Christmas according to me

Obviously I have a ton of pictures to share. Our trip was extremely revitalizing and much needed. I didn't realize how much I missed Missouri until we were on our way down there and I couldn't WAIT to get home. We got to see plenty of friends and family, we ate our way through the weekend, slept an obscene amount and chatted the days away. And that's what I call a great trip home for the holidays:) Of course, it wasn't fun driving the 500 miles back to Milwaukee on Christmas Day but oh well, we made the most of our short stay and will have to plan another trip very soon.

So our main meal on Sunday night consisted of: ham, turkey, yams, twice baked potatoes, green beans, carrots, corn, jello fruit salad, regular lettuce salad, rolls, and two kinds of pie. It was a feast and I even assisted in the kitchen! Just call me Betty Crocker, folks:) I think Nate was shocked that I cooked without being forced, but it was pretty fun. Here we all are, ready to chow!

While the women cooked the boys were hard at work. Pepaw installed storage cabinets in our garage, so Nate and my dad gave him a hand. Turned out pretty nice, eh?
After Memaw and Pepaw left, our family went to Christmas Eve church service and snapped a picture in front of the big tree. Love how Nate gets to be in the center of the whole family now!

My mom had the house decorated to perfection. I wonder where she got this idea?
And of course she put a sign on the front door [as always]. This one says "Welcome, family, to a Merry Missouri Christmas." She's so cute!
Milldogg and Ariana came over on Monday and we got a chance to catch up on life....in between potty breaks and coloring with markers. Whew, I give the girl credit for being so full of energy! Here we are with our babies, some more of a handful than others:)
Then on Sunday night we opened presents with Memaw and Pepaw. They loved their family wedding pictures. I'll post more on the gifts I gave later, but they were a hit!

Mom and Dad liked theirs, too. Love Dad's face in this one, right?

Here I am exhibiting my brother Michael's stellar wrapping technique. He leaves peep holes into the gift itself to add some flare. I take no responsibility in his wrapping skills.

Memaw and Pepaw left on Monday in their cute little truck. We were so happy to see them because they are the busiest grandparents you'll meet. You have to squeeze yourself into their hectic schedule:)A Bultmann family tradition: taking a picture under the wrapping paper. My parents did this even before I was born but for some reason, my brother tried to weasel out of it this year. I'm not sure Nate was really thrilled either, but it's tradition, people. Even Stewie from the Family Guy got into the picture...kind of creepy, huh?