Goodbye 2017

This was another big year of change for us.

This year:

We sold our home and downsized,

After 15 years, I quit my full-time teaching job,

Our oldest started middle school,

Our youngest started kindergarten.

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The police department rents out a theater each time a new Star Wars movie is released.  The police families all watch the movie together in their own theater.  This year, daddy had to work, so Uncle Joshie was able to take Blake, Barret, and Cade.  They all loved the movie!

Christmas Evening

We went to Gram and Papa's for Christmas dinner.  We started the evening off with our traditional bed picture. What used to be 4 little girls posing on the bed, has grown into 20 people posing on the bed... and you can't even see the bed anymore!

 Sweet snuggles

 Cousin pictures are always fun!

 Gifts were exchanged, yummy food was eaten, and there was lots of laughter!

Merry Christmas to all... and to all a goodnight!

Christmas Morning

The kids let us sleep in until 5:30 am this year...  They woke up with as much excitement as they went to bed with.

Our traditional hallway picture before they go into the living room to see what Santa brought.

(Brynn is wearing my old nightgown that my mom and grandma sewed when I was her age)

 

 The boys got some new parts for their Traxxas cars.  They had to set up shop in the kitchen to get everything fixed up. 

Merry Christmas morning!

Christmas Eve

We started Christmas Eve morning at church singing beautiful Christmas songs and hearing a wonderful Christmas message.

It was a cold and windy day!

 We did something new this year and went out for lunch and an afternoon movie. 

  When we got home, we decorated and baked cookies for Santa.

Then, we went for our traditional hot cocoa, cookies, and Christmas lights.

 And then off to bed all of these excited crazies went, in hopes of a good night's sleep!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Class Parties

Our last day of school before the Winter Break started off wet and hazy.

The Jingle Bell Run was first.

After that, it was class parties  x3!

 It was a morning full of fun and sugar!

Bring on Christmas Break!

Gingerbread House

A few days before Christmas break, 4th grade had a Gingerbread House Day.  They could wear pj's to school and they spent the afternoon making gingerbread houses.

 Barrett had a blast and created a sugary wonderland!

 Kaleb made a cute picture frame at school for us!

Oh what fun this season is!

Progressive Dinner

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is our family Progressive Dinner.

We started at the Killough's house for appetizers.  The Killoughs drew Cade, Uncie, Aiden, and Brynn's name to buy Christmas presents for, so they got to open them here.

 Our next stop was our house for the main course.  Since our family has grown so much throughout the years, Auntie joined me in preparing the large meal.  Because of this, we didn't make a stop at the Estes home.  They drew YayYay, Uncle Beau, Mantha, and Barrett's names.  They opened their gifts here.

 We drew Caleb, Auntie, Uncle Bradley, Zoey, Annie, and Uncle Joshie's names.  They opened their gifts next.

 The last stop was the Gillespie house for desserts and coffee.  They drew Kaleb, Blake, Elleigh, and I, so we opened our gifts here.

 Cousin pic

 Another successful and fun Grable Family Progressive Dinner!

School Days

Having 4 school-aged kids makes for full days!

Today 3rd grade preformed their Pecos Bill play.  Brynn was Ranchhand 2.  We practiced her lines at home leading up to the performance. She did amazing and was fun to watch!

 I was the Myster Reader in Kaleb's kindergarten class.  I took Brynn with me since most of her class got signed-out after the Pecos Bill play.  Kaleb was so shocked and surprised to see me walk into the room as the Mystery Reader!

I read, The Biggest Chrismas Tree Ever by Steven Kroll.  After I read, Kaleb's classmates got to interview me. It was a fun time in kindergarten.

 That evening, Blake performed at our school district's Performing Arts Center in the Winter Concert.  He played Amazing Grace in an ensemble.

 We were amazed at how well the band played.  It was a fun night of beautiful Christmas music!

 A day packed full!  Tis the season!

Hope Is Born

Attending our church Christmas musical is one of our favorite ways to celebrate the season.

It's always fun trying to pose for a "quick" picture with a family our size.

 

Santa Land

We made our annual trek out to Santa Land to kick off the season.

The lights and music never disappoint!

 

 The kids got to see Santa and tell him what they want for Christmas this year.

(Low-quality picture of a picture)

It was a fun family night, one that has become a tradition for us!

Christmas

Another Christmas season is upon us.

We got our tree up and decorated and stockings hung.

 Getting our tree set up means that our elves arrived!  The kids were happy to see Compton, Niles, Tricia, and Timmy.

It was fun to see that they love camping as much as we do!

Brynn wrote a letter to Santa asking if he could send a pet with the elves this year. Candy Cane the Husky is now part of our North Pole crew.

 They sure had fun while we were sleeping!