Happy Merry Birthday Eve Christmas New Years Day! Whew!

December into January is a crazy time at our house.  We have Caity's Birthday, Christmas, and New Years which is spent in Wyoming celebrating our Christmases with cousins and extended family. (That's a 400 mile each way trip by the way!)  It is hectic and crazy but my absolute favorite time of the year even with the subarctic temperatures and hurricane force winds that Wyoming provides.   I always loved receiving gifts as a child on Christmas but now I am able to give to my children, husband, family and friends and that is a true blessing that I enjoy very very much each year.  The joy that spreads across my daughters' faces as they open a gift that they had asked for or even a surprise gift they didn't expect but love is truly amazing to witness.  I love love love this experience!  

With that being said... it is exhausting! Ohmergawsh!!! Working, being mommy, buying and wrapping gifts, keeping gifts hid until they are wrapped so little snoopers don't ruin Christmas, cooking, traveling, and planning can wear a girl out!  I also have to make sure that Caity does't get the short stick when it comes to Birthdays.  A lot of people give her gifts wrapped in Christmas paper or a gift that says for your Birthday and Christmas.  Poor kid gets shorted sometimes so I always try to make sure that her special day isn't passed over in all the hustle and bustle.  This is actually getting easier as she gets older.  A 15 year old girl doesn't want a big bash at Chuck E Cheese after all.  She is content with a bonfire in the back yard, hanging out and listening to music with a few friends.  Easy peasy!  

Another job I take very seriously is making (or trying to make sure) that all 4 Little Byerlys receive approximately the same number or quality of gifts.  I don't want one daughter to receive a $600 iPad, 10 new outfits and 3 new pairs of sneakers and the other a $20 art set and 2 outfits.  I actually developed a checklist that helps me keep everyones gifts straight.  Total life saver!   

Another thing that I love about this time of year are the traditions that we have developed in our family.  I still remember very vividly and fondly the traditions that took place when I was a little girl and hope that my girls will remember ours.  One of our traditions is to open a Christmas Eve box each year after dinner on Christmas Eve.  I always include new PJs for each girl and then a gift to the entire family: movies and popcorn, games, gingerbread house kit to complete together, etc.  This year we received pjs, air hockey and Speak Out.  

I tried to get on of those majestic Christmas tree lights twinkling in the background pictures of the girls in their new pajamas.  This is what we got...

Its fuzzy and poorly lighted and the baby is screaming and trying to escape.  Nailed it! haha.

Then we moved on to game time!  Sadly daddy was out on a drilling rig working so he didn't get to play but the girls and I had a ton of fun playing.  Later I found these big girl selfies on my phone.  Kids!

After games we tracked Santa's movements for a bit on the Norad website.  Then it was off to bed so that Santa could work his magic in our home.  The little girls had been stricken with what Paige calls "the throw ups"  the night before and little baby still wasn't feeling well on Christmas Eve.  The only way she was content was if mommy was holding her and walking around bouncing.  Well, while on one of our many trips through the house I heard a rustling in the living room.  I peaked around the corner and THERE HE WAS! Santa himself caught in the act of delivering gifts to my girls.  I had my cell phone in my robe pocket and snapped a picture to show to the girls. 

Christmas morning arrived and Little Byerlys 2 & 3 woke the mommy up at 4am to see what Santa had delivered in the night!  They were all very excited to see the picture that I had snagged of him the night before and were also very happy with the gifts that he had left behind.  Daddy was still gone working so we held off on opening the gifts from Mom & Dad so that he could be there with us.  We played with our Santa toys and opened the small gifts and candy in our stockings.  Then we heard the good news that daddy was on his way home!  We quickly cleaned the entire house and started cooking a great meal for Daddy to enjoy after being out in the cold working.  Harlie had had too much fun and snuck a nap while the cleaning and cooking were happening. 

Yes I am eating pumpkin pie for breakfast in this picture.  It was a holiday- don't judge me! ;-) 

 

We finished cooking right before daddy walked through the door.  We ate a yummy meal and then got to open the remainder of the gifts.  Yay! Mom even snagged some awesome new tools from daddy!

The next step in our holiday festivities is to make the 7 hour(ish) drive to windy Casper, WY.  We met Aunt Tress, Uncle Chad, Hadly and Papa at Fiesta Guadalajara for dinner on the way into town then went on to Nana's to stay the night there.  We opened gifts with Nana, Papa Wayne, and Uncle Tristen when we got to Nana's house.  Fun!  The girls all got really cute clothes from Nana.  The next day we went shopping at the mall with Aunt Tress and everyone got haircuts.  Then we had lunch with Papa at the food court.  That night we went to Aunt Tress's house for a yummy ham Christmas dinner and gift exchange.  Again the girls made out like bandits and received lots of awesome toys.  I got some more tools from Papa- Woohoo and yummy treats from my sweet little sister.  Emma and Paige stayed the night with cousin Hadly.  The next morning Papa Wayne cooked us a pancake breakfast before we set out on an adventure.  The girls didn't know it yet but daddy and I had purchased an adorable Great Dane puppy!  So myself, Nana, the baby, Emma, cousin Hadly and Aunt Tress drove another 2-1/2 hours to Gillette, WY to pick her up.  We stopped off and visited the Rodenborg family first.  We don't get to see them very often now that they have moved North and we have moved South so it was fun to see them.  After lunch and visiting with them we went to pick up our new little lady, Calypso.  She was an instant hit... except with Harlie.  She doesn't much care for being nibbled on by the puppy.  Paige and Caity spent the day with Papa sledding and playing while we made the trip to Gillette. 

The next day we had yet another (and our final) Christmas with daddy's family in Casper.  We met at Aunt Kera's for breakfast and gift exchange.  Paige received a Mermaid Tail!  Boy was she excited!  All of the girls received fun gifts and cute clothes and had fun playing with the cousins.  Emma even spent the night and celebrated New Years Eve with cousins Maddy, Trevor, and Kloe. Paige spent the night with cousin Hadly again while Caity, the baby and I stayed at Nana's and watched one of Uncle Tristen's friend's baby while they celebrated the new year. 

 

After all of the celebrations, Christmas gifts and fun family time it was time to make the 400 mile drive back home.  We loaded the Yukon full of gifts, kids and a puppy and headed south.  The puppy and baby both traveled really well and the weather/road conditions were pretty mild.  We made it home safely and have lots of wonderful memories from our trip. 

I hope that your holiday was as wonderfully hectic and magical as ours was.  

Thanks for checking in on the 4 Little Byerlys.  Have a great day!