Christmas 2014

Yes, I know... I'm really really late. But I still wanted to post about Christmas. I have loved Christmas even more than normal because it also means we get a lot more time with Sean! This last Christmas was his last Christmas break and it makes me sad that we won't have those awesome 2-3 weeks of  uninterrupted time with him. No med school, minimal studying (if any...woops!). So Christmas has been so wonderful these last two years!

Aben loved decorating the gingerbread men...

And Noah loved to eat them!

This last Christmas we went home to Idaho. We were very blessed and got to fly home. No 24 hour drive! We went to Nampa first to visit my family. My brother Jerry and his wife Ashley were the only ones that were able to come up for Christmas. I missed seeing my other brothers and their families but it was really nice to actually have some time to visit with Jerry and Ashley and their cute kids. We don't get time like that living so far away. The kids had so much fun playing together. Jerry brought up their dog, Penny, and she was a definite hit. Aben loved her soooo much! Noah loved her too. He started getting mad when Penny would jump up on him...but we soon realized he didn't mind if she jumped up as long as she didn't go for his binki. Ha ha. We were able to hang out at home and play games. I think our night of BLURT will be forever remembered. We were all slightly delirious due to the late hour, but it made for some great memories! We went bowling all together and the kids were just so fun to play with. They were so good! Sarah even got a strike! I think her score was almost as good as some of the adults. Aben absolutely loved it, and it was so hard for him to wait his turn. Noah loved it, but it was a love-hate relationship. The balls are obviously too heavy for an 18 month old so he would get so frustrated that he couldn't do it himself. The best part of the trip was when we got to eat some awesome, authentic Thai food! (Okay...not the best part. But seriously, how can Kansas City not have any good Thai restaurants!!)

 Doing dishes with Grammy Taylor. He is such a big helper and loves to clean!

    We then went to Rupert for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was such a blast! I love going to Rupert and I love how it really truly feels like home to me. It was always a worry that when I got married I wouldn't feel as at home and comfortable at my in-laws. When I met Sean's family 6 years ago, those fears quickly disappeared. I love going home to Rupert! My kiddos love playing with Grandma and Grandpa Rutschke and they love that their cousins live just around the corner. They get to play with their cousins all day everyday :). Since all my brother's and their wives were either doing their own family Christmas or with their in-laws, my parents didn't have anyone coming for Christmas day and we were able to convince them to come join the crazy Rutschke party in Rupert. It  was such a treat to have both my parents and in-laws for Christmas. And, another miracle....it snowed of Christmas Eve!!! It was a true white Christmas!

Aben's snow angel

Christmas Eve is always a crazy loud and awesome party with the Rutschkes. All the family gets together (siblings, parents, aunts, cousins, grandmas, everyone!) and it is so fun! We play lots of awesome games involving fighting over fun presents (the fighting is friendly and injuries are usually to the minimum :) ), and of course we eat lots of amazing food! They know how to have a good time! Christmas morning, we wake up and do presents with my in-laws and both Grandmas come and join in. Once we do our own family gifts, Sean's brother and sister and their families come over to open presents from Layne and Janie too and spend the afternoon together. It's great that they all live so close so we can spend holidays with all of them when we come to visit.

The boys with their sock monkeys from Santa Claus

Noah just loved his big kangaroo and would keep cuddling up to her. I loved it!

Noah opening his sock monkey. He is super attached to his other sock monkey and so I thought he would be so excited to get a bigger sock monkey too. He thought it was cool, but wasn't as attached as I thought he would be. Plus he was pretty excited that he was eating a candy cane for breakfast so he was a little distracted. 

Aben on the other hand was ecstatic! All he asked for from Santa was a big sock monkey and he was so happy to open it. He kept it close all day and slept with it the whole time we were there.

Lovin' on the kangaroo again

First time seeing his presents and stocking under the tree.

Aben loved carrying the big presents to all the family to open up.

The kiddo's (and our) stash