Christmas Time....

December has come and gone and it was great.

We got all the Christmas decorations up the day we got back from Thanksgiving.  Luke insisted he put the star on top.  (Daddy helped of course)

 The boys have spent a lot of time playing with their little people Nativity set.  Luke really enjoys making up his own stories including the wise men taking the front lines to protect Baby Jesus from the "bad guys".

The Sunday before Christmas was the Sunday school service.  It was wonderful.  All the kids did a great job.  Only one or two sound problems which were simple fixes so I could handle them.  :)

Again, Luke sang his heart out with his fellow preschoolers.  It doesn't seem to matter how many times I hear him practice, I get teary watching him stand in front of the congregation and praise his Savior. 

After the service the boys wanted pictures with the real Star of the show.

The new addition to our Christmas decorations this year is a "sock with Ben's name on it!".  Thank you, Lea, for whipping up this creation so Ben didn't have to worry that Luke was the only getting "sock" gifts.

We headed for Wisconsin after an afternoon in urgent care with Scott.  He's on the mend, but the doctor told him no alcohol or fatty foods for Christmas...lame, right?  He was very good all break and has set himself up for a healthy new year.

Once in Wisconsin the boys enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa J's house.

Reading books with Uncle Josh...

Playing in Uncle Chad's gym with Uncle Kurt and cousins Maddie and Emma...

Watching countless Christmas movies with cousin Lilly...

Cuddling with Grandpa...

and Uncle Chad...

and Grandma.

And there was the traditional decorating of the Christmas cookies.  Most years I can get the kids to decorate about 4 cookies before they either lose interest or give up cause they can't eat them.  This year Luke, Maddie, Emma, and Ben blew through 3 dozen cookies in about 10 minutes.

I actually had to set aside 4 cookies so I could decorate too.  Lilly wandering into the room after the other kids left so I let her help me with the last few.

She was so patient and didn't try to scoop the sprinkles right into her mouth.  The only fussing she did was when I told her there were no more to decorate.

Ben wasn't as excited about cuddling as Luke.  

To clarify, Ben wasn't excited about sharing Grandpa's lap with Uncle Chad.

Christmas Eve the WHOLE family went to church and we had the opportunity to sing during the offering.  Scott even joined the family "choir" this year.  After church we took advantage of the large space to get our family pictures taken.

Chad, Erin, Maddie, Emma, and Lilly

Ben and Christina Janetzke's first Christmas 

(try to ignore the 4 year old attached to Uncle Ben's leg)

 Grandma and Grandpa and the Grandkids

The whole clan. We've officially outgrown pictures in the living room.

The Grandkids, hard to believe they're all big kids we can just line up for a picture.

 Chad was taking pictures with all his girls so I got in line too.  This was the 30th anniversary of our first Christmas together.  Back then we were the only kids in the house.

Ben and Aunt Christina working on a puzzle Christmas morning.

After gift opening on Christmas Eve, the boys had no idea the pile that would be waiting for them the next morning.  They both got lots of fun toys, games, and movies.  The only bummer is we don't let them play with everything till we get back to our house.  

Luke's big gift was a little tikes grill which Grandpa put together so he could cook us hot dogs for Christmas dinner.

Ben's big gift, an At At Walker from Empire Strikes Back.  He spent all day playing quietly in the corner.

Kurt's big gift was Wii Resort.  He tried all the games.  

He also discovered he doesn't like playing with mom, she kept beating him.  

Dad tried the wake boarding but was having a hard time figuring it out, so Josh offered to help...

It was a short but restful trip to Wisconsin and we had a wonderful Christmas.