Snapshots: Welcome 2014

 

2014: Celebrating with friends.  First encounters on skis and with dance.  Snow days.  New words and sentences ("I wan apple." and "I wan muk.").

 

 

 

Christmas Blessings

For days I have been trying to carve out the time to sit down and write a blog post worthy of our special Christmas 2013, but I have felt overwhelmed with how to adequately describe the holiday.  The Whitfield 4 and the Johnson 3 descended upon my parent's home in Spokane for a week of plenty.  The house was exactly what you'd expect with six adults, one dog, and three kiddos under the age of 4: BUSY, chaotic, loud, and FUN.  Christmas is magic, and my parent's house, hospitality, generosity, and love made the holiday sparkle even more.



When I close my eyes and remember my favorite snapshots from the week, I'm left visualizing:

a. Sophie and PaPa all bundled up in the snow at night, pulling a sled, "cutting" down a Christmas tree from the backyard and strolling through the snowy neighborhood.
b.  The boys (Cam and Grady) watching Papa's train set in the 3rd floor.
c.  Sophie's amazement and awe when the Christmas Eve church service told the same Bible stories she had learned about at school.
d.  Sophie singing Christmas carols
e.  Sophie writing out her note to Santa all by herself
f. Christmas present overload and explosions of boxes, wrapping paper, and ribbon
g. My parents taking the 3 kids for a drive to look at Christmas lights while D, C, A, and I took bets on which boy was crying the loudest
h.  Laughing hysterically when my parents arrived home from said Christmas light excursion to see that both boys had hats that had fallen over their eyes
i. Early morning cuddles with Cam who adopted a newborn sleeping schedule over the holiday
j.  Locking eyes with Doug and realizing that at that moment we were both thinking how cool it was to see our kiddos so joyful
k. Looking around my parent's formal dining room table to see my 8 favorite people in the whole world

Sophie and Papa's magical night outside

decorating the little tree that Sophie and Papa "cut" outside

Our own Doc McStuffins got her own REAL equipment from the real doctor in our family!

writing her own note to Santa

magic moments

Winners of the first ever family snowman contest!

Please note Grandma's beverage while sledding

(poor photo but this had to be documented): G and P take the three kids out to look at lights

Christmas Day!

D made balloon animals 

Unfortunately, this is the only photo of the two kids we took on Christmas day!

We have since returned home, cleaned house, organized and sorted new toys, spent time with great friends to welcome the New Year, and counted our Christmas blessings.

exhausted at the airport after a full holiday :)