Christmas: Garden City

We headed out to Garden City to continue the Christmas festivities!

We spent a couple of days there celebrating.

When we got there, we had dinner at Granna and Grandads and celebrated Bryan's birthday.

That evening the guys (Bryan, his brothers, and his dad) were allowed to open a couple of gifts early... these were important presents. :) The next days activities were going to be a perfect opportunity to test these gifts. So, they needed to be opened!

Secretive bags inside of big boxes...

Chest protectors for dirt biking and four-wheeling!

What a good looking group!

And, new boots!

So, here is the long awaited sneak peek at the full ensemble!

Makenah and I got Bryan new gloves, jersey, and pants.

He got new boots and the chest protector to finish out the look.

That is one tough looking biker doctor!

Of course, the next day all the gear was put to good use out at the river. 

There was a lot of jumping, speeding, and popping wheelies. 

It was documented well with pictures.

Makenah was getting more and more interested in the pile of presents that surrounded the tree. Bryan caught her the next morning checking them all out. She was mostly removing bows and crawling through them. 

We opened presents on the 23rd in Garden City, and enjoyed the evening together so much. We were so thankful to receive so many nice gifts! And, Makenah got many special things too!

What a lovely tree!

(So, from a photography standpoint, I am sure this picture is totally wacky, but, I think it makes the tree and the mood seem radiant!)

Makenah got a dolly from MeMe and Papa. 

This is her grabbing it and pulling it in for a "love." 

I really need to catch her doing this on video. 

She'll make sweet coos, close her eyes and the pull it to her forehead. It is adorable. 

She does it with the dolly, her puppy, and her glow-worm. (And our faces sometimes. :)

 

Lots more pictures to come!

More from Garden City and more from Christmas in Hesston!

Christmas: Wichita

I am so thankful that we get to spend Christmas with both of our families. 

This year, we headed out to Garden City for a couple of days before Christmas, and then back to Hesston for more Christmas after that! 

But, before we left, we made time to have our first Christmas here with just our little family. 

It was really special. 

Makenah's first experience with presents was fun. She wasn't completely sure of how to open presents, but she enjoyed being a part of it, playing with the paper and bows, and taking it all in.

New Year's Eve

I'm going to do this a little backwards.

I am still going through the hundreds (yes, hundreds) of Christmas pictures. :) 

But, I have looked at the pictures from our New Year's Eve, and there is a more manageable sized group. 

So, here is what we were up to.

We spent the evening at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Pam's house. 

We had a delicious mexican fajita fiesta, with great snacks and desserts. 

Food, games, and laughing with family and friends!

What a beautiful group of girls!

Brad and Bryan were boxing against each other.

On the obstacle course

Makenah and her great grandad

With MeMe Debbie

Even though we didn't stay late enough to ring in the new year (in an effort to maintain some kind of reasonable bedtime...ha!), we had a great time! 

We are really looking forward to all that 2011 will bring! 

Happy New Year to all!

Celebrating Bryan

Before we celebrated Christmas with our families, we had some celebrations for Bryan's birthday. His birthday was December 23, and we went out to eat with the Billings family here in Wichita, and then had dinner with the Stucky-Wiens family in Garden City.

Here in town, we ate at Texas Roadhouse, one of Bryan's favorites, and then came back for cake and presents.

The little helper...

My sister made Bryan lots of different kinds of biscotti, which he LOVES! She even brought the rest of all the batches in bags that we froze so he can enjoy them for months to come. One of Bryan's favorite things is a cup of coffee or espresso with biscotti.

In Garden City, we enjoyed a delicious meal at Granna and Grandad's house.

A deer book...(ok, really I think it is about what all to do with the deer once you get it...eww. I try not to think about that.) 

Dirt bike pants...pictures of the whole ensemble will be shown soon. :)

Tools

Makenah and the boys

It was so fun to celebrate Bryan. He is a sweet husband, daddy, son, brother, grandson, son-in-law, and brother-in-law!