Christmas #2

Papa Jim flew down in mid December to help us out during Drew's surgery.  Children's Hospital didn't allow siblings in the waiting room so Papa stayed back at the hotel with Bryce so Jimmy & I could both be with Drew.  Thank you Papa for all of your help & love during this time!

This is a pic of the boys & their Papa Jim in the hot tub at our hotel the night before Drew's surgery.

Nana had to stay home to continue working so we were excited when she got to join us on the 23rd.

Bryce & Drew are slow opening their gifts.  They like to open a gift and then play with it for awhile and we certainly don't want to rush them!  So, on Christmas Eve morning we let them open their stockings from us and a couple of gifts from under the tree.

Our favorite tradition that we started with the boys on their 1st Christmas is to bake a birthday cake for Jesus.  Bryce & Drew were SO excited to do it this year...it's the first year they really understood it all.  We went to our Christmas service at church and then came home to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and eat the yummy cake!

Christmas morning we had the boys' big gift from us set up and wrapped under a big bag.  We wrapped up the box so they could see the pictures of the gift and they we SO excited!

Christmas was so fun & relaxing.  The boys were so cute opening their gifts and had so much fun playing with their new toys.  Thankfully, they also got excited about GIVING gifts to others and  loved to help unwrap them!

Christmas #1

Grandma & Papa Mike decided they would have their own littlle Christmas with Bryce & Drew while they were here for Thanksgiving - afterall, why not see their precious, joyful reactions face-to-face! Even if it was a month early! Unfortunately, I hadn't finished shopping for Mom & Mike's gifts so they had to wait until Christmas!

Thank you Mom & Mike for all of the traveling you did to make this trip happen.  We love you so much and are so thankful for you! Thank you for all of your help, love & encouragemnt.

A Kentucky Thanksgiving

The next week, all 6 of us piled into our van and headed to Kentucky for Thanksgiving with Eric, Donna, Logan & Jordyn.  It's about a 12 hour drive so we stopped 1/2 in St. Louis to stay the night.  The boys were perfect travelers.

We had a wonderful time with my brother & his family.  We had not seen them in about 1 1/2 years so it was really fun to see the little ones (Jordyn, Bryce & Drew) A.K.A "the triplets" together.  
They got along so well and had so much fun together.  They played amazingly well together and actually entertained themselves for hours at a time...something my boys NEVER do at our house.  What's up with that?

Bryce & Drew had lots of fun playing with their cousins and Uncle Eric.

Most of all, we were just THANKful to be together for the holiday.  Eric will be deploying again in just a few weeks to Afghanistan so it was good to spend time with him.  It makes me so sad to think that he will have to leave his 3 girls for another year after just spending a year in Saudi Arabia. Hopefully this will be his last deployment before he retires.

We tried to get a cute picture of Mom &Mike with the 4 grandchildren.  Logan & Jordyn look cute but look at my little monkeys!

Thank you Eric, Donna, Logan & Jordyn...we love you all!

Our Holidays in Review

Life has been really crazy in the Richardson household the past couple of months so I will attempt to catch up, starting with our holidays.

Mom & Mike came to visit for 2 weeks in November.  The first week they were here we thought it would be fun to decorate our house for Christmas.  The boys definitely did not argue with that idea!  They were so excited to decorate their little Christmas tree in their bedroom, set up their nativity sets and plug in their Christmas night lites.

Bryce & Drew "oohed and aawed" over all their ornaments and just as in years' past,  clumped a bunch of ornaments together on one branch.  My tree ended up being heavily decorated only on the bottom of the tree but I just didn't have the heart to change it! It won't be this way forever, right?

With Grandma & Papa Mike's help we snapped a bunch of pictures for our Christmas card.  Here are a few funnies that didn't quite make the cut!

We got to enjoy Silver Dollar City with Grandma & Papa for the 1st time.  It's a beatiful time of year with millions of Christmas lights and beautiful decorations.

Much to our surprise, we got Grandma to ride the elephants with Bryce! 

Family Food Faves

If you're looking for a super-tasty, festive-looking, last minute appetizer for your Christmas celebrations, this is a family favorite (thank you Gina!)

Mediterranean Cheese Ball

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (8 ounce) package feta cheese, crumbled

1/3 cup finely chopped ripe black olives

3 tablespoons red bell pepper, diced

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup pine nuts, toasted

Toasted pita wedges or crackers

Beat cream cheese and feta cheese at medium speed with electric mixer until smooth. Stir in olives and next 4 ingredients. Shape cheese mixture into a ball; cover and chill at least 3 hours. Roll in toasted pine nuts just before serving. Serve with toasted pita chips or crackers.