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As is becoming tradition on the day after Christmas, we had a mid-morning brunch date at my aunt Judy and aunt Mary Frances' house in Wood River.

This year my cousin Sarah and her family were in town from Montana and it was little Scarlett's third birthday. We were so excited to see them and help Scarlett celebrate, especially since it was a Disney Frozen theme. Cadyn even got to help Gigi with the standing princess Elsa cake.

The boys overseeing.

How cute are these second cousins all dressed alike and watching the Frozen movie?! Left to right: Emerie, Scarlett, Celia, Cadyn, and Gigi.

The babies were soaking up the attention.

Thanks to aunt Judy and aunt MF for hosting a delicious meal (with mint pie!) and allowing all of us to gather. It really is something special to be able to gather with extended family including aunts, uncles, and cousins that we spent so many Christmas Eves with during my childhood. We love and miss you all!

After brunch we made a quick trip to Grand Island to see Karen and her family. Her mom, Pat, is always to sweet to the kids and lets them drag out all sorts of messes.

A big thanks to Karen for these gifts that the kids are obsessed with and wouldn't take off or put down.

That evening we gathered at Simon and Mandi's house for the Husker bowl game against UCLA.

This series of selfies with Teeger cracks me up and illustrates his silly boy personality perfectly.

My sweet girl. She is looking so grown up lately. It is so bittersweet, as always. Also, bittersweet was this Husker season. It was a roooough one with a new coach and a 6-7 record. But, they pulled out a win in the bowl game and hopefully can carry that momentum into next season.

The boys and Kenna got a kick out of "fighting" with these Socker Boppers. Teegs was pretty timid with them at first, but soon got the hang of it and delighted in swinging and punching with the big boys.

She seriously wouldn't take this new winter hat from Karen off.

(ready to head home with her new hat, new unicorn, and new musical jewelry box)

Sunday morning came way too fast as did packing up and saying goodbye to Gigi and Papa. It was such a nice trip filled with so many people we love. Hope to see you again sooner than later, Nebraska.♥

wagoner family christmas

Christmas morning we made our traditional drive from Caleb's parents' house to my parents' house to continue our holiday celebrating.

Now that all of the cousins are a little older, Mom started the pickle-in-the-tree tradition. Gracie was the winner this year and her prize was getting to be the first in the gift opening rotation.

Sweet baby cheeks to squeeze at Christmas - it doesn't get much better.

Cadyn is obsessed with this beautiful musical jewelry box from Gigi and Papa.

Karson and Taylon are always so sweet to Camden.

Emerie and Cadyn playing mermaids.

Aunt Sonya also likes to steal the bub.

The evening continued on with Teegs crashing while clutching Daddy's arm, playing cards, and a divine prime rib dinner with all the fixings.

After dinner Mom surprised my siblings with a DVD of family movies from our childhood. Over Thanksgiving, when Cadyn was up in the closet helping my mom get down a few things, she came across a bag with these blue cased films (above). My mom and I instantly got tears in our eyes. The films are from when I was a baby up until Sonya's third birthday. As kids we used to have movie nights in the kitchen where my parents would project the movies up on a white sheet while we all enjoyed purple cows (vanilla ice cream + grape juice). Most recently my siblings and I had been giving my mom heck because she couldn't find them and she admitted she thought they might be lost forever. Finding them was a really beautiful surprise and one that my mom wanted me to keep secret for the Christmas reveal. Obviously, if you read this blog, you understand how important photo and video are to me, so I treasure these little clips into my childhood deeply.

Once the adults finished watching the family DVD, the kids took it upon themselves to put on a Christmas play. They told the story of baby Jesus's birth and sang songs.♥ It was just the little reset that I needed to really refocus on the reason for the season. Mid-December I struggled a bit with the materialism of the Christmas season, which usually happens this time of year for me. I was over the kids wanting to add 42 items to their wish list every day. I felt like I wasn't getting through to them about the idea of giving is better than receiving. Baby Jesus didn't seem to be on their mind as much as the newest toy commercial playing on Disney Jr. Not to mention I always have trouble "fibbing" to them about Santa and deflecting questions about why an Elf on the Shelf hasn't visited our home. But, a convo with a good friend reminded me that magic is fleeting and to foster it within kids is important (although I am not budging on my no elf status). Also, with time and age will come the understanding and appreciation of Christmas. The play the kids put on helped me see that Jesus is shining strong and bright in their hearts.

After the kids hit the hay some of us adults had fun with these Flickin' Chickens. Then the usual crazies (Caleb, Brad, Simon, and Tyson) stayed up until their usual 3:30am playing cards. Just nuts.

I am grateful for so much this holiday season. Family (thanks for hosting another wonderful and memorable Christmas, Mom and Dad), friends, health, and happiness are top of mind and I don't take a single one for granted. Merry Christmas to all!

ts family christmas

Wednesday afternoon was the start of our Christmas trip to Nebraska. We made one stop in Council Bluffs, enjoyed a nice dinner, and arrived in Kearney late that night. 

 Camden enjoyed Grandma Joni's nuzzles.

Christmas Eve morning we woke up and were delighted to see snow on the ground. 

Caleb and I met his high school friends, Blackie and Kommers, for lunch.

Kurt and Joni had a new fun toy for the kids - a Power Wheels Dune Racer. Cadyn was content being a passenger, while Tegan took the reigns right away.

Caleb tried on one of Kurt's hats - like father, like son.♥ From here we headed out to the 2pm Christmas Eve church service, which is the most conducive to keeping all the little people happy considering all the other activities into the evening.

Aunt Maia likes to steal the bub.

Cousins making memories.

 They were playing kitties and all meowing at me.

Once Seth, Justine, and Brigham arrived, we enjoyed dinner and family photos.

Caleb made sure to wear his festive musical tie Cadyn gifted him a week earlier.

Cadyn and Tegan wanted to be big helpers and pass out gifts. 

Alissa's crew. 

Justine, Seth, and Brigham. 

Ella, Laila, Maia, and Mike. 

Thrilled with these boots from Grandma Joni, he put them on immediately and didn't take them off the rest of the weekend. 

Cadyn had fun with these huge mystery gifts for all the littler cousins from Grandma Joni before they were even opened.

The Yeti colster was a hit. 

 Bongo bum drum.

Camden hung out happily in this activity jumper for the duration of gift opening.

Bean bag conversations. Big kudos to Joni for hand making these cute and cozy chairs - they took a lot of time and research.

When we asked him what he was doing, Teegs replied, "I'm tying my boots."

Finally, these sweet faces went to sleep.

Christmas morning arrived and the kids found Santa's cookies half eaten and their stockings filled.

So excited about her Melissa and Doug wooden doll crafts.

Teegs was equally excited about his very first remote control monster truck.

Camden didn't know what all the Santa fuss was about, so he hung out with Aunt Alissa.

Three mermaid Barbies for three sweet girls.

Kurt was extra festive Christmas morning and extra happy while in the kitchen blasting Thriller by Michael Jackson and Happy by Pharrell Williams. 

More off-roading before we had to leave.

A big thanks to Kurt and Joni for a wonderful celebration with delicious food and thoughtful gifts made with love.