this big kid got glasses in December, although they've pretty much been collecting dust because they give him headaches and blur his vision more than help it... we need to get them checked, but haven't yet.
we decided to enter the ward gingerbread house contest as a family. the only rule was that it could be on a base no bigger than 12x12, so we decided to build it up rather than out. Owen wanted a castle and Ellie wanted it to be bright. so we had a very colorful castle that won the contest, even though several people called it the great and spacious building because it was so big compared to the other houses which were all the store bought houses.
we had a little bit of snow, but nothing stuck around for Christmas.
Ellie desperately wanted to dress up for Festive Friday at school, but all we had was a "lame" Santa hat. after yelling "we are SO! NOT! FESTIVE!" while running through the house, she had an epiphany! she literally wore tree ornaments to school. she hooked on some earring hooks and voila!
we had a sleepover with the Seaver cousins!
we had fondu, the girls tried to pull an all nighter and almost made it, and they spent the whole morning making snowflakes and paper chains to turn our living room into a winter wonderland just like last year. we love having cousins so close!!!
jack and chris spent a morning hunting in chillicothe... and didn't see anything.
jack is our outdoorsman. he is outside every second he can be, rain snow or sunshine. he was building a shelter one afternoon and when he came in to tell me about it, I had to stop him mid sentence and say "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAND?!".... "oh! huh. I guess I scratched it on the branches. anyways!" and he jumped right back in.
Christmas Eve!
we had our traditional donuts for breakfast. and I loved that Owen wore a Santa hat every day the week of Christmas! the Christmas spirit was burning bright for our 5 year old and it made my heart very full.
we went to Pickerington for our traditional spaghetti dinner, white elephant gift exchange, and acting out of the Nativity.
Ellie was Mary, Blake was Joseph, and poor Spencer was the donkey that Ellie got to catch a ride on.
our Shepards!
cousin time is the best time!
chris won these "Goosh Pants" in the white elephant game lol!
Christmas morning!
that afternoon the elders came over for appetizers and games! we had a great time playing Mexican train dominoes. Chris and I had been invited to a domino tournament at a member of the wards house before Christmas. we had no idea that this tournament took place, but apparently its a big deal and has been going on for 10 years. once you are invited, you are always invited. but only the people that are invited know about it haha. so, we made it into the secret domino group lol! anyway, we decided that we needed to teach the kids how to play and it became the game most played during Christmas break.
chris smoked ribs for our Christmas dinner. Marc, DeLauna, Caden, and the sister missionaries joined us. afterwards, the sisters hung out around the glow of the Christmas tree, called their families, and visited. it was a special evening.
we went to chillicothe for New Years eve!
we ate and ate and ate!
after the food, we went to the church and played some games, including dodge ball.
Browers are competitive!
everyone spent the night at Doug's that evening. thanks again maylee for sharing your bed!
the only memory we got on tape from the party was this of Owen, trying to get an Oreo from his forehead to his mouth:
2019 was a bit of a whirlwind and I will admit, I was glad to close that chapter and start anew in 2020! but through all the challenges, we have constantly been reminded that the Lord knows us. He loves us. He knows our needs and our desires to be His disciples. We love him!
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