Matt and I decided that if Rylee was born healthy and strong we would brave the open road and make the trek to Cedar for Christmas. Since our little one is as perfect as could be :) we spent the Christmas holiday with Matt's family at one of our favorite places on Earth.
We had a wonderful time visiting, enjoying delicious meals and spending time doing nothing but being together! Matt's parents are always so great and we wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.
It is a tradition of the Roper's to have a big Christmas Eve meal followed by a family "program." During the program, someone always reads from the Bible and then any and all family members are invited to share their talents.
Matt's family is VERY musical so most talents revolve around that and it is really neat to listen and watch everyone.
Since Wade has been taking a music class for a year and a half, he was able to play "Jingle Bells" on the piano
and then both Wade and Seth (Trent was already in bed) sang "Jingle Bells" while shaking bells.
Seth stole the show on this one because he sang really loud and loved that everyone was watching him--it was super cute! Wade is making his classic "I'm embarrassed" face in this pic. He sticks his tongue in the side of his cheek and avoids eye contact with anyone looking--so funny!
I wasn't sure if the boys were old enough to care about waking up early Christmas morning, but when they came running into our room at 5am, I had my answer. They loved opening their presents!
Trent loved watching everyone open and could have cared less about his presents. He would watch the boys open something and when they would move on to another present he would hold, admire and talk/ babble about the opened present.
Matt surprised me with the most thoughtful gift I have ever received: a necklace with each of our child's name engraved on a dime-sized charm. I had been looking at these necklaces back in the summer and must have mentioned it to him because he remembered and with help from, my friend, Kristy gave me a wonderful surprise on Christmas morning!
Of course, this was Rylee's first Christmas
and she enjoyed nestling into the arms of whomever was holding her--especially Granny.
She is such a good baby and didn't fuss or complain at all even though she passed from person to person for 4 days straight.
We also got to see some of our college friends which is always a treat! I say "college friends" but they are actually Matt's lifelong friends that I met and became friends with in college. Most of them are from Cedar so their parents still live there which makes the holidays a perfect opportunity to reunite, which is what we did! Some of my best memories are with these people and I laugh so much and love catching up whenever we can.
It was a great Christmas and we feel so blessed to have a wonderful little and big family and friends to celebrate with!
