Top 5 Favorite Christmas Moments of 2018

Happy Friday and happy New Year's Eve weekend! This will be my last post about Christmas of 2018 (I promise), but this was seriously our best Christmas with Brayden to date and so many fun memories were made! This was the first year that he understood about the true reason we celebrate Christmas. This was also the fist year he really got into ripping the paper off of his presents!

It was hard, but I managed to narrow everything down to a "top 5" favorite moments of the weekend and although I already blogged about our Christmas twice already, I just had to do so one last time!

#1 Spending Time With Family

This is almost always a given, but I really truly enjoyed spending time with all of our family over the holiday weekend! We were able to visit with my brother and his wife in Texas as well as Jason's family and extended family here back at home. It truly was a great time! 

#2 Christmas Eve Orangetheory

This might sound kind of silly, but I had the opportunity to work out at Orangetheory on Christmas Eve with my sister-in-law and although the workout was TOUGH, I enjoyed the challenge and working up a sweat on Christmas Eve! This workout was different in a way that made it challenging but fun. Everyone pulled cards from a tin throughout the class and the card told you what workout to complete. Some cards were harder than others (coal) and some were a little less challenging (present).  I pulled so many coal cards it wasn't funny. Mine even included the treadmill with a run at a pretty decent pace with a 12% incline. (I might have been holding on for dear life!) My sister-in-law ended up pulling a 2,000 m row card and she completed 55 burpees by the time it was all said and done. Needless to say, it was a great workout and I enjoyed the change!

#3 Brayden's First Gingerbread House 

Although this was Brayden's third Christmas, we still had a few "firsts" for him, including his first gingerbread house! This gingerbread house was themed towards The Grinch (of course) which made it even more fun! He mostly helped his Aunt put the decorations on the house and I was amazed at how long this task captivated his attention. In all, I'd say this was a successful first for him! 

#4 Cookie Contest

Speaking of gingerbread, our family did a really fun Gingerbread decorating contest where we asked our Facebook friends to help us vote! In the end, Kayla's "Mrs. Santa Claus" (top right) ended up with the most likes for the win! This was a really fun activity to do with all of our family together!

#5 "Grinch Cakes"

On Saturday, we took Brayden to Ihop for breakfast and the look on his face when this plate of "Grinch cakes" was set in front of him was hilarious! They were a HUGE hit and he loved them! This was such a fun morning for all of us! 

Memories like these are what make the Christmas season so much fun! As the years continue on, I can't wait to see what they have to bring! 

If you'd like to see more from our Christmas weekend, check out the video below!

I hope this Christmas season brought lots of fun memories for you, too! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Only 364 Days To Go...

Christmas this year was unlike any other we'd shared thus far and I loved it! Looking back, we laughed about how Brayden has changed so much from his past three years of Christmas celebrations. 

On his first Christmas, he was only 10 months old and not very interested in opening presents at all. Last year, he was a year and a half and ok with it but didn't really care much about the opening presents part. This year though...he LOVED ripping paper and opening presents! Such a huge change from previous years. It really is amazing to see how much they grow, develop, and change as time passes by!

Anyway, we celebrated our little family Christmas on Saturday morning because our plan was to spend Christmas with my brother and family in Texas. Hauling all those presents to and from Texas didn't sound like a pleasant idea!

After we finished opening presents, we decided to take Brayden to Ihop for Grinch pancakes, which he then decided to call them "Grinch cakes"! His excitement over his "Grinch cakes" was hysterical!

On Sunday, we loaded up our vehicle and made our way to Texas to see my brother and his wife. No trip to Texas is complete without a stop at Buc-ee's!

Or seeing the Buc-ee's mascot for that matter!

That night, my brother took us to Wimberly, Texas to look at the trail of lights! These lights were gorgeous and so neat to see! Brayden LOVES Christmas lights, so this was a delight for him as well!

We made so many fun memories over the weekend and really enjoyed the time we were able to spend with my family! 

This giant gift bag was almost as tall as Brayden!  I couldn't resist putting him inside! :) 

Now, the saddest day of the year for me has arrived...the day after Christmas. I absolutely hate when everything is over, all of the presents are opened and the family gatherings are through. It just all goes by so fast! Oh well, only 364 days to go....

Merry Christmas 2018

I know it's a little late, but I wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

The Christmas festivities began this past weekend and are continuing on throughout this upcoming weekend, so we've truly been enjoying the moments and soaking up all the magic of the season!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a full Christmas recap complete with our Christmas weekend vlogidays update!

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!