Keeping the Party Going

2013 has been an amazing year and we have had a lot of fun blogging it. It is a big commitment, but we mostly enjoy it and greatly enjoy the results so it is worth it. We plan to keep going in mostly the same way in 2014. We want to focus more on remembering the fun phases our kids go through so you might see more posts on that than strictly 'photos of the day'. We do not plan on updating this blog anymore so we hope you will join us on the new blog at: http://thousandwords2014.blogspot.com/

Some Stats, No Awards

In every previous year, I've done an end-of-year list of awards followed by the blog stats.  The awards are really fun for me to do, but they are extremely time-consuming, as I have to go through each and every post and figure out it if qualifies for any of the awards, and then at the end, I have to pare everything down, format it, etc.  It takes hours and hours and hours.  This year, I've just been too busy to get to it.  So there are no awards.  It's possible I might at some point go back and do them later, but no one should be holding their breath.  

But, thanks to tagging and the information provided in the post list, it's not too hard for me to put together the stats.  So, as such, here are some stats:

Posts by Meghan:	217
Posts by Jason:	148

Last year there was a big difference like this, but I had way more, and there was a good reason: Meghan was pregnant and super sick.  But this year she's the one with way more.  As I have not been pregnant, as best I can tell, I'm not sure what my excuse is.  We did do several trips this year (Florida, Arkansas, Savannah / Hilton Head, and St. Louis) and she tends to do the posts for trips because she does it in half the time it would take me yet with twice the quality, so I think that was the biggest reason.  I also had my 8-day work trip to California which resulted in her posting nearly every day.  So combining those two things, it still probably doesn't explain it.  I'll just assume the remaining difference is because I'm a slacker.


Our new blog feature this year was Way Back Wednesday.  The idea was that since the kids are with Mom and Ron on Wednesdays, we might sometimes use that day to post old photos from before we had this blog.  We did that, although we ended up using it on other days as well.  Here is the breakdown on the frequency of days which had a Way Back Wednesday post:

Wednesday	8
Monday	3
Tuesday	3
Thursday	1

In each post we tag the people in it, as well as our own pets. Here’s the breakdown on the number of posts in which each person or furry friend appeared, among those who made at least two appearances. Ties are broken by the alphabet, not by how much we love you.

Joshua	191
Clara	158
Hannah	153
Jason	135
Meghan	91
Terrence	30
Natalie	21
Joanna	12
Julie	10
Ron	8
Andrew	7
Jim	7
Michelle	7
Tucker	7
Alex	6
Barb	6
Benjamin	6
Peg	6
Callie	5
Mark	5
Kirk	4
Deb	3
Eamonn	3
Jason K.	3
Nick	3
Vincent	3
Aiden	2
Bob	2
Brent	2
Carla	2
David	2
Jason H.	2
Jean	2
Matt	2
Nate	2
Sam	2
Tony	2

And as we've done the last couple years, this year we again tagged each post with the state where the picture was taken if it was somewhere other than Kansas, solely so I could do this exact list, because I’m curious about dumb things like this. Here’s the breakdown:

Kansas	319
Missouri	15
Florida	8
California	7
Arkansas	5
Minnesota	5
Georgia	4
Texas	4
South Carolina	3
Indiana	2
Nevada	2
Iowa	1
Kentucky	1
New Jersey	1
New York	1
Tennessee	1

Our Top 10 Posts: The Year in Review

From Meghan:

Every year it is very difficult to narrow it down to my favorite posts. It always seems like there are so many good ones. To start with, I had to exclude the trip posts because I love going on trips so much that those would take up all of my posts otherwise. But we got to go to a lot of fun places this year, which was a nice change because last year we only went on a two day trip to Omaha because I was so ridiculously sick, and not going on trips makes me really crabby. We probably can't reasonably go on this many every year, but I wouldn't be sad if we did. We had such a great time both as a family and also Jason and I got not one, but two amazing couples trips that were just so nice and fun.

• San Diego 
• The Day trip to Manhattan for Joanna and Kirk's wedding  
• Florida was so fun that we are going back in 2014 
• Camping in Arkansas 
• Anniversary trip to Savannah
• Family trip to St. Louis

Beyond that, it is still hard to choose just a few posts, but I have done my best, in chronological order:

• Delayed First Photo (1/16/13): The photo really isn't the main thing about this post. I mean it's nice, but the main excitement of this day was that they came over to tell us they were expecting. We have been so happy for them to start their family with sweet baby Benjamin and so excited for our kids to have a cousin.

• Deanna Rose Day (7/25/13): There is nothing particularly awesome about this specific time at Deanna Rose, but we had a really fun summer and went to Deanna Rose several times and the park a lot too and we just had such a warm, relaxing and fun few months, that I love thinking about the whole season and this post brings it all back.

• Goodbye for Now (8/21/13): Being able to meet Eamonn and most of his family was definitely a highlight this year. I am so happy we were able to spend some time with them before their big move and I am so glad Joshua will have that connection as he grows up.

• First Day (9/3/13): This was one of our happiest days of the year because we found Alex. Alex is totally the biggest jerk, though he doesn't bite that much anymore except at the vet. But we love him anyway and we were so sad when he was gone. Joshua started school too, which is not quite as happy because I hate to think he won't be my little kid at home forever, but he loves school and has done really well so far so it overall is also a good thing and we plan for Clara to go next year too.

• Fun at Antioch Park (9/14/13): This was such a fun date day with Clara for me. She had so much fun being able to just do whatever she wanted and go anywhere and run and jump and climb and she wasn't limited by anyone else and it was a beautiful day at a nice park.

• Sisterly Love (9/22/13):  My kids are all really close so far, which I love. I love this picture because it shows Hannah and Clara hanging out, but also the sheer joy on Clara's face as she tackles Hannah is adorable.

• Hands Off My Mike (9/23/13): The first year isn't particularly my favorite. I enjoy it, especially after the first three months,but I think the toddler and preschool years are more enjoyable to parent. Even so, there is something super special about watching your tiny baby become a person with interests and preferences. I love this post because it's Hannah exploring her world and being excited about the results.

• Happy Thanksgiving! (11/28/13): I love Thanksgiving. It's really one of my favorite holidays. And it really just amazes us all the time how richly we have been blessed. Having my kids and husband and pets all together in our wonderful home on this day just makes me realize how much I love my life.

• Happy Birthday Jesus (12/17/13): Joshua's Christmas program itself was very short and Joshua refused to sing for much of it, but I love this post because in the first picture he's so proud of himself and it's just so adorable I can barely stand it.

• Culinary Adventures (12/29/13): I love this post because it shows the helping phase Joshua is in really well. I love that he wants to help me with everything and is so excited to help me cook and be involved. He is excited to try anything we chop or cook, even things like jalapenos or raw onion or bread dough. It can be frustrating sometimes and there are certainly times I have to tell him to get down because he is just touching every thing and I need him not to get his fingers out of my eggs. But I love him chopping vegetables and stirring pancake batter with me.

This year has been wonderful and I am very excited to see what 2014 has in store!


From Jason:

As with previous years, I let Meghan do her list and tell me how many she did so I could match it.  As it was last year, the number this year was 10.  (It was 5 in 2010 and 7 in 2011.)  And like last year, it was still hard to narrow it down.  When we make these lists, we each do our own list separately, so it's interesting to see if there is overlap.  In 2010 we matched 1 of 5.  In 2011 we matched 1 of 7.  Last year we matched 4 of 10.  This year, we each chose completely separate posts from each other, so there is no overlap.  Here are my Top 10 posts for the year, in chronological order:

• A Day of Celebrations (3/31/13): My grandparents mean so much to me.  I have learned so much from them and have so many great memories with them.   Re-reading this post always reminds me of how much I love them and how much of a model they are to me as individuals and as a couple.  I’m also very excited that they will be moving to Olathe next year, and I’m really looking forward to getting to spend more time with them.

• Tiny Seeds (4/7/13): As a Christian and a parent, one of the most important goals in my life is to work with Meghan to raise our children to love God and to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  While it’s obviously very early in his life, it’s wonderful to see that he’s on the right track.

• Aunt Josie's Wedding (5/11/13): I really like this post for a couple reasons.  First, it was my littlest sister’s wedding day.  She’s always been my little little sister (as opposed to Julie, the little sister) who is always someone I love hanging out with, but who is a student of some type.  It’s taken me some time to get used to her being a “real adult” who is graduated and has a job and is married.  But she is, and that’s great.  I also have always wondered who my sisters would marry, and would I like them.  I don’t have brothers, so I remember hoping that I would really like my brothers-in-law, whomever they would turn out to be.  I think I’ve pretty much struck it rich, because in addition to getting two awesome step brothers, both my sisters made great choices, and now I have Andrew and Kirk as brothers-in-law.  We all get along great, and I feel blessed that not only did I not get stuck with guys I don’t like, it was quite the opposite, and I actually really like Matt, David, Andrew, and Kirk as family and as friends.
  
  
  The second reason I like this post is because it reminds me of what a fun day that was.  Besides the joy and excitement of the wedding itself, our kids had a significant part in the wedding.  And during the reception, they became co-stars of the show.  Tiny Clara ran all over the place in her adorable little dress, and Joshua made everyone laugh by joining in with the adults during dances and for his crazy solo dance moves.

• Father's Day: First with All Three (6/16/13): As I mentioned in the post, we never expected to have so many kids so soon.  It’s been sort of a blur to have another person added to our family each year for the past three years.  We think we’re done at least for awhile and maybe ever, so this Father’s Day was significant because it was the first one I've had with that mindset: that this is probably the full set of children that we’ll have.  If that changes at some point, great.  But if not, I’m very happy with how things are.  The first Father’s Day after we had Joshua was amazing, because it was my first ever Father’s Day as an actual father, and the second one was great because it was my first one to have a daughter, but this one was the first one with what is probably our full family, and that made it extra special.

• Take Him Out to the Ball Game (7/2/13): In choosing my favorite posts, all of the date days were considerations, such as this one, this one, this one, and this one.  I love them all, because I really value having one-on-one time with a kid.  When we are all together as a family, such as on an average weeknight, there is usually so much going on that it’s hard to dedicate any significant amount of time to one particular kid.  The date days allow that to happen.  Next year we are adding Hannah to the mix, as she is old enough.
  
  
  But my favorite was the one in this post, because one of the things I’m most excited about as a father is to find passions and interests that I will share with a kid.  Maybe Joshua will love baseball.  Maybe Clara will love math and numbers and logic.  Maybe Hannah will love trivia and information and knowledge.  Who knows.  And maybe Joshua will grow bored with sports and not like baseball at all.  But so far, he has a pretty strong interest, so I’m hoping that sticks.  This date day was so fun, because we both had fun with each other but also in the venue, and it makes me really excited to think about what other things will be like that with him or Clara or Hannah as they grow up.

• Meeting Benjamin (7/21/13):  I like this post because it is most representative of the addition of Benjamin to our lives.   In general, I’m not a “kid person”.  They’re fine, but you know how some people are just so happy to be around children?  That’s not me.  But my own kids, and my close friends’ kids (Hadley, Macyn, etc.), and other close family are exceptions, because I do have a bond with them and love them.  So I look forward to cultivating that with little Benjamin as he grows and I’m excited to be able to build a tight relationship with my little nephew.

• Too Scared (8/16/13): I included this one in my favorites, not because of this specific incident, but because it reminds me of all the cute little phases that the kids go through.  Like the one in this post, sometimes they are hard to explain.  And some are positive, and some are negative.  Sometimes it’s a cute way of saying a certain word, and sometimes it’s a behavioral thing.  But, focusing on the positive ones, there are so many little ones that are so cute, and then one day the kid just stops doing it, and it’s gone forever.  One of the focuses of the blog in 2014 will be to do a better job of trying to capture some of these things as part of the blog to ensure they are not forgotten.

• 10 Years (9/7/13): As Meghan noted in the post, sometimes it seems impossible that it’s been a decade that we've been married.  After all, aren't we just somewhat-recently-out-of-college young adults?  No, I guess we’re not anymore.  And then sometimes it seems like it’s easily been ten years, because it’s hard to remember us not being together.  Like any couple, there are times where it’s tough, but there have been so many fantastic, amazing, and wonderful times too.  Meghan and I have so much fun together, and are so happy even when it’s just us.  For some couples it seems that after they have children, they kind of lose their ability to operate as just a couple, but that’s not true for us at all.  Our relationship is just as strong as it’s always been, if not stronger, and we can have just as much fun on a dinner date out now as we did when we first got married.  I prayed to God many times growing up that He would provide me with the perfect wife for me, and I'm happy and blessed to have Meghan, because she’s the one God made for me, and I'm the one He made for her.

• A Dads and Kids Gameday (11/30/13): Like most of my favorite posts this year, this actual event isn't specifically the reason I chose the post, but rather the larger idea it represents.  I was fortunate enough to gain a couple friends in high school and several friends in college who still live in the area.  I sometimes feel bad for people who have to move to new cities, because they have to start over with friends.  But most of my best friends in the world live within an hour of me, and I’m thankful for that.  We all knew each other as teenagers, and of course our lives were significantly different then compared to now.  But I love that even though so much has changed (we’re pretty much all married and have careers and children), our friendships have remained strong but have also matured and evolved to allow for events like the one in this post to happen.  We can hang out together and include our wives, or we can get together and include our kids.  I’m just very thankful I still have these friends and that we can still do so many things together. 
  
  
• Disgusted by Dills (12/15/13): This post cracks me up because it’s just so Hannah.  Even though she’s our Little Miss Sunshine the vast majority of the time, the remainder of the time is spent scowling.  She doesn't have much in between.  There’s no real deeper meaning in this one.  I just like it because it makes me laugh (well, at least smirk) every time I look at her facial expressions here.

A Tame Party, But Still a Party

When you have kids, New Year's Eve is a little different than before kids.  Meghan and I used to go to Lawrence or Manhattan overnight to celebrate, but these days our NYEs are a little more toned down.  For dinner tonight, Meghan made us a bevy of tasty appetizers, some of which we'd had before, and some which were new.  We had raspberry lemonade bars for dessert, as well as a "bubbly" non-alcoholic beverage we could all enjoy.  We also broke out the party hats and blowers (noisemakers?).  While the evening wasn't wild in the traditional sense, it was a little more wild than an average evening at our house.  The kids loved the blowers, especially Joshua, so there was plenty of noise as well as kids jumping and crawling everywhere.  But then again, I guess that really is a pretty average evening around here.  Anyway, it has still been a fun night.  Soon the kids went to bed, and Meghan and I are now watching some House Hunters on HGTV as we wait for midnight to arrive.

More Gingerbread Houses

When we were at Julie's for Christmas, Deb gave us a homemade gingerbread house. It is super detailed and really beautiful so we got another chance to decorate a gingerbread house.

Like last time, it was a quick operation of decorate it and then eat it.  Probably some year we will make the house and have it sit out for a few days and then eat it, as most people probably do, but for now our gingerbread houses have short lifespans.

Culinary Adventures

 Joshua really loves helping me cook and I try to include him even though he touches EVERYTHING. It's really cute because as soon as he sees me chopping he gets his little toy wooden knife so he can chop with me. Today we made corn pancakes with eggs and ranchera salsa. We started out making the salsa, which had some jalapeños in it. I was cutting them and he wanted to try one. He is happy to try and eat most things if we are chopping them, even if he doesn't really like it generally. Something about making it himself makes him more willing to eat it. I told him it was very spicy and I didn't think he would like it. He wanted to try it anyhow so I said he could, but as you can see, he didn't really like it. At first he said, "It little bit spicy."  Then, a few seconds later, "It lots spicy."  And then "Joshua don't like it."  

Later we had dessert. I saw a recipe for gingerbread floats on Pinterest, and I made them tonight. Hannah got to drink it out of a big-girl cup. Despite her terrible glare in this picture on her first sip (probably the flavor was different than what she's used to), she really liked her beverage and drank the whole thing. Joshua liked it so much he asked for seconds and seemed disappointed to learn we don't get seconds of dessert. Clara also liked it, but of course only drank a few sips. But then again, ice cream isn't the best thing for her so it's probably better that way.

Cocktail Sauce, Chili's, Child Labor, Christmas, 'Cats, and Competition

Today was a busy day.  This morning I took Joshua to soccer. On the way home we needed to pick up some cocktail sauce for the appetizer we needed for tonight.  Joshua enjoyed carrying it through the store.  He also enjoyed me foolishly letting him hold it in his car seat while we drove to our next stop.  It was closed and sealed, so I thought it would be fine.  But soon I smelled the pungent scent of cocktail sauce, and I knew I had a problem on my hands.  Well, not so much on my hands, but all over his car seat, which through the cleaning process ended up being on my hands I suppose.  We then went home, and since Clara and Hannah were still with Mom and Ron, Meghan and Joshua and I went to lunch at Chili's.  Joshua chowed down on some mac 'n cheese.

We still have some ice on our driveway, and since the weather was a little warmer today, I wanted to try to get rid of some of it while it was easier to scrape away before it refroze.  I used my snow shovel, and I invited Joshua out to use his new snow shovel that he got for Christmas.  He immediately went for the remaining snow pile in front of our house and went to work transferring snow randomly around the pile.

In the evening we went to Julie and Andrew's for Christmas with my Dad and Deb, my siblings, and our families.  Here Dad spends some quality time with the girls.


We had a really fun evening.  We had great food, and we all somehow managed to cram around a single table without feeling cramped.  Meghan then had to take the kids home to get them in bed, but I stayed to continue the festivities.  K-State's played in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl tonight, though it had a really late start.  Thanks to some technological workarounds, we were able to watch it on the TV, even though Julie and Andrew don't have cable.  K-State beat Michigan handily, capping a season that started poorly but ended quite well.  During and after that we played games, including a baseball trivia game and a fun game called TriBond.  We don't get to see Dad and Deb all that often, so it was really great to get to spend time with them, and it was all-around a really fun day.

One Last Date Night for 2013

One of our favorite restaurants is The Melting Pot.  We don't get to go there very often, as it's not a place you can take small kids, and it's quite expensive.  But tonight we had a date night, and my company gave everyone who wasn't able to attend the corporate Christmas party (it was in California at our headquarters) the option to expense a meal out at a restaurant.  Armed with a night free of kids and free restaurant money, we headed out to The Melting Pot.  The total bill was over our allowed expense, so it wasn't totally free for us, but it was much better than it would have been.  The food was great, as always.  Sometimes this blog is really useful.  I remembered we had a great experience last time, but I couldn't remember exactly what we had.  But I also remembered I mentioned it in the post, so I used my phone to look it up, and we then ordered the Bananas Foster dessert fondue.  It was a great meal, and the only regret is that I only had my phone to use to take the pictures, which is why the quality of the photos is a little lacking.

A Blingy Date Day with Hannah

Today Ron and Peg watched the kids since Wednesday was Christmas and both I and our nanny are on vacation this week, but Jason and I took Hannah out with us. I love the look of earrings on little girls and really considered doing it with both Clara and Hannah. I didn't because though it's common in certain circles, it is kind of controversial and not common around here. But I really had been regretting it and I was worried it was too late because I was concerned she was too old to leave her ears alone, but too young to understand. However, one of our friends at church did it with her baby at 8 months so I decided we should go for it. We went to Mike at Piercing Pagoda since she recommended him. It went super well. We had a fun date day with Hannah where we took her to get her ears pierced, followed up lunch, followed by Costco. One kid is so relaxing and portable that we can basically go anywhere with no stress so it was fun for all of us. Hannah did very well with the actual procedure, though she started crying when he swabbed her ears with alcohol because she DOES NOT like being messed with. But the actual ear piercing was quick and she stopped crying as soon as she had her sucker in hand. We love the way it looks and we had a fun afternoon with our sweet not-such-a-baby girl. It went so well that I imagine we will go get Clara's done in the new year since we got a coupon on our next purchase. She has asked multiple times for earrings since seeing Hannah's. Of course, so has Joshua. Maybe once he is older he will decide he really does want his ears pierced and that's fine with me, but I don't think I will be taking him as a young child to get them done.

Merry Christmas!

 Today we had a nice Christmas morning at home. We woke up and ate breakfast and then opened presents.

I tried to keep things very reasonable this year and did two toys per kid, plus a book and Christmas ornament and then stockings (which are candy and then things I would buy them anyway like new crayons and toothbrushes so not really super gifty). It sounded very manageable, but it was so much stuff when combined with the gifts we got from others. Maybe next year we'll go to one toy each. Especially since at some point they will have their own wants and I imagine the price of the toy might go up. I thought this year might be that year for Joshua and we'd have to make a big decision about whether to do Santa or not and he would be excited about gifts. But he really wasn't. He was really excited about candy and he enjoyed his toys and unwrapping, but he doesn't know you can ask for things and he doesn't get the concept that if other people have a toy that he likes, he could have one of his own or anything like that. He has recently figured out that sometimes we can get treats in the checkout aisle, but he still totally accepts it if I say it's not ours and we can't have it. I am sure that won't last. I expect that next year he will be more demanding as well as Clara because she is very advanced when it comes to understanding these types of things. Which is totally normal, so I understand it, but I will be a bit saddened as well when our days of being super excited about a handful of m&ms will be over.

In addition to their normal gifts, I also make them something each year. My original plan was hats for Joshua because he loves hats and capes and berets for the girls. I stuck with the capes and berets for the girls, which are super cute, though I would change the way I did the berets if I were to make them again. And then for Joshua I switched to a new blanket. He really loved the minky blanket I made for Clara for her birthday so I made one for him for Christmas in grey. He seemed happy and repeatedly said, "Only for Joshua, not for Clara" when he opened it. 

We had a really nice day and then after naps we had a yummy dinner of sauerbraten (pot roast with a vinegary type gravy).

Happy Christmas Eve

Today is Christmas Eve and we had a nice day and evening. We just hung out in the early part of the day. Then we had an early dinner before church. I normally like having seafood on Christmas Eve and this year we had cioppino (an Italian seafood stew or soup) with garlic and herb bread, which was really yummy. Then we got dressed and ready to go.

We attended Candlelight Christmas Eve service at Church of the Resurrection as we normally do. This year, the Fouts family and Peg and Ron were able to attend with us. Though I really look forward to the day where all my kids can attend Christmas Eve service with us, we aren't there yet. So the kids went to the nursery and Joshua at least had a blast and they all seemed like it was reasonably fun. It was a really special service and was a great sermon that Jason and I both got a lot out of.

Though Clara has grown a ton in the past year (Finally. Her height is actually sort of on the chart now.), she wore her same coat from last year, although I think the arms were just a bit short. Also like last year, she loved running around the roomy atrium after service. Joshua also was very active.

We had such a special time at a very meaningful service with our family. Then we went home and immediately put the kids to bed since they were super tired and wrapped presents in preparation for tomorrow. Though as a child I certainly loved Christmas the most, as an adult Christmas Eve may be my favorite. I love everything about it and this year was no exception.

I See Christmas Everywhere!

This year our trip out to look at lights was a little colder than in years past.  With temperatures near 0 degrees, we were happy that this is an activity that involves staying in a heated car the entire time.  We bundled up the kids and headed out.  We don't necessarily have a definite plan, but we usually try to see Christmas Card Lane and then randomly drive around looking for neighborhoods that seem to have a lot of lights.  We also stopped by Deanna Rose, as they had a light show that coordinated with the music on a specified dedicated station on the radio.

This year Joshua is much more aware of Christmas things than he was last year, and although we're certainly working with him on what Christmas means, he's still a little hazy on the details.  For him, anything Christmas-related falls under the category and term of "Christmas".  This includes Christmas trees and Christmas lights.  He's also very excitable, and is particularly excited by both lights and Christmas.  So when he would see lights out his window, he'd excitedly shout "I see Christmas!", and then as he saw more lights, "I see more Christmas!" and then after more lights "I see Christmas everywhere!!!".  He did this for much of the drive tonight.  It was really cute.  Clara's focus was on snowmen.  She saw one inflated snowman and then demanded that we find more snowmen, which was a challenge.  Fortunately we found a couple on our street as we headed to our house.  Hannah, as usual, was completely silent in the back seat except for a few giggles when Joshua was being silly with her, so it's hard to know what she thought or if she was even looking at the lights.  All three kids stayed awake the whole time, even though we didn't get home until well after their bedtime, and they did really well, so I think it was a successful evening.

Merry Nicholl Christmas

Today we celebrated Christmas with my mom's side of the family.  Meghan had picked out great outfits for the kids.  Unfortunately, I'm apparently out of touch with girls' fashion, as I totally botched their shawls when I was taking the kids' picture while Meghan finished getting ready.  Once we got to Mom and Ron's house, we got things corrected, and I snapped a quick picture of the grandparents/grandkids while Nick was taking his.  This was a notable picture, as Benjamin has joined the party this year.

We decided to try a picture of the grandkids/cousins by themselves.  This quickly went from not too bad to, well, bad.

Hannah still fancies herself to be a baby sometimes, and she saw Benjamin's baby swing and desperately wanted to get in it.  She happily swung for quite awhile in it.

Clara seemed to have an especially fun time this year.  She got to spend time with various relatives and even got to hone her photography skills when Nick, who is fantastic with the kids, let her take a picture with his camera and then view the results, which delighted her.

We then enjoyed an excellent Christmas meal.  It was one of those meals where literally everything is good.  We had such a large crowd that we broke into two full tables.  Thankfully with Mom and Ron's new house, you never feel separated from anyone else, as all the living spaces flow together on the main floor.  This was one of the reasons they moved, and I think it definitely paid off.

Later we did presents.  The four cousins all received quite a few things, but that didn't stop Joshua from immediately eyeing Clara's loot to see if it was something he wanted to take for himself.

Meghan took the kids home so they could nap, and I stayed for a little longer to play games and to eat shrimp cocktail and more of Grandma's Christmas cookies (this year cooked by Guest Chef Uncle Brent).  It was a super fun day.  I am looking forward to next year's Christmas being less of a reunion than it normally is, as we are expecting and hoping that the parties traveling from Iowa and Texas decrease and the parties coming from within the state of Kansas increase.  Having more of our family closer is always a good thing!  Merry Christmas!