Wow, I am out of practice with this blog. I uploaded all my pictures in reverse order, so we get review December in reverse! No surprise that Garrett got his turtle (Michael) for Christmas and we did a comparison to see how big they both were.
Michael seems to be quite happy in his tank.
And Garrett seems quite happy with his turtle!
Bella, on the other hand, is not so sure about the turtle out of it's tank!
Bryant got his leopard gecko and named him Daniel (like Daniel Gill from American Ninja Warrior).
You can't see his facial expression under that mask, but he was beyond excited to pick out his gecko!
We were on the tail end of being quarantined (again!) so we enjoyed some time outdoors with Grandpa Ed and Grandma Betty on the boy's new toys!
We tried out a subscription to Kiwi Crates for the boys this year so they get a new activity each month. This was Bryant's first activity.
We spent the afternoon with Grandpa Jack and Grandma Susie and you can tell after a day of opening presents and all the excitement and build up of Christmas ended up in 2 exhausted boys
Even Grandma tried out the hoverboard
The boys went to the Painted Pot to make a platter for their grandmas and grandpas. Garrett and I did a plate and Bryant did his own and he was convinced that they would want a plate with a leopard gecko on it. That will definitely bring back memories every time that plate comes out!
The boys made themselves a fort under the table where they could eat lunch and build legos
The boys felt they needed to wear their new swim goggles while opening presents...safety first, I guess?
Bryant's ornament that he made in school. It was a pretty cool idea and is explained in a couple pictures later. It has his picture and a ribbon measured to his height inside the ornament, so you can take it out each year and see how much he's grown!
Garrett made this bag for us at school too and was pretty proud of himself!
Took him a little bit to notice, but Garrett wanted to show that Santa ate all his cookies.
Bella loved her new bone!
Santa delivered what the boys asked for in their letters!
Christmas Eve - Setting out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots and water for the reindeer.
The boys got to open a present on Christmas Eve (with their new pajamas) from Grandma and Grandpa and there happened to be footballs in with them too, so we got in some play time at the park.
We spent a lot of time making different ornaments and it still seems to be a fun tradition that we've done with the boys the past couple of years.
Garrett was into building and wrapping his own presents for people this year too. This was a gift to his cousin, Madeline. He made a cardboard "boomerang" and wrapped it up for her and wrote on the gift tag. He doesn't necessarily understand letters go left to right to make a word, so he just puts letters wherever there's room:)
Bryant's feelings about the year of COVID
The boys love to watch Christmas movies - our movie marathon consisted of Home Alone 1 and 2, The Christmas Story, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
More ornament activities - you can tell which ones were Garrett's and which ones were Bryant's ornaments.
I got to partake in the activities too:)
This is the excited face of a kid who won Monopoly, which reinforces that the game is pure luck, which really frustrated Bryant.
Wrapping a picture for his cousin, Keith. So proud of himself!
Sometimes we are so similar that we clash and sometimes he writes these amazingly sweet notes to me.
The boys made cardboard swords and battled (again with the safety goggles...)
We got some gingerbread house kits this year and the boys had a lot of fun decorating. We'll definitely have to do it again next year!
Garrett also enjoyed just eating frosting:)
I heard Bella barking like crazy in the back yard and went out to see what was going on and I'm not sure who was luckier that there was a fence between her and the buck...(Bella is the black blur in the corner on the left side of the fence)
Bryant was proud at how sharp of a point he got on his candy cane that he wanted his picture taken
Another fun tradition is making cookies and Grandma and Grandpa's house. My mom does all the prep work and the boys show up and do a little bit and then we finish.
Happy birthday to Travis!!!
Grandpa Ed and Grandma Betty made different breads and brought us over a tasty sourdough bread!
Putting the dog (yes, we have a dog stuffed animal on top of our tree instead of the traditional star or angel!) on top of the tree. This was our first Christmas in the new house, so it was a different experience having a tree that we could reach the top of without a ladder!
The boys loved tree hunting this year. There was no snow and we are definitely paying the price with fires now.
Bella wasn't too happy with having to "carry" her tree.
Post tree hunting snacks
Garrett and his tree
Bryant and his tree
Travis and our family tree!
The boys were laughing at Bella just running around like a crazy dog!
And that took us to the beginning of December, which means that's the end of December!
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