Christmas 2022

We were blessed to celebrate Christmas with Nanny, Papa and Aunt Laura. They came to our house and we loved it. 
Oh Christmas Eve we mostly relaxed and waited for them to arrive. 
We did do our traditional gingerbread house smash. It was pretty fun, as per usual. 

After dinner, the sister missionaries came over and we decorated sugar cookies. 
It was really fun and we were glad they came over. We just wanted them to have a semblance of home since it was both of their first Christmas away from home. We sure love our sister missionaries. 

Later, Nanny the "Pajama Elves" dropped off our Christmas pajamas and Nanny read the pajama elves book to the kiddos. 

We said our good-byes to our elves before bed too. 

Oh and Aunt Laura helped Tucker and Benson finish their puzzle. 
They worked hard and finished it in just a couple hours. 

 Then the kids went to bed and the rest of us adults stayed up to chat for a while. 

Eventually we all went to bed. It's weird how excited I still get for Christmas. But it really is so fun to watch the kids' excitement and happiness. 

Christmas fell on a Sunday this year. So when the kids woke up early, we only did stockings. We have 9:30 am church. Stocking are one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I woke up to kids giggling and talking, showing off their goodies and enjoying each other. It was wonderful. 

Tucker was pretty thrilled with his new art set from Santa. He immediately set it up and he couldn't wait to use it. 

 

Then it was off to church. We only had Sacrament meeting and then we got to come home again. I had to get a picture of the kiddos with Nanny and Papa. 

We also took a family pictures. I kind of loved our creams, whites and gold this year. It was a pretty color scheme. 

Church was wonderful and Christ centered. However, the kids would not allow us to linger to chat afterwards. They couldn't wait to open their presents. 

So after church, we all changed out of our dress clothes. The kids put their Christmas PJs on and then we started opening presents. 
My favorite part of the Christmas gift exchange is watching my kids exchange their gifts to each other. 
It's always so cute!

Tucker bought for Benson and got him a squishmallow and some candy. Benson had Bailey and he got her a big squishmallow as well. Tanner had Tucker and got him a really cool car lego set. Then Bailey had Tanner and she got him a new card game called "mantis". 

But really, all the hugging pictures give me all the feels. I  love them!

 

We also finished our "giving manger" and talked about what that meant. 
I'm so grateful for a simple reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. 
I love watching my kids serve and learning the joy that comes from seeing the joy they can bring others through service. 

After the kids had opened all their gifts and we were all done, we gave the kids one last gift. 
We gave them a box filled with scuba masks with a note that said 

"What do shrimp cocktails, snorkeling and water slides have in common?"

Bailey immediately guessed a cruise and Tanner thought for sure she was wrong, but yes! We are taking the kids on another cruise. The entire Herb family is going. We are so excited for this trip. It's going to be so fun!

Nanny, Aunt Laura and I prepared Christmas dinner. Oh and Chris smoked a ham for us. 
Dinner was delicious!

 

We ate dinner and cleaned up and then hung out and watched "Claymation Christmas". 
It was a relaxing evening after a busy day. Between opening presents, making lunch, cleaning up presents and wrapping and then prepping and cooking dinner, we were all tired. But the evening together was just what we needed. 

It really was a wonderful Christmas. We are grateful that Nanny, Papa and Aunt Laura made the drive over to celebrate with us. 
I'm so grateful for the birth of my Savior. I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who was willing to send his son to earth to save the rest of his children. 
I'm grateful for a faithful and trusting Mary and Joseph. 
It's been so fun to read the nativity story over the last week. But I really am excited to study the New Testament next year for "Come, Follow Me". It's going to be a great year. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Branson Trip

We just got home from a wonderful few days in Branson with the kiddos, Aunt Laura and Nanny and Papa. We left Sunday after church and drove up to Branson. Aunt Laura came with us and we had a quick, uneventful trip. 
We checked in to our hotel, which was the "Bass Pro Hotel" and it was called "Anglers Lodge".

Then we went to get dinner at "McFarlain's" and everyone enjoyed their meal. 
We even got some fried green tomatoes to share. 

I loved how decorated the whole city was for Christmas. It was so fun. 

After dinner we drove over to "Big Cedar Lodge" and drove through their lights display. 
There were lights everywhere and we loved it. We let the kids climb up and sit in the front seats and put their heads out the sunroof.

 

We listened to Christmas music and had so much fun seeing all the lights. It was a beautiful night and the perfect time to enjoy a night time drive. 

Then we got back to the "Angler's Lodge" and changed into our matching pajamas. 
The hotel lobby was so pretty and rustic, we wanted to get a picture in front of the big rock fireplace. 

The next morning Chris and I had to go to a sales meeting for "BlueGreen Vacations". We didn't plan to buy, but they had payed for our hotel and given us gift cards to enjoy, so we had to go. 
To our surprise, we ended up really liking the sound of the vacation package and we bought into it. 

I'm so excited. We bought points that we can redeem to reserve hotels/resorts and condos and we get them every year. It's pretty cool. We are excited to see where we can go as a family in the future. 

After our meeting, we went back to the hotel. Aunt Laura had stayed with the kids while we went to the meeting. When we got back, we took the kids down to the pool to swim and play. I don't know what it is about hotel swimming pools, but they are way more fun than other pools for some reason. The kids loved it. 

After swimming, we got dressed and went to Bass Pro Shop to let the kids buy a souvenir from the weekend and to visit Santa. 

Then we met Nanny and Papa at the "White Fish Grill" at the Branson Landing for dinner. After dinner we walked along the landing to see the lights and water show. 

Then we drove over to the Hughes Theater to watch the "Hughes Brothers" show. 
Surprisingly, we all enjoyed it. I wasn't sure how my kids would do with a show that was just singing, but they really enjoyed it. 

After the show, we went back to our hotel for the night and slept. The show got over pretty late so we were all tired. Aunt Laura went back with Nanny and Papa to their hotel and we went to ours.

The next morning we ate breakfast and then met Nanny, Papa and Aunt Laura at the Christmas Village. 
We did a little shopping and just enjoyed being together.

 

Then we drove over to the "College of the Ozarks" and ate lunch. 

Papa had wanted to go here for years and we were excited to make it happen. 

Lunch was delicious and we all enjoyed it. 
After lunch we said our good-byes to Nanny, Papa and Aunt Laura. They headed home and then we drove over to "The Shephard of the Hills" to play for the rest of the day. 

It was so fun. 

We did the tubing first and it was a blast. Even I raced the kids down the slide and screamed and laughed the whole time. 

 

 

We had so much fun playing!

 

Bailey loved petting the goats and feeding them leaves. 

 

The boys loved playing mini golf. 

 

Then we walked over to play on the trampoline. 

 

We got to watch the sun go down and it was so pretty. 

 

On our way out, we stopped to warm our hands and look at the nativity scenes. I love how Branson is so open with their Christianity.  Nativity scenes were everywhere and we loved it!

We left after we got cold enough and drove back to our hotel. When we were back at the hotel, Dad took the kids down to the arcade to play and I relaxed for a bit. Then it was time for bed. 

The next morning we ate breakfast and then Dad took the kids to swim one more time while I got us packed up. Then we had to get dressed and check out. We drove back on Wednesday and got home right before the snow storm moved in today. I think Branson has gotten more snow than we have. It's just been really really cold, but supposedly the snow and ice are coming. We will see. 

We had a wonderful time in Branson and we are so excited about our new vacation package. It's going to be so fun. 
Now Christmas is in just a few days and I can hardly believe it!