Christmas Collages

Well, 2009 brought the Berry Family another great year of Christmas fun and blessings! Below are some collages of our three Christmases. The top one is from the Berry Christmas with Chuck's family. We did a Christmas Eve brunch and then opened our presents from Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Jack. We finished up by opening up stockings. We had exchanged names and did stockings full of goodies for one another. This was new this year, but really, really fun and I think we will definitely do it again next year! Some highlights for the kids were: Brock - Wii Sports Resort (for he and Kenzie), TONS of football/baseball cards, Axe body spray, cash and a Wal Mart gift card. Kenzie - Wii Sports Resort, Make Your Own Book kit, Zebra robe and pillow, cash, and socks. They got more than that, but those were some of the highlights.

The middle collage is from my mom and dad's Christmas. We went there for supper on Christmas Eve and we had so much fun! We had made a deal with my parents that we would not exchange gifts this year, but would just enjoy watching the kids open their gifts. I have to tell you that I didn't miss the gifts at all...it was just so much fun being with my parents and seeing the kids get to open their surprises. Some highlights from this Christmas were: Brock - Power Wing Scooter, remote control helicopter, iTunes card and LOTs of clothes! Kenzie - Scooter, Madame Alexander doll, bracelet, Miley Cyrus CD and LOTS of clothes!!! these children were certainly lucky this year!

The final collage is from our Christmas at home. We have some special traditions at our house and this year was no exception. We started our celebration on Christmas Eve night when we made hot chocolate with marshmallows and watched Polar Express. The kids also opened their traditional Christmas Eve gift (new jammies) and put out milk and cookies for Santa. Finally, before bedtime, we read The Night Before Christmas before tucking the kids into bed. At 7:00 Christmas morning we got up to open presents. My parents always join us for this and it has become a tradition to have juice, coffee and breakfast casserole after opening gifts...I love this so much! The pictures of such excited faces show it all! The kids loved their gifts and were very appreciative of them as well. Some highlights were: Brock - DSI, hand-held movie camera, Wimpy Kid book, basketball shoes and clothes. Kenzie - DS, pink camera, toe socks, "beauty box" with girly "stuff", and clothes. I want to post more about Christmas, but this is a great summary of our very blessed Christmas. We had so much to be thankful and to celebrate and we were grateful for every moment spent together! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas as well!

Christmas Program

Kenzie has been going to church on Wednesdays with her friend Kimber. They asked her if she wanted to be in the Christmas program and she happily agreed! It was fun to watch her do this with such a good friend! Thanks Sandy and Kimber for asking Kenzie to do this...she really enjoyed it!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Last weekend we had Steve and Dee over for supper. At one point during the evening the doorbell rang, and to everyone's surprise, Santa appeared! What an awesome surprise for the kids! Santa had gifts for every one of the Berrys and we were so thankful! Even though I am not in the pictures, Santa didn't forget me...I got an awesome Vanilla Cherry Cheesecake candle and it has burning every day since...LOVE it! We sure are some lucky people! Love you, Santa...thanks for remembering us this year...we think you are pretty special!

Gingerbread Fun

Kenzie had her friend Paige over to spend the night and they made this cute gingerbread house! They spent maybe 20 minutes total on this project, but they had a blast! This is something we haven't done before, but will definitely do again! It was great fun to watch them plan and giggle and munch on the candies as they created their gingerbread house! Love it!!! :0)

Happy Birthday Lex!

This pretty little cowgirl has a birthday today! This is another of our "adopted" children and she belongs to our best buddies, Steve and Dee! This little gal is smart, spunky, and super cute! Every time we see her, no matter where we are, I hear an excited squeal followed by, "Michelle!!!!!!!!!" She is always so excited to see me and give me a hug, and that melts my heart. We love this little darlin' and we hope she has an awesome birthday! We are looking forward to giving her our own birthday surprise tomorrow!! :0)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Decorating

We recently did our annual tree decorating. I always have these ideas of wonderful family bonding when we do this. I made everyone hot chocolate, we put on music and we were ready to begin the bonding. Ummmm.....yeah. That lasted about five minutes and then real life invaded. Someone stepped on an ornament, the kids were arguing over who got to put what ornaments on and Chuck and I could NOT get the ribbon to look the way we wanted around the tree. Well, you gotta love real life! I wouldn't have it any other way! By the end of the whole ordeal, we were all laughing and singing and we really did have those memorable moments of family bonding that I was envisioning, but just not quite the way I was expecting. Here are some shots of our decorating day. Every year we all get ornaments from my mom and dad. They always buy them on their trip to Pigeon Forge and we all look forward to them. The kids are really going to have quite a collection when they leave the house! Anyway, the kids put up all the decorations and Chuck and I just sit back and point out the bare spots...I think they did a fantastic job. Enjoy! :0)

Brock's Christmas Ornament from Grandma and Grandpa Shobe 2009

Chuck's Ornament 2009

The final product...they really did a great job!!!