into his hunker down position which is on the floor right in front of where Michael and I sit on the couch. He never sits there unless there are booms going off! 

Over Christmas break we drank lots of hot chocolate. Christmas time is the only time I ever buy spray whipped cream from Costco so it's a treat for us! We all made it till midnight except this cutie....she fell asleep on the couch about 10 minutes before midnight! There might be a picture of her sitting on the couch smooshing her face with her hand, but I wouldn't dare post that! ;) 

I had a bit of time to read. I've read so many of Karen Kingsbury's books this year. They are great Christian fiction and some of them are actually historical fiction. I loved reading all about the Baxter Family...there is a show on Netflix and it's good, but they had to change a few things around since the books are set in the early 2000's and the show takes place in the present. The above book is loosely connected to the Baxter series. It was so good! In all I read 89 books in 2024 that was down from 165 books in 2023, but I honestly felt like I was pretty absent from my family during 2023 because of all my reading. This year I feel like it was a good healthy balance....89 books is still a lot of books! 

Zeke and Jack had fun playing the Switch Sports game.

 

Owen spent some of his time painting his D&D miniatures! He bought himself the paints and small brushes and he's able to do such a good job at all the details. 

Michael had to go back to work on January 2nd and we had to get back to reality on the 3rd by going grocery shopping. Our first stop was for immediate sustenance! You can't beat Costco pizza! We just happened to sit next to the comment box so I did go ahead and leave my opinion about the new Costco muffins...they are awful! 

On the way home from Costco, Jack was thirsty, but he forgot to bring anything to drink so Ella shared with him. Ahhh...he's the Best Girlfriend Ever! Hahahaha!