Christmas from Virginia

We had to celebrate Christmas early so that we could hit the road for Indiana.  We decide to go out for dinner at iHop.  While we were gone, “Santa” came to our house an delivered presents.  Actually, we left a note for our elf.  Santa said he was a little busy, but the elf brought the presents to our house.  Kaylea had a blast opening her presents.  We also had big presents from Nana & Pop, Mimi, and Bud in the basement.  She now has a full gymnastics studio in the basement.

Christmas

Christmas Day is always exciting, but even more exciting with a kid who believes!  Kaylea woke up earlier than expected and went to check out all of the presents.  She waited patiently until Shannan and Brenden arrived.  The first thing she wanted to do was open her three gifts from Santa.  She received her favorite gift from Santa, a laptop computer that Santa found an amazing deal on.  After opening those three presents, she wanted to hand out the gifts she had purchased.  It was so awesome to see the spirit of giving in her heart.  Kaylea put a lot of thought into each present she gave. 

When she was finished passing out her gifts and watching others open them, she moved on to opening her gifts from Nana, Pop, Shannan, and Brenden.  She loved everything she got.  We had monkey bread for breakfast, hung out, and Kaylea made shopkins videos on her new computer. 

Mikey woke up sick on Christmas morning so we had to implement a slight change of plans.  Trina and my mom came to celebrate with us at the Struck’s.  We opened presents and played pie face.  It was a good time.  We hung out until we headed to see the Chipmunk movie.  Kaylea had most of her loved ones with her at the movies and she had a wonderful time.  Kaylea ended up going to spend the night with Shannan.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was fun. We woke up earlier than expected from our night at the hotel so we made it to A Nice Restaurant before it closed.  We had breakfast with Nana, Pop, and Shannan.  After breakfast we tried to see Santa at Bass Pro.  However, the line was still really long so we skipped out.

Kaylea wanted to go ice skating again, so we went back to 4th Street for ice skating.  Jordy skated with her this time.  Nana and Pop met us there to watch.  After skating we watched The Christmas Story before heading to church at Northside.

After church, we stuck with tradition and went back to Nana & Pop's to hang with the extended family for the evening.  Kaylea got to meet two new cousins and play with an old cousin. She loves this night.

Indiana Part Two

Monday we had planned to go to Derby Dinner with Erin, Lucas and Tyler.  We bought the tickets sometime ago when they added a lunch show of Frost.  The show was cute and Kaylea always seems to enjoy it.

After Frost Jordy took Kaylea to Lucy's house for her annual pancakes & pajama party.  Kaylea was very excited to hang out with Stella and Lucy.  They played together for 5 hours!  While Kaylea was having her fun, Shannan cooked dinner for us.  At the end of the evening, after picking up Kaylea, we stopped by the Klimesh house and enjoyed some conversation and cookies.

Tuesday was another day of fun for Kaylea.  We had a pretty full day planned.  We met up with about 10-15 friends at SIGS for bounce time.  The kids stayed for three hours.  After bouncing, we took Kaylea, Lucy, and Halle to Chic Fil A for lunch.  Then they came back to our house and had a lot of fun.  Halle hung out with us most of the day.

That evening we were supposed to go out with Amy & Art.  However, Amy needed to have a biopsy and was not feeling up to visitors.  Jordy and I ended up having dinner alone, which was nice.  We visited with Shannan and Brenden while Kaylea hung out with Nana & Pop.

Wednesday was a laid back day.  We slept in, had a late lunch, and finished up some Christmas shopping. Kaylea went to Trina's for a couple of hours.  She was spending the night with Shannan, but couldn't go over to her house until 4PM.  We had tickets to a Louisville game.  My mom ended up getting a suite ticket for three so the ladies took the suite while the men took the other.  Jordy was able to bring his friend from the Navy, so he says he had just as good of a time.  We got a room at the Galt House so we could sleep in a real bed.  We went to bed early, but it was nice to have a night away.

Indiana Part One

We left for Indiana around 3;30 PM on Friday after school.  It was a long drive.  It took forever.  We made several stops, encountered a snow storm, and a car wreck, but we finally made it.

Saturday we slept in as much as we could, but Saturday night,  When we finally woke up, Kaylea hung out with Nana & Pop for a bit.  we headed to Tumbleweed for lunch. That evening, I had a girl's night out.  Kristi and I went for a pedicure.  After the pedicure we met up with Gigi & Erin for dinner and a movie.  I rarely want to go see movies, but I was really wanting to see "Sisters."  I'm glad we went to see it because it was hilarious.

Sunday was a fun filled day.  Kaylea went to Chassidy's for a couple of hours.  While she was there we had an adult dinner with the Struck Family at the Spaghetti Shop.  After lunch  picked up the girls and wen to paint pottery.  It did not take as long as I expected, so we ended up going ice skating.  I did not think they would like it, but I was completely wrong.  They both loved it and did not want to leave when our hour was up.  No matter how many times they fell, they got back up and kept trying.

After skating, Kaylea was able to go to meet her old girl scout troop at Pizza King.  Kaylea only ate a bread stick, but she had fun visiting.  The troop was even nice enough to give her a Christmas present.

Since it wasn't too late, we also stopped in to visit Trina and Mikey.  Kaylea ended up asking to stay the night with Trina, so I went back to the Struck's alone.  Jordy went out with the guys Sunday night so he was seeing Star Wars.  

School "Winter" Party

I have a lot of catching up to do.  We spent much of the last two weeks out of town and I haven't had time to blog, but I wanted to be sure to capture the photos from the last weeks.

The week leading up to our trip out of town was very busy.  In 7 days, I planned and attended 3 different parties.  Friday was Kaylea's school party.  We are not allowed to call it a Christmas party.  I thought I was going to get more help than I did, but it all worked out.  A lot of parents showed up to help with the party.

My mom and I met Kaylea at school for lunch.  After lunch, Kaylea gave up her recess to help decorate and set up for the party.  We planned a craft, games, and a snack.  The kids started by making a picture frame.  Next we played minute to win it skittles and a balloon pop game.  Finally, we enjoyed some snacks.

Kaylea was excited to give each of her classmates a book, Flat Stanley & The Very Big Cookie. I think the kids had a great time.  After the party, Kaylea came home with us.  She was so excited.  We had much to do to get ready for 10 days in Indiana!

Shopping with Daddy

Jordy and Kaylea had a long date on Friday night.  They started off by heading to the mall and shopping for presents. They had dinner and ended up seeing a movie.  It was hard to stay awake waiting for them :)

Ornament Exchange 2015

In keeping with my favorite holiday tradition, we exchanged ornaments last week.  Jordy got a Broncos ornament and I got the White House ornament.  Kaylea got an ornament with make-up. I think we were all pleased with the selection this year.

Cookie Decorating

In keeping with tradition, we decorated our famous sugar cookies this year.  Kaylea has gotten a lot better at cookie decorating and helping out in the kitchen.  I also tried a new decorating technique so the icing looks a lot smoother than normal.  The cookies were delicious.