Collier Party of 5: January 2017

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Christmas Eve

Dec. 24
Christmas Eve was such a nice, peaceful day here. The 5 of us spent the day together at home, went to our Christmas Eve service at church this afternoon and then enjoyed our evening.

Candle light Christmas Eve service

Don't worry, her candle was not lit ;)

He's so grown up

So focused

Family Christmas Eve photo

This was the best picture I could get of the 3 after church by our tree...

Photo courtesy of Ethan

Our traditional meat, cheese & crackers Christmas Eve dinner

Throwing out reindeer food

These reindeer were well fed

Atley got to join in this year!

Milk and Cookies for Santa and off to bed!

Dec. 22
Ethan's last day of school was a 1/2 day on Thursday (22). I went to his party at school and spent some time with him. It was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad I was able to go. That night we went out of dinner to celebrate the start of Christmas break. And then we decided (completely last minute) to go see "Sing" at the theater. It was a fun night and the movie was super cute!

Making ornaments at this party

School selfie

Ethan and some friends from class

Ethan and his teacher, Mrs. Koslofski

"Sing" with these 3 kiddos! Pizza, late movie and popcorn! Happy Christmas break :)!

Dec. 23
Jared had Friday off, so we were all 5 home together! It was such a fun day. We searched for candy canes, baked cookies, played games and enjoyed our time together.

This is where we found "Frank" that morning. The kids loved searching all over the house for candy canes.

Atley, particularly, enjoyed checking out Frank the Bank. Or "Hank bank", as Atley says it :).

Dipping some buckeyes!

This girl is LOVING Uno right now! And she's so fun to play with!

And this guy plays to win! No mercy!

Atley is a good playing partner

Love these goofy kids!

Pre-K Christmas Program

Dec. 11
Nora's school had their Christmas program and it was so sweet! I told her before the program that I wanted to hear her sing, and I could :)! She did great!!

Sweet Nora girl

Not the best quality picture, but she's singing her heart out!

Pre-K 2 Class

Thursday, January 5, 2017

T&L Christmas Party

Dec. 5
Jared's work (Tate & Lyle) has a children's Christmas party at the children's museum every year. And we usually try to go because the kids have a great time! This year was no different! We had pizza and cookies, got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus and played in the museum!

Atley spent a lot of time grocery shopping

Ethan spent a lot of time making this design on the light board

And Nora was everywhere!

Chatting with Santa and Mrs. Claus

Margo's Baby Dedication

Dec. 4
My sister, Abby, invited us to come to their church for the dedication service for Margo. And I was happy that we were able to go. The church service was nice and it was so special to witness Abby and Alex's public dedication that they will raise Margo to know Jesus. I love being an aunt to sweet Margo and can't wait to watch her grow and see what her future holds.

Margo and 1 other little boy were dedicated

Margo and all her cousins that were present!

And Margo is done! Too much crazy on that couch for her!

I can't wait to see the relationship between Margo and Altey grow! We are going to make them be best friends ;)!

Christmas Tree Decorating

Dec. 3
Once again, we picked out our tree from the Boy Scouts and brought it in to decorate. The kids love to help decorate the tree and I love that it's a fun family tradition we have! It's such a special time to me as I remember years of getting excited to decorate my family's tree growing up. Some people have department store worthy decorated trees (and they are amazing!) but I love the mismatched, special memory, handmade ornaments that fill up our tree!

My 4 favorites in one picture :)!

Atley enjoyed helping this year instead of napping like last year

This is one of my favorite Christmas pictures ever! I love how they are all doing their own thing around the tree.

Reaching up high!

Nora is such a happy helper!

Atley's first time to put the star on top.

The entryway table and Christmas sign I made

I forgot to take an after picture of the tree and I forgot to take pictures of all my decorations around the house. But I loved how it all turned out this year! Christmas is my favorite time to decorate. And now that we're past New Years, all the Christmas decor has been taken down and put away until next year. *Sigh*

Christmas Parade

Dec. 3
The Mt. Zion Christmas parade was held at the beginning of December. Ethan's Cub Scout pack walked in the parade, so we bundled up and went out for the festivities. It was short and sweet with donuts and hot chocolate afterwards at the fire station. Including pictures with Santa! I just love our small town!

Atley was excited that the parade was starting!

These girls were ready to collect some candy!

Ethan- throwing out the candy!

Nora with Santa coming in the background!

Neighborhood girls enjoying some hot chocolate and donuts

Ethan and Zach after a couple donuts :)

Picture with Santa- Atley wasn't sure she wanted to go up there without me!

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Thanksgiving

We enjoyed 2 wonderful Thanksgiving meals on Thanksgiving and lots of fun family time!
We spent lunch with Jared's family and a huge spread. And dinner was at my parent's house. Yummy!