Christmas #4

We spent the day with just my immediate family and had lots of fun!

The cousins

We opened gifts from one another. Augustine got lots of fun things to play, including more legos. 

Lewis got a lot of fun activities too...and finally his own LEGO set that he actually built himself! His big brother answered his questions, but he did the work himself!

I think Elias finally understands opening gifts. He would open one and then play quite a while before opening the next. It was lovely. 

Cousin Thomas spent the whole day playing with Elias. He gets major points. I can’t count all the wheelbarrow rides, shoulder rides, wrestling matches, and games they played. You’re a good big cousin, Thomas!

What more can a garbage truck loving toddler want?! He loaded all the paper up and dumped it into Grandpa’s hopper. 

Here’s the hopper. Grandpa gets a shout out too for curbing the daily morning fit by going for a walk in the rain with Elias. 



Grandma had lots of fun in store for us. We played family feud, attempted a 2000 piece puzzle, and took turns cooking delicious food.  The highlight though was the gingerbread house decorating. 

Augustine is really getting good at piping frosting. He also did some nice fondant work. 

Elias enjoyed it, but didn’t work for long because there was playing to be done. 



Logan was a good sport. There aren’t many things funnier to watch than Logan trying to have (mandatory) craft fun. He really did try to be creative!

Augustine had the cool idea of a flag on top. 

Lewis made a very fancy roof! He is also good at piping the frosting. 

He worked for a long time and his house turned out very cute!

I made a house too. Then everyone was supposed to title their own house, as well as one other person’s house. 

I titled mine, and Logan added to it. 

Lots of people titled Logan’s, my suggestion being on the left there. 

And Elias’ day wouldn’t be complete without a story read by Thomas!

Christmas #3

Christmas morning at home. 

A full morning of anticipation, joy, and playing. Oh...and breakfast if anyone remembers to eat. :)

The End of Advent

The last few days of Advent can be long. Christmas vacation has begun, everyone is out of routine, no parties to attend yet, and no gift opening either. 

We decided it was the perfect time for cleaning up the house, and a few more Daddy adventures.

Elias has been asking to go to the capital for weeks, but it’s been too cold to go to the top. We had some warmer days this weekend, so Logan decided to go for it. Elias was one happy kid! They rode the small elevator to the top, looked out the viewing area, and saw the big Christmas tree. When they got home, Elias was carrying around a pamphlet with a picture of the capital on the front. He just couldn’t stop talking about his experience, and then saved the pamphlet in his treasure drawer. 

Each boy had a turn at G&G’s to help with holiday preparations. While Lewis was having his turn, these boys had hot chocolate for dessert after dinner. 

We made our new stage into a Christmas story time area.

When Logan and Elias got home from the capital (Lewis was still helping at G&G’s), Augustine said he’d like to go to the park to climb trees and play soccer, football, baseball, and frisbee. He and Logan checked everything off the list!

Decorating the tree and listening to Christmas music  is always fun. The boys now have their favorite ornaments to hang, and it’s fun to watch them find them after a year of forgetting what’s in the collection. 

Elias helped our next door neighbors pull a joke on their family and friends. We found it quite funny, and Elias found it quite worth the candy cane he earned for smiling so sweetly. 

Christmas #2

We had Christmas with Grandma Kathleen on Christmas Eve! 

The boys could barely wait to open gifts, so we did that first. Augustine got the LEGO Firehouse. He was over the moon because he’s wanted it for two years. He built half of it in two hours...would’ve been less time but he was forced to take a break and eat dinner. 

Elias really likes opening the gifts, but then doesn’t really try them out. It isn’t until a big boy takes interest in what he got, and sits down with him to play that he really takes to the idea. Not a bad way to bond as brothers. :)

Lewis got a alphatab board, and he liked it even more than I thought he would. Grandma admitted to playing with it for quite a while too! Grandma also surprised Lewis with a donut pillow...and it was a HUGE hit. 

Working on the legos together. 

Working on forming letters of the alphabet...with the pillow close at hand. 

We had a delicious meal too. I always think “what a pretty table” every year Kathleen hosts, and every year I forget to take a picture. 

Christmas #1

We celebrated early with Grandpa Burda because he will be on a trip over Christmas. We had a nice afternoon of gifts and playing, and then a delicious dinner. 

While You Were Out

We have four married men and six single missionaries on Logan’s team this year. The five single girls all live together in a duplex. They haven’t loved their place this year, but all it needed was a little TLC. 

So the wives decided to get permission and a little budget from the girls to transform the living room, dining room, kitchen, and entryway. 

They handed over the keys to us as they left for Christmas break. It was a really fun, creative project and we love how it turned out. The girls did too!

Kitchen before

Kitchen after

Dining room before

Dining room after

A focus couple here in Lincoln made the girls a custom coffee bar. 

Living room before

Living room after

The same couple who made the coffee bar also made the girls the custom art above the couch. 

Entryway before

Entryway after

Logan’s Students

We have had so much fun with this particular batch of Logan’s students. They come over every Monday night to chat, study something about the Bible, talk about faith life, learn about prayer, or the Catholic Church. 

They are incredible question askers and listeners. They share their hearts beautifuly and without reserve. They delight in our children (who are usually in bed).

We will miss them next year as most of them graduate. We will keep lots of memories of them in our hearts. 

One of the guys helped us move for an entire day last December. 

They’ve all babysat for us as a group and a few of the girls individually, and our boys LOVE them. Our boys were rambunctious and a bit naughty for the girls, but they showed up again the following Monday despite our crazy fraternity. 

One guy went trick-or-treating with us...and he dressed up like a cow. 

Two of the guys ALWAYS pick a day to come help me for 4 hours when Logan is on a business trip. And they really are a huge help!

One guy and I had a very non-competitive pigs-in-a-blanket competition one Monday night. It was very tasty!
And one guy agreed to help me with my crazy mom idea. He built my boys a stage for the playroom!!! They love it (it was just delivered today) and I can’t wait to see all the creative ways they think of to use it. 

The students have been a bigger blessing than we could’ve imagined, and we are so grateful they’ve wanted to be a part of our family for the last few years.