Good old fashioned Christmas

Maren:
Christmas break came... it seemed like it never would... and we finished school off with our program and a little party.  Nonna, Nonno, Mommy and Maddox got to come to my program but Daddy was on shift again.  We sang "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" and did a really good job.  Friday before school let out we had a great party.  We got to wear our pajamas to school that day too!  Mommy got to come for the party and we watched a movie, drank coco, and ate way too much junk food!
Right after school we headed home and jumped right into the car for a trip away.  Daddy always plans a special getaway for mommy's birthday and this year was no exception!  But, even though we wanted to stay longer because the snow was incredible, we had to get home for Santa to come!  I wrote him a letter asking him to come to our house early because Daddy worked on Christmas morning.  And, he was good and kind and honored our request!  He showed up and left magical snowy footprints all over the house!
Christmas was fantastic and one of the best ever I think.  Nonna and Nonno came to stay the night with us so they could be here Christmas morning.  I woke up just before 5:00 but mommy made me go back to bed to wait for brother.  It was absolute torture so I got up every 10-15 minutes and would peek out my door!  Finally around 7:00 Maddox woke up and we got to go down stairs.  Santa brought me the Baby Alive that I asked for so I was ecstatic!  I literally didn't put her down all day!  Ok, maybe a few times but I made sure that she was being held by someone if I did.  I got some really amazing lego sets from mommy and daddy and they even got me the Hatchimal that I asked for!
Mommy tried to pack my break with lots of fun activities so a few days after Christmas we met Nonna in town and went to see the new Mary Poppins movie at the theater.  Maddox and I both really liked it.  Then a few days after that we picked up Jace, Bella, and Miss Heather for an ice skating excursion down to Ashland.  I have never been before and boy, was it hard!  Mommy said that I looked like Bambi on ice with my wobbly lets but I sure was a trooper.  Mommy also said that "I fell 100 times if I fell once", whatever that means but all I know is that by the time we left I was getting the hang of it.  I didn't want to go and was the last one off of the ice!

Maddox:
I love the snow!  This year was perfect for me because I am a bit bigger and can walk around better on my own without falling over!  That is a game changer for sure when you're talking about deep snow!  We had a blast at the cabins, just like always!  We tried out some new cabins this year because we really wanted to sled up at Diamond Lake.  We had a great family weekend like always and made some really great memories.  Sissy and I got our own room with our own big beds at the cabins so we thought that was really cool.  We spent hours jumping back and forth between the beds and laughing like crazy!  The sledding was awesome and so crazy fast at Diamond Lake but I honestly think I had more fun just making our own trails and digging in the snow.
Christmas morning came and was wonderful.  Santa brought me my very own set of legos so that I don't have to play with sissy's anymore!  He even got me a Lightning McQueen Set too!  I got lots of other cool toys.... a tool set, my very own set of Fire Fighter turnouts, and more.  Sissy and I even got a trampoline from all of the grand parents, aunts, and uncles!  We were definitely excited about that.
Because Daddy had to work Christmas day and we had finished with all of our presents we all went down to the fire station to hang out with Daddy and his crew.  The boys made us dinner so the mommys didn't have too cook!
Sissy told you about the ice skating but I can't say I was the biggest fan!  Thank goodness they had the little walkers to hang on too or it would have been a very bad day for me!  I had fun holding on and getting a ride around the rink though and I especially liked it when mommy went really fast!
Our last big event of 2018 was a little New Years gathering with our good friends the Chick family.  I had no idea that it was New Years Eve, I was just happy that my good buddy Wyatt got to come over and stay the night!