Welcome to 2016!

"The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story."
-Melody Beattie

We welcomed 2016 this week as a family.  It may be a slightly dysfunctional family with equal parts laughter and screams, but it’s our family and we love it.

This year we decided to celebrate the New Years with the kids in the only way that would be approved by them.  It’s our favorite place, Chuck E. Cheese.  It was better on this trip than previous ones because Isla is old enough to walk around and see everything while Ashlyn and James played on the machines.  After all the tokens were spent we had enough for a few pieces of candy and a twisty straw.  Thanks Chuck E. Cheese for making our New Year’s so special.

The kids wanted to search for more geocaches and we want to encourage their interest in discovery.  So despite the cold we loaded up the van and went hunting.  We were successful in our hunt and the kids were excited to find a small hidden cache amongst some trees.

We made an attempt at going to Legoland this week but it was crazy with all the kids out of school.  Since we have annual passes we didn’t feel guilty bribing the kids with Dip n’ Dots and a promise to come back so that we could get away from the crowds.  We went back on Sunday right when they opened and we ended up being the first people inside.  Instead of spending 20 minutes in a line, we went from ride to ride and the kids got to burn some energy doing anything they wanted.  That will be the only time of day we go from now on.

A landing and three rounds of Christmas…

"Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas."
-Dale Evans

History was made this week when SpaceX successfully landed the 1st stage of the Falcon 9 rocket after delivering 11 satellites into orbit.  The timing of the launch and subsequent landing was perfect for the kids and I was excited to share it with them live.  They may not have fully understood what was going on, but it was neat to see them share in my excitement at witnessing a pivotal moment in mankind’s journey into space.

On now to things that more directly interested the kids (although with much less impact on their future):  Christmas!

The festivities started as they do every year with a children’s service and then dinner at Joe Ts.  We took advantage of the kids being dressed up and took some family pictures in front of the tree.  None of the pictures turned out awesome because we couldn’t get all three kids to cooperate at the same time, but that’s life with 3 small children.

Afterwards the kids opened their Christmas Eve bags to see their ornaments, Christmas books, and the PJ’s that they would end up wearing for 2 days straight because they refused to take them off.

The next morning the kids ran downstairs to find a living room filled with presents.  Our floor was quickly littered with wrapping paper, extra batteries, and boxes.  The kids liked all their presents and even Rusty felt his one gift was pretty good.  Even if the kids didn’t get everything they wanted, it would have been ok because there were still two more Christmas events to go.

Round 2 was in Fort Worth where the kids got to play with their cousins Ben and Sydney.  More presents, fun with family, and a big Christmas breakfast.  It’s a good thing we had a lot of breakfast because the kids needed to build up their energy for yet another Christmas.

Round 3 at the Wolfe’s!  More presents, a great dinner, and some fun times with the cousins.  Isla confirmed her love sweet potatoes, James had fun with a new lightsaber, and Ashlyn made her first cookies in the Easy Bake Oven.

And that’s how we closed out 2015, with family and more presents than we know what to do with.  Merry Christmas everyone!