Christmas!!

     I'm so sad December and the holidays are already over.  The first couple weeks of December John was busy finishing up the semester with projects and finals.  (I was busy counting down the days till he was done).  He did awesome this semester and ended up with a 3.93 GPA!! John still had to work during his break from school, but when he wasn't working I kept him busy partying ;)  The Southwick Christmas party took place at John's sister, Kara's house the Sunday before Christmas.  We had a nice dinner and then we went for a "Snow Walk" down by the creek behind their house.  At the beginning of the walk, each family received a small pre-lit Christmas tree.  Then as we continued walking we would stop at various places along the trail and receive ornaments for the tree and talk about the meaning of each ornament.  The ornaments included things like a candy cane, a bell, a bird, a snowflake, a wreath, etc.  The last stop we received stars to put on top of our trees and we all turned on the tree lights (it was dark by then).  We then went and stood around a fire in their back yard and sang Silent Night and went up stairs to have hot cocoa and open some gifts.  It was a fun, memorable evening that Kara had put a lot of work into to make nice :) 

     The DuPaix party took place at my brother Joe's on the Monday after Christmas.  We did Cafe Rio style Taco Salads, played some minute-to-win candy cane games, ticket to ride, and did our big gift exchange.  It was so much fun spending time with everyone.  Especially with my sisters Becca and Meri who both live out of town with their cute families.

     Christmas eve was spent at my parent's where we had dinner, played games, did the Nativity scene, ate cinnamon roles, egg nog, and hot cocoa!  

My brother always buys all the different kinds of eggnog for us to taste test on Christmas Eve!

Angel Deja

Our first Christmas Tree!!  

     On Christmas, Deja didn't wake up till 10:00 a.m. so John and I were able to sleep in, shower, and get ready for the day before she even stirred.  We put her stocking out by her crib with some little presents from Santa.  She was super excited and as soon as she saw her Daniel Tiger Coloring book, she just wanted to color for half an hour.  We finally were able to convince her to go into the other room were the tree was set up, so we could all open our presents together!  Some of the favorite gifts we received from each other and others were Dixit, Cafe Rio gift cards, Snow boots for John, new diaper bag for me, cookie sheets, books, chocolate, "War Horse" and so much more!

The funny conversation when I asked my mom if we could stop by for lunch haha.
(The Wades are my sister's family)

     After opening gifts we went over to my parents for lunch and hung out for a few hours.  We then went over to John's parents to talk to missionary Kyle!!  It's so fun to be able to facetime rather than just talk on the phone.  Gotta love technology!  Deja also tried taking herself to go potty in Grandpa's downstairs bathroom during the party....after she had already pooped in her diaper...she took off her pants, had her diaper halfway off, and was wiping herself when John's sister found her!  Luckily things hadn't gotten too messy yet, haha.  Yay for Potty Training in 2016, hopefully she's as "ready" as she lets on!!

     Deja absolutely loved everything about the holidays: the lights, spending time with cousins/friends, first time sledding/playing in the snow, getting new toys, learning about Christ's birth with our new nativity set, etc.  We are so very blessed and that was made very apparent during this time of year!