OCHO!!!

Kevin & Julie hosted a New Year's Eve party at their house.  This was particularly generous since they let us invite our friends!  We were trying to do the best we could with seeing as many of our family & friends without having a completely chaotic schedule on our trip, so this worked perfectly for us.  The Bachman & Jacobsen families and, of course, Grandma Carol & Grandpa Pete, joined us to par-tay!  We played pool, Yahtzee & dominos and had plenty to eat and drink. 

Sorry, Julie... I had to post this one.  You know you love it!

We kept the party going until it was time to ring in the new year.  With champagne in our hands, we watched the ball drop in New York City and yelled OCHO (in Kelly's honor) at midnight!  We even recreated the group shot from (what year was it, Julie???) 2011?  SO MUCH FUN!  (Thanks to Julie for finding the picture so we could all get in the right places! We just had to swap out Sarah's friend for Evan since he wasn't there this year.)

And a few "outtakes"...

Waterparkin'

We spent several days at the Wilderness waterpark in the Wisconsin Dells.  We met up with the Hawkins and Bachman families and had a blast!  The kids' favorite spot at the waterpark was the wave pool for sure.  They loved riding the waves on their inner tubes!  It's lucky, though, that we were only there for 2 days because Josh and Mattea developed a nasty rash from the chemicals in the water. 

We spent our last few hours at the arcade and on the ropes course.  It was such a creative way to use the space above the arcade.  Apparently, the activities of the weekend wore out Jaelynn because after Josh carried her downstairs to the ball pit, she fell asleep in his arms.  Precious!

 

Ice Skating

While we were in Dubuque, we went to Mystique Ice Arena for some ice skating.  The kids were smooth on their skates and Aunt Julie & I were the only adults brave enough to try it.  We had a fun time! 

Christmas in Iowa

Our trip back to Iowa was really great.  The road trip turned out better than expected.  We truly enjoyed spending time with family and friends.

We celebrated Christmas with the Harron's a few days before Christmas this year.  The cousins all had fun playing together and opening their gifts while the adults enjoyed the time to catch up on each other's lives.

 

 

Ice Skating at Mystique was fun!

 

Christmas Eve was entertaining.  Listening to Grandma Carol read the story about the "Wright" family and watching the kids pass the gifts back and forth was hilarious! 

 

Santa found us, filled our stockings and delivered gifts.  Christmas Day was magical and special.  It was so nice spending the day with family.

 

This might be one of my favorite pics... Alex, being a dork and not looking at the camera on purpose, Trae thoroughly amused with his new sign, Josh looking like he just smelled a fart and Mattea, the photobomber!