All Things Merry and Bright

Christmas came and went this year in a whirlwind of parties, presents, and travel! I'll attempt to recap the last few weeks of festivities, but honestly it's all such a blur - I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way about the holiday season. 

The celebrating began the last Sunday in November with our Small Group Christmas Party hosted by the Phillips! (who conveniently live right down the street from us) Every Monday evening we have a ladies bible study at one house and a mens bible study at another. So this was really just our excuse to come together and socialize and what fun it was! Yummy food, fellowship, and a fun white elephant exchange rounded out the evening. ...Although I completely forgot to bring something for us to exchange, but it was still fun to watch. I'm blaming my forgetfulness on the fact it was still November...

Caden and I also decided to throw a small classy Christmas party for some close friends. I really just wanted an excuse to dress up and eat more food! And such yummy food we had too! Spinach artichoke dip made by yours truly, a fancy cinnamon tea roll I bought at our school's auction, shrimp, french bread with olive oil dip, chocolate and peanut butter pies and a whole lot more! I even got to break out my fancy glasses! After eating and game playing we exchanged white elephant gifts. I'm not going to lie...I really saw this as an occasion to pass on some much appreciated, but very unneeded wedding gifts. But what does Caden do?!? He picks our gift...deviled egg tray anyone??? I on the other hand ended up with a lovely pink cotton candy candle and a picture of our good friends Seth and Taylor at their Senior? prom. I'm thinking of ways to use this gem in the future ;)

Look at those two love birds!

I stole Cody's pink candle.
I don't think he was very upset.

The hit of the party!

If you want to know what gleeful chaos looks like just come to Kindergarten between Thanksgiving and Christmas. My kiddos came back so wired I'm pretty sure if you'd walked in my room at any given point you would have seen students bouncing off the walls (literally) and vibrating with excitement! I did my very best to make those last three weeks productive and educational, but there comes a point when you just give up and resort to Christmas crafts, movies, and bribery (lots of cheese balls and skittles were consumed if you're wondering). On the very last day we had an all day party which consisted of a silly sock day (where they were able to run around in their new Christmas socks I bought them), watching the Polar Express movie, drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows, eating popcorn, making snowflakes out of coffee filters, and having an all school sing (we sang carols for close to 45 minutes I think!). It was wonderful and exhausting all at once and I'm pretty sure I would have needed a two week break alone to recover just from that day.

The fun continues...Right after my last day Caden and I drove straight to my parents house where we spent Friday and Saturday baking cookies, playing the new game we got Karli (Scotland Yard), and celebrating with my mom's parents.

My family is really bad at taking pictures. Either no one has a camera, or if they do it's dead or missing a memory card and don't get me started on posing. Also, both Adam and Caden are chronic blinkers. It's just a mess really. Despite this Caden and I tried (it was our first Christmas being married after all) and these are as good as it gets... blurry iPhone photos. Try not to judge too harshly. I was also assured that my obnoxious christmas socks wouldn't be in any of the photos. Ugh.

Through all of this Caden was impatiently waiting for us to open gifts. Shaking presents, feeling around inside gift bags, and peeking to see which ones go where. He was adamant I open mine first. Low and behold and new camera! Which was very ironic since we had just searched the house for 1/2 an hour looking for one. Sadly, while it came with batteries we had no memory card for it so this really is just going to be the Christmas with no real pictures (which judging by the ones above is fine by me).

He also bought me my very own gun, which he's been dying to do since our first Christmas. It wasn't really on my list but I'm warming to the idea. Anybody else up for a conceal and carry class?!?

After my family get together we went straight out to CRC to celebrate with the extended Huenefeld clan. More yummy food, gift exchanges for the littles, signing carols and Happy Birthday to Jesus, and a sweet nativity pageant rounded out the evening.

 

Murugi only lasted as baby Jesus for a short time.
Sam was all to happy to fill in however.

The Three Wisemen

Singing Happy Birthday to Jesus!
I can't even tell you how old that candle is,
or how many time it's had wax added to it

We then had a short break before leaving for Arkansas to celebrate with the Ritz side of his family (Caden's mother's family). Let me just say these people know how to do Christmas. I can't even describe the fun that is had, or how much Caden looks forward to going. His family is rich with traditions (some going back many generations) and I'm happy to participate as best I can!

Here's the official list of traditions printed in each cousin's Christmas scrapbook:

1.   Jigsaw puzzle to be finished before supper (this was a tradition at Grandpa's house) We actually
      did two this year. It's been mentioned that you don't get supper until you've helped with at least
      one piece. Serious business folks.

2.   Oyster stew with little round crackers (also a tradition at Gradnpa's house)

3.   Chicken noodle soup (For all the young folk who aren't oyster fans...namely everyone under the
      age of 40)

4.   Pies galore: pecan, pumpkin, and Aunt Chelli's Cheesecake. I've also noticed there seems to be an
      endless amount of Little Debbie treats streaming from the back porch, which is fine by me!

5.   My mother-in-law's amazing poppy seed cakes (you haven't tasted heaven until you've eaten a
      whole loaf yourself...)

6.   Cousin gift exchange. The grown cousins do a white elephant exchange, while the littles draw
      each other's names.

Some history: The first year I went down Caden came home with a leg lamp. If you know us well you know that that lamp has been the bane of my existence ever since, and I only recently was able to get it off his nightstand and into the closet where it belongs. It's quite the joke around the family and goodness knows he loves that lamp (he wanted a matching one for my side of the bed...) When we went down this year I made sure to express my distaste for the leg lamp and just as Caden chose his gift this year I even made the joke "It better not be another lamp!" God has a funny sense of humor though. Hence the glow of the lava lamp I now get to fall asleep to. Did I mention the lamps came from the same cousin? He's now on my naughty list.

He started with legos and a Hobbit devotional but Joe stole
(Which would have been a much more preferable gift)

7.   Original stockings are hung from the rafters, while newer bigger stockings are placed in gift bags
      to be filled for Christmas Eve.

New stockings in the bags, old hanging up around the room

8.   Christmas Eve program with either music, a pageant, or a slideshow.

This year Jen, Aunt Stacy, Aunt Monica, and Linda performed "Puttin' on the Ritz"
while Lori and Erin sang a unique version of the song. I really wish I had a copy!  

Preceding the program however, is the annual cousin photo, cousin plus spouse photo, and cousin plus spouse plus kids photo. You know how I said my family can't take a picture to save their lives? Not so with these people! Although, it's no wonder considering they take the same photo every year in the exact same spot. They are pros by now!

Cousins
Missing Rob and Cora

Cousins and Significant Others

Cousins, Spouses, and Kids

9.   Grandpa reading the Christmas story from the bible

10.  Green Sherbet punch

11.  Popcorn- because what else would be eaten during game playing????

12.  Endless game playing! It used to be Monopoly but now that the cousins are older their game
       playing is much much more intricate i.e. hard...

13.  Christmas glasses-everyone used to have a glass with their name written on it but they have since
        moved on to a numbering system. With so many people it's just easier! Everyone get's an
        engraved glass that sits on a special shelf in the kitchen. Since Caden's mom is the 4th child in
        her family and Caden is the 4th child in theirs, his number is 4 - 4  so now that we're married I
        get to be 4 - 4 + Let's just say if you leave a glass out everyone knows who did it! ;) Our child
        will eventually get a glass saying 4 - 4 - 1

I feel so official now!

Notice the shelving with everyone's glasses

14.  Card games like Dizzy bridge, Pitch, and one that makes for great pictures - Stupid!

Poor Justin...Didn't have a clue

15.  Christmas dinner: Turkey with dark sweet gravy like his Great Grandma used to make, now
       made by his Aunt Chelli. Have I mentioned at meal time everyone sits in the kitchen together?
       All 50 of us!

16.  Leftovers Christmas night. Although this year there wasn't quite enough so we got to order pizza!

17.  Cousins all sleeping downstairs. This is a tradition that all but a few have outgrown. Being a
       married adult now Caden got us a hotel room at the Hampton Inn (which is much more comfy
       then the floor or a couch!) There's nothing wrong with new traditions right?!

Grandpa and Grandma Ritz's house in Siloam Springs, AR

18.  Going to the annual Cousin movie together. Christmas the past three years has coincided with the
       release of the Hobbit movies so we were able to watch the last part this time. Who knows what
       next year will bring!? Sidenote: Even cousins who can't make it back to Grandpa and Grandma's
       still get in on the fun-They just go to the movie at the same time in whatever town they happen to
       be in! How committed is that?!

At one point a few of the siblings were able to slip away and drive around the town for a bit on Christmas day. We stopped at the spring I assume the town is named after?

Whew! Talk about busy! Did I mention we were only down there for two full days??? We hit the ground running and the fun didn't stop until I passed out on the entire drive home. First time in Oklahoma and I slept right through it! Except for all the tolls, I woke up for those. So glad we don't have them in Nebraska.

As soon as we got home we celebrated (our last) small Huenefeld Family Christmas before Caleb and Mariette had to leave for Arnold, NE.

Sam liked the wooden train set Uncle Caden and I got him...

That is until Uncle Cody gave him a rideable Thomas the Train
that makes noise! 

We got Murugi a cute outfit and a big floppy bow.
Not sure what she thinks of it but I'm in LOVE!

And that concluded the marathon Christmas celebrations. So happy we were able to spend so much time with family and friends this year all while truly remembering the reason for the season! How awesome it is that Christ came to Earth for us!

I hope everyone's Christmas was just as enjoyable and filled with love and family!