Our Christmas Celebration

With our various Christmas celebrations Santa wound up coming on Christmas Eve morning to our house. It was completely unplanned but Daddy decided he should see if he could get him to stop by a little early.

Maddox kinda got the idea of Santa but wasn't 100% sure of what we were talking about. (No, he didn't get the skill saw. That is Justin's that he insisted stayed by the tree) He was pumped to find cars under the tree for him. He adores little match book cars (way to go Santa!)

So we moved forward with all of our stockings and Justin was pumped to see he received a Hawkeye phone cover. Apparently Bear was excited for him as well!

Of course we didn't leave Bear out of the mix. He was spoiled with busy bones and raw hides

 Those 2 are peas in a pod...

I got lucky and got spoiled as well!

After our quick opening we loaded up the car and headed to Iowa to hit up my hometown church Christmas Eve service. We got all dolled up and all 3 of us actually made it through the service this year.

Last year we were NOT so lucky!

One of our best family photos of the night.

After our 2 celebrations in Iowa, we came home Christmas night and finished our family Christmas. Maddox was loving his gifts and didn't want to stop playing with them and keep opening the rest of his presents. He faired pretty well and walked away with a nice wardrobe and a hot wheels track. I like to get a picture of the loot he receives so I can always look back and remember what he opened.... Something my parents always did with us that I had to carry on!

Justin has wanted cowboy boots for the past 2 years.... He found a pair he liked but I couldn't get back to the store to buy them. Instead, I wrapped up a pair of my boots and this picture is him trying to figure out what it means.....

These will go great with his tickets to the Jason Aldean concert in February.

Every year I insist on a family photo in front of the tree. Here is our 2011 shot! I have a frame that I put it in and look back at old photos each time I do it. A few things I love about this particular photo.... notice how all the balls on the tree are clumped together.... thank you Maddox. Also, I am holding Bear back because he wasn't having it. Ahhhhhhhhhh memories!

Gunderson Style Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, after church, we went to visit my Grandma at her new residence. Part of our family was able to make it and we had a sweet celebration in her room. It was great to be together and I am happy we were able to do it.

Maddox was completely over being quiet so it was a little difficult keeping him entertained so we didn't get kicked out of the nursing home! Great Grandma got him a Mickey Mouse book that was a HUGE hit so he was sitting with her reading....

Four Generations





It was a relaxing evening which was just what Santa ordered.

Beadle Christmas

Maddox and Grandpa catching up

Christmas Day we spent a little time with the Beadle side of the family. Unfortunately we don't get to see that side of the family as often as we like so it was great to catch up. Grandma Jo put on a great meal and I know no one left hungry (and if they did it was their own fault!).

Grandpa got to hang with all of his Great Grand kids which was pretty cool (wish we would have thought to get a picture....).

Father and Daughter on Christmas Day

Aunt Jess and Uncle Mitch..... always trying to steal my little man!

Grandma Jo and her man, Bill!

The Reason for the Season

Celebrating the birth of Jesus is always an uplifting service to attend. We know the story so well and love to have the opportunity to share it with our son.

With that being said, my (Mandy) dream of enjoying Christmas Eve has come and gone with God laughing at me.... Maddox did NOT pay attention at all to the ceremony, we were all antsy and awaiting for the next "outside voice" comment ("HI Papa!", "Where are you, Nana?", "Cookie Daddy?" just to name a few). Anyone that has ever said taking a 2 year old in public is CRAZY!  Especially if it means to some place where it is necessary to be quiet......

When all is said and done I was able to sing my 2 favorite hymns along with the congregation and which helped bring me back to the reason for the season.

Where's Maddox?!

It has become a bit of a habit for Maddox to show up in random places.

 I mean really, whats so cool about standing in a wastebasket?

Or playing in an excersaucer that is clearly too small for you....

And who doesn't sit in a play shopping cart when you won't sit in one while shopping?

What fun it is to find where he will show up next!

Hunecke Christmas

Last Friday we loaded up the car and headed south to State Center to enjoy a little Hunecke Family Christmas. We were all able to make the weekend work so it was GREAT to get together. Saturday was full of food, family, and fun (in that order!). 



Before nap time Grandpa Larry pulled out some Sugar Cookie dough for the "older" kids to help him bake. They did a great job staying focused for a little while but Maddox found it more exciting to play with the cookie cutters.

During a cooking baking break, Brody decided to take Blake for a walk.... Apparently all involved thought it was pretty fun as all of us were laughing as he pulled him around the kitchen. Such a funny kid!

Once the kiddos were off to la la land a few of us got busy icing and decorating the cookies. We didn't do such a bad job and I even got to do a little tribute to Green Bay as we had plenty of yellow icing and green sprinkles. 

After the cookies were finished and the kiddos were up from their naps it was time to open gifts. Through the chaos there were lots of great gifts for everyone to enjoy. As always we were all spoiled!

Bowen ready to rip open the gifts

Brody got his first Marshmallow gun courtesy of  Uncle Justin.... Aunt Mandy questions that idea....

Miss Jenna sporting her new hat Aunt Mandy picked out.... (I need a girl!)

One of the presents Justin was most excited about was this picture he made for his dad. The wood is from my parent's old barn that was taken down a few years ago. It turned out really nice.

Maddox's Loot

Thanks to the Burdorf's for hosting such a fun event. We had a great time and couldn't have asked for a merrier Christmas!

Looking for December

Where on Earth did the past 2 weeks go?! I feel  like it was just December 1st and suddenly here we are looking at the calendar on December 20.

I finally got our Christmas Cards out this afternoon which was a relief.

I have only had them since November 19th.... oy!

Hope they make it safely. I apologize if you do not receive one. I had to drive to 3 different drop boxes to get them all in. Have never seen a mailbox that full before!

When I was looking through pictures I needed to upload I came across this video and thought I had better share. Maddox was so darn cute that day. So excited!

I hope to get back to my usual blogging self here again soon.... I miss it but to be honest, I just don't have the time anymore. I'll work on it!

Christmas Crafts

Justin and I caught the crafty bug this Christmas and we can't wait to share all of our goodies with everyone. Unfortunately we aren't able to quite show all of the goodies yet but after the holiday I will be sure to share.

After I caught the Pintrest bug, I wanted to try a lot of different projects. A Christmas ornament wreath was on the top of my list and I decided to add a little personalization to it as well. I learned a lot in doing it but it was really fun to be creative. Even though I took the "cheap" route it still turned into a more expensive craft than I wanted but I think it was worth it.

Now, to figure out how to store it................

Surgery

The surgery was a success! Thankfully there wasn't a ton of damage to fix but the doctor did remove 2 cysts, one of which she figured was creating a hormonal imbalance and adding to the issues. With these gone, and the scar tissue cleaned up things should be easy peasy (or something!). Hopefully this means a little less struggle for the future.

While I was under the Dr did another tubal die study, which we did when we were trying to have Maddox. She said the die spilled pretty evenly which is fantastic news because last time one side wasn't very clear and took a very long time to spill/show up.

Friday was a bit slow for me. I was able to eat and wasn't in a ton of pain so that was great! Saturday and Sunday I took pretty slow and really only had to deal with a few bouts of nausea which was nice. I was planning to attend work but quickly realized I over did it yesterday and needed to be a little more cautious! I think that because the pain wasn't even comparable to c-section pain, I was feeling like this was a cake walk. Apparently you still need to take it slow. :)

Thanks for all the kind words and support. Hope you all had a great weekend!