We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year celebration with our whole family. It was so great to see everyone. We feel very blessed. Here's a recap of all of the festivities.
We celebrated Christmas as a family on December 23. Rebecca is really getting the hang of opening presents :P Abram was fascinated with the paper, but didn't seem to care much about opening things. His big sister happily helped. Rebecca and Abram both got some Playmobil, something we've never had before. They both really enjoy it. Rebecca's big gift was her new doll - Jenny (like an American Girl Doll). Justin surprised Mary with the big item on her list - a Vitamix. Now it's time to experiment in the kitchen :) He also bought diamond earrings! I feel spoiled :)
On Christmas Day we went to church. Then after lunch we traveled to Grand Blanc to celebrate with the Hollebooms. All the cousins had so much fun together. Rebecca and Carson were practically inseparable. As usual everyone was so generous, and we are enjoying all of our gifts. We had a delicious buffet dinner and spent lots of time chatting.
The next morning (December 26) was the Van Heukelum party. We had a brunch with Mary's extended relatives. Everything was very scaled back this year. Only the great grandkids got a present to open. The main focus was spending time together. And giving Mary's grandparents a new flat screen tv :) Hopefully Great Grandma Van can see it ok.
That evening Grandpa and Grandma Voogt and Uncle Kevin arrived here around dinner time. We enjoyed chatting and catching up. The next morning (December 27) we had a Christmas brunch with all of the Voogts. It was great to see Ryan, Shannon and little Esther. She's getting so big! We enjoyed a delicious meal, read the Christmas story and opened gifts. Grandpa, Kevin and Justin spent the afternoon visiting other family. Rebecca enjoyed an afternoon with Grandma all to herself :) It was nice to have a quiet house for a few hours after all of the parties. The boys came back for dinner and a relaxing evening. Grandpa, Grandma and Kevin left the next morning (December 28) to head back to WI. We had so much fun with all of the Voogts and enjoyed being able to spend a couple days with them.
On New Year's Eve we went to a Grand Rapids Griffins hockey game. It was the first time for both Rebecca and Abram. The NYE game is a tradition for the Griffins. And it worked well for us since the game is an hour early. Both kids had a really good time. Abram did great even with all of the noise, music and people. Rebecca loved dancing to all the music and watching Griff. She also enjoyed her cheeseburger and fries :)
We had a wonderful week full of celebrations. It was great to see the whole family. Now it's time to get back to "normal" life. Justin goes back to work tomorrow. And soon he'll be headed to Japan! We sure will miss having Daddy around.
The kids are both doing well. Rebecca is thoroughly enjoying all of her new toys. All sorts of new adventures and games to play. Just yesterday she was feeding all of Jesus' disciples :) She has such a big imagination. Rebecca is also enjoying watching Mary Poppins (a little at a time). Most evenings Mommy is Mary Poppins, and she is Jane.
Abram has decided that he should grow up during Christmas break. When we celebrated as a family he was barely stable sitting on his own. By the time the Voogts were here he was doing a full crawl, then pulling himself up onto his knees, then pulling himself up to standing. A day later he was starting to cruise, climb stairs and walk holding onto a chair and pushing it across the floor (video to be posted soon). He is slowly learning to eat solids and is working on more teeth right now.
We had a very blessed 2011 and pray that God will guide us and bless us in 2012.
2 comments:
What a great week you guys had! The family pic with all the Voogts is great, too!
Hope Justin has a good first day back today. Lucky, he gets to go back today! When does he go to Japan, again? I can't remember the dates you mentioned at Christmas.
Abram sure did develop by leaps and bounds in just a few short days! How fun!!
He actually went back yesterday. I had written this post on Monday, but didn't have time to get it posted b/c Abram got up. I didn't go back and edit it. I'll email you about Justin's trip.
I'm afraid Abram will be walking soon. I bet if he was brave enough he could stand w/o holding onto anything already. He stands with one hand barely on something, but doesn't quite let go. He sure requires constant supervision right now. He wants to climb on anything and everything. Such a boy :) And so different from Rebecca.
Post a Comment