Christmas 2013.

Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday.

It reminds everyone of the true reason for living...God & his son Jesus!

For me Christmas also means warm fires, good food, family, & friends.

Does it get any better than that?

We had the Herdina Christmas the weekend before Christmas.

I rallied up the troops & we got ourselves into many heated bingo games.  

The prizes were wanted by everyone, especially the $2.00 blackout prize!

And in the midst of it all, I got rid of a lot of stuff! haha

It was so fun I think I'll plan to do it every year.

After I kept all the kids busy for awhile it was time to eat.

The tradition is always lasagna & chicken alfredo.

Along with pies, salads, sugar cookies, & all the other randomness

that us moms bring!

The living room/s just keep getting more full with families growing 

& getting older.

We spill drinks, pass gas, laugh, kids wrestle

& then that happens over & over again

until we have all had enough & it's time to go home!

Our attempt at getting all the grandkids together for a picture.

Then it was time to open gifts.

The moment all kids wait for & pester their parents about until it happens.

The day after the Herdina Christmas it was the Johnson Christmas at 4B's in Litchfield.

Grandma Elois had all the little guys sit around her 

& she gave them each a Christmas book

while Gabe read the Christmas story.

But then, as it would happen...

attention spans wore short, Gabe said he was tired from reading so much

and it ended there! 

Regardless, it was a pretty sweet moment.

(And thoughtful of great grandma)

Vance decided he was going to snuggle Karli all day.

He was obsessed, just like he is with Aunt Robyn.

It is the strangest thing!

Because he does not know Karli at all & rarely sees Robyn,

but he just loves sitting with them.

(and they both kind of look alike too, so it must be something with dark short hair?!)

Grandma gave a bunch a gag gifts

& let me tell you, they were doozies (to put it nicely!).

I mean can 'doozie' get any worse,

because it was the worst of the worst.

Here's an tidbit of what you might get from grandma:

Luke got a book on the history of underwear

& a golden welcome sign from the 1970's.

Here's mom & Uncle Kurt wearing their new tropical caps

I can't wait to see Kurt wearing that fishing sometime!

(and do you see grandma laughing at the chaos?!)

This was the first year that our family got to spend Christmas together at our house.

We went to Christmas Eve service

then we came home & the boys put their pj's on right away

& we had supper. 

We enjoyed Peter's ribs as our main entree.

They were amazing!

Then it was time to open gifts by the fire.

Luke surprised me and got the Ninja.

So we of course had to make smoothies before bed!

Christmas morning everyone slept in,

but when they actually realized Santa might have filled their stockings

they ran out to the living room to see what might be waiting for them.

Santa left some neat little gifts.

Wooden cars to build & paint, ninja turtles, & candy.

Let's face it, nothing too big,

but things they still loved.

Merry Christmas!

Now onto my self diagnosed seasonal effective disorder...coming in March! haha

but no, seriously (I think!).  

Wood planking.

Since we built our new living room

I have always wanted to find some white washed barn wood

to put above the fireplace mantel. 

I have been on the search for quite awhile now

& I may have found an alternative in the meantime.

Wood planking!

Because Luke was not quite sure about 'the look' of wood planking

I decided last night to put a wood plank accent wall 

somewhere else in the house & he could decide on the fireplace

after looking at another wall with the same concept.

The idea came to me around 6pm last night

& we finished the wall tonight!

And I LOVE IT.

(pretty sure I got the A-okay for the fireplace!)

 Here's our new accent wall in the front entry.
Yes, I'm aware it's very small,
but it sure is cute!

Since we have dark navy accents in the living room

I thought this would add a little interest to a pretty blah off-white wall room.

Before.

In the midst of change. 

After. 

Ahh I love love love it. 

Every home should have a wood plank wall.

For very little you can make a big impact

& I can't wait for the fireplace now!

 Ohh yeah, and this also recently happened...

Another cast for Brock.

He had a little ice skating fall that broke his arm, again.

Poor guy.