Christmas Christmas day is near...and another baby will be here!

Time for toys and time for cheer!

What a great year it was!  I felt a little bad because I was so sick with my pregnancy that we weren't able to go on as many Christmas outings as normal but we did do our bedtime Christmas routine and had an awesome Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  Mark's parents and sister came to town to celebrate with us and that just made the kids as happy as can be.
We enjoyed church on Christmas Eve, which I just love and then that evening did our Christmas Eve fondue and added a talent show this year which is my mother-in-law's tradition.  I wanted them to feel comfortable being away from home so we included some of their traditions.  After reading Luke 2 and opening pjs, kids went to bed, adults watch It's A Wonderful Life while wrapping the rest of the presents and baking and cooking for the next day and then they went to their hotel.

Dark setting and not very happy children but whatever...it is documented

The next morning we woke up to a white Christmas and had a GREAT day.  Kids were so good and so appreciative that it makes me feel ok when I go overboard on gifts.  They loved having grandparents here and I think the grandparents were pretty pleased to be around grandkids for the holidays.

Mark got a hilarious gift from his sister in Germany...a T Rex blow up costume.  We were laughing so hard as he romped around the house.

My big gift is a weighted blanket that helps with anxiety and stress.  It is so amazing!  I just love it.  The boys got toys and games but their favorite item was their new bunk beds!  They have been asking for bunk beds since our trip to Disneyland and it just made sense to do it now.  Thank goodness my father in law was willing to give up and entire day to help Mark build them cause I don't think I would have been much help.

We told the in laws about the NEXT GRANDBABY after all the presents were opened and they were so thrilled.  I had told my family a few days before but thought it would be fun to tell the Elkington side in person.  And I was not wrong.  We are so excited to have a 4th child and cannot wait to meet this little one.  We decided we aren't going to find out the gender on this one since we already have two boys and a girl. There are so few surprises in life, why not enjoy a pretty big one!
We had a delicious ham and potato dinner with pie for dessert.  We watched the movie Santa brought us which was Cars 3 and then when kids went down we played our new game What do you Meme?  It was hilarious!  All in all it was just a wonderful holiday season.
New Year's Eve was very low key.  We were going to go to my sister's in Kaysville but then she got the flu so we thought about going to Twin Falls but didn't want to make the drive so we stayed home and had a great time.  I made yummy snacks, we watched a movie and played charades and Mark and I made it to midnight!  The older we get, the more proud we are of that accomplishment.