Friday, December 28, 2018

Dad's Birthday

He doesn't look a day over 30!
Dad didn't sleep in too long this year, and he didn't take down any of the Christmas decorations either.  He just lazed around all day, read to the kids, took a nap with Mom during the boys movie, and enjoyed people being nice to him. We had early dinner at Tucano's, and surprisingly, the kids loved it. Seth would have eaten an entire grilled pineapple and Mark really liked the sirloin. Dax just liked taking one bite of everything that was offered.
Dad and Dax loved trying everything that came their way.
Mom, Mark, and Seth ate enough pineapple to last a lifetime! 
Seth even begged Mom to make grilled pineapple at home, which she did!
We were glad Mark was willing to try some new foods.
After dinner we opened presents and there were Van Gogh puzzles and a shiny new vacuum with all the attachments you could want. Mom even made a lemon cream pie, which is Dad's favorite. He couldn't have had a happier birthday.
Dad pointed to where Mom sat without him in Fenway Park.
Dad was super excited about this puzzle!
Then he received another Van Gogh puzzle and a few ties from Brittany!
We love Dad! Happy Birthday!

Christmas Day

We had an amazing Christmas this year. The boys were so sweet and went shopping for each other several times. They bought everyone in the family multiple presents. It was fun to watch how excited they were to give. Dax and Seth kept up their usual tradition of making presents for people. They are so creative, and you know when you open a present that they have spent a lot of time on that they really love you and were thinking about you.

We had a few early Christmas celebrations since both Stephanie's family and Grandma and Grandpa Daniels came down before Christmas to celebrate. We had a great time visiting with them, and loved the fun presents that Stephanie made this year including a homemade baseball game complete with all of our favorite Red Sox players.
We celebrated Katelynn's birthday when the Ferlans came to visit!
The Ferlans gave us Laser Guns which are fun, and also cause the most fights!
Everyone loved this amazing baseball game Stephanie created!
We made ornaments with Laurie and her family! It is our favorite Christmas tradition!
Grandma and Grandpa came to stay for one night and spoiled the boys plenty.
Grandma made them Christmas jammies, too!
The boys had been begging to make gingerbread houses all year, so Mom finally caved on Christmas Eve and let them create some graham cracker houses. It was fun, and we used up the 2 year old candy saved from the last time we built them!
The houses all turned out amazing!
Dax made a temple with a Moroni on top that he drew on with a marker!
Seth made Santa's workshop compete with a sleigh and elves inside. 
Dad created an amazing snowman!
Mark built this festive holiday house!
Later on Christmas Eve we walked to the Holiday for a soda for the holidays. 
From Santa, the boys each enjoyed a new Dowdle puzzle. Seth got a pirate ship and the boys got drones. There were also old Disney movies in everyone's stocking. The boys played with their new loot while Mom got breakfast ready. Later Grandpa came over and we spent some time visiting with him. Other than that, we played Dad's new classic Nintendo and tried to clean up the boxes and wrapping paper.
Heading down to see what Santa brought!
Dax was so excited about everything!
Mark loves Blackbeard's Ghost!
Seth wanted to do his Canada puzzle right away!
We had Christmas breakfast of home made donuts.
For dinner Mom made an amazing ham and the boys practiced their manners. Then they opened their gifts that gave them clues about our big trip. Only Seth was super-excited to learn we are visiting Jim and Naimah in New Zealand this summer. Mark and Dax were too stunned to say anything! It was another great Christmas, and we feel so blessed to have so much!
The boys were great gift receivers this year. 
Silly faces for Christmas!
Everyone was stoked about the trip to New Zealand, but Seth most of all. 
We love when Grandpa Ockey stops by!
Dad set the table and folded the beautiful napkin roses.
Merry Christmas 2018!

Christmas Activities

We did so much this Christmas season! One of our favorite adventures was a sleigh ride to see Santa. The ride wasn't so great as it was mostly dark, but the bells on the horses trace chains, and the crunch of the snow under the wagon wheels was really nice. Seeing Santa was pretty cool, though. We met he and Mrs. Claus with no line and no fuss. It was great!
Mark and Mom snuggled up for warmth on the ride.
These guys can't take a normal picture.
Seth and Dax claim their favorite food is snow.
We had a pretty significant snow early in December too, which was awesome. Our boys love to shovel and though it was deep, they still managed to do a few driveways. Those six inches were mostly gone by Christmas, but we enjoyed them while they lasted.
Seth is a great shoveler.
We like to do a widow's driveway after we finish ours. 
Candlelight Christmas at This is the Place Heritage Park offered us free tickets again. We really like going, so the boys were grateful. They had a few more activities going on this year, but our favorite is always Pioneer dancing in the school house. This year Dad enjoyed it so much he said he's going to start his own Pioneer dancing tradition.
We took a picture in the Church, but nothing was going on inside.
The boys took a picture by the Nutcracker, which they named Leon.
Father Christmas looked every day of his 3,000 years old.
Seth enjoyed the fresh baked gingerbread cookies.
Best of all, we spotted our old friend the Barn Owl, whom we hadn't seen for nearly a year.
We managed tickets to the Alpine Nativity. We love the walk through noisy Bethlehem,
followed by the peaceful walk through the stable.
We had the neighbor boys over when their parents
locked themselves out of their house and car!
Seth is loving his kindergarten year with Mrs. Duvall. She has been a singing teacher for a long time, so we knew Seth would get some good training. Sure enough his class had a Christmas Concert in December. Seth had a smile on his face the whole time. It is so fun having a kindergartener!
Seth has adapted really well to calling Mom's friend Angee "Mrs. Duvall."
Dad misses all these concerts, but he's glad Mom is always there to take pictures.
We also took the kids back to Funtopia. We like the climbing place, and they had a night with cheap rates. The boys climbed every wall, and Seth started out pretty timid, climbing down after about ten feet. But by the end of the hour, he was at the top of the wall. Dad had the most fun of all, because the two workers were ex-students of his, and they gave him some free tickets for next time!
We're always amazed that the kids start out timid and end up confident in just an hour.
Both Mark and Dax tried the jump for the first time.
The Ockey Family Christmas Party took place at Aunt Sandy's, same as always. Our boys love being around family, even though there are around 70 people there now! They always look forward to three things: Sitting on Santa's lap, eating egg nog ice cream, and especially picking a candy cane to take home. They were not disappointed this year!
Dax recognized Santa from the other two times we saw him!
We've had our eye on the Miller Family Christmas Sing Along at the Jazz Arena for a long time. This year we finally made it. As usual, we arrived early and ended up on the sixth row. They had a live orchestra and some amazing singers, but mostly they let us sing along. They even sold concessions for half price. Grandpa and some of Sandy's family showed up and sat with us so we had a really great time. 
Seth graciously shared popcorn with Grandpa.
We like to sing Christmas songs. 
We were on the floor a few rows behind the Miller family.
It was so fun!

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