We had a wonderful Christmas this year and got to have some great family time. It started out the week before Christmas with the annual Mattern Family Christmas Reunion. There is always a great turnout and it is always good to see family. Too bad we only get to see most of them once a year. Since Jameson and Michelle are getting married this summer, hopefully we will get to see a lot of them mid year.
Greg and I stayed several nights at my parents house over Christmas. It was so much fun having a full house. My sisters were there with their families and we had a blast playing games together. There were also 3 dogs running around the whole time which just added to the excitement.
We were especially glad to get in lots of Kyler time! He is so smiley and can sit up now. He is so much fun. We got some practice feeding and bathing him and snuggling him.
Since Lauren and I were both with away for Thanksgiving with our husbands families, we did the traditional Grosse Thanksgiving dinner on Christmas day. Then after dinner we went on a walk outside to look at the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. It was COLD. But hey, you know what sounds great in the cold? A polar swim! So Greg, Cody, and Chloe decide that when we get back to the house they are jumping into the freezing cold pool. Chloe jumped in first and she was so fast I didn't even get a picture of her. I managed to (sort of) get Greg, and got a great shot of Cody.
Later that night we ended up playing hours and hours of Catch Phrase. As we got tired the game just got funnier. We finally had to call it a night.
I am thankful for such a great Christmas spent with family and time to relax, laugh, and celebrate Christ's birth.
