Aylward Christmas 2013

On January 4, the families of my Grandma and her brother and sister all got together for the Aylward Christmas. We were fortunate to be able to have the gathering at the old AWV elementary school in Vail, and the venue was perfect for us. There was room for everyone to hang out together and not all be on top of each other and room for all the kids and adults to play!

A lot of the members of our family had gone through elementary school in this building at one time or another. We all agreed that everything looked A LOT bigger when we were there all those years ago!

When we arrived, everyone quickly began chatting and snacking. The babies of the group also immediately began getting lots of attention!

Then it was time to eat!

Followed by more visiting, game playing, basketball and football watching, napping and baby holding!

Then we all gathered for the gift opening. All the kids high school age and younger had drawn names to buy presents for each other and all the adults did the usual grab bag gifts. As always, there was a lot of good gifts and people not being afraid to steal the gifts they wanted from each other!

Grandma stealing Aunt Jeanne's scarf!

Don't worry, she got another scarf to replace the stolen one!

After all the presents were opened, everyone had a chance to just hang out together for the rest of the night, eat more food, and just have fun. I love getting together with our family! Ever since I can remember, we have always had a blast when we are all together and I don't see that ending any time in the near future!

Uncle Ted at the kids' table with his great granddaughters!

New Years Eve

This year, we didn't have anything big planned to ring in 2014. We definitely had a great time, though.

On New Years Eve Eve, my mom came to stay with us. When she got into town, the two of us went to get manicures and pedicures. And then, when we got home, we continued our streak of putting puzzles together and did another one! :)

Then, on New Years Eve, we had plans to go to Lauritzen Gardens and do a little shopping, but my mom ended up having to go home earlier than we had planned. That left Trent and I with the rest of the day to fill.

We didn't really have much planned for the night anyway because Trent wasn't feeling the best, so we laid low for the night. We joined the senior citizens for an early 4:30 supper at Applebee's where we ate way too much. Then we went to Home Depot and Lowe's to pick a few supplies that were needed to finish some tiny projects at home. 

That's about when our night got really crazy! When we got home, we replaced a light in our basement that I had pulled the chain out of right after we moved in and then attempted to replace one of our light switches with a new wireless switch that Trent got for Christmas. These were meant to be two quick tasks, and the first one was, but after about an hour or two and Trent getting a slight shock, we had to abandon our attempts to put in the wireless light switch because we realized it wouldn't work the way we wanted it to. But finally, our projects were complete for th night.

We spent the rest of the evening switching back and forth between ABC's and NBC's New Year's countdowns and eating some more good food. It was a great, relaxing night and a very nice way to ring in the new year. After the hustle and bustle of our Christmas travels, it was wonderful to have some alone time with my husband at home and kiss him at midnight as we welcomed another year together. 

I am hopeful that 2014 will be another great year for us. I don't know what the year will bring, but I am certain that God has it all in His hands.

How we spent our night

Our blurry selfie to commemorate our night...

Happy 2014, Everyone!! 

(19 days later!)

Jons Christmas 2013

On the Saturday after Christmas, my mom's side of the family all got together at her house for supper and a Christmas party.

We gathered in the basement first to open presents. The little kids provided some entertainment, as it's always fun to watch small people open presents.

Molly and Derrick brought
Walter to the party, too!

I spy Nicholas behind the tree!

Grandpa was trying to help get everyone their presents by snatching them with his cane. When no one claimed the present, he also decided that he should open it for himself! :)

After the kids opened their presents, it was time for the adults to open theirs.

There were plenty of gifts to go around for everyone, and we did our gift card exchange again this year. There was plenty of stealing going on, but hopefully, in the end, everyone got something that they can use!

And the best part of the night is when Doreen hands out the family calendar. It's always fun to flip through it for the first time and see what kind of pictures made the calendar!

After all the gifts were opened, it was then time to eat. Again, there was plenty of great food for us all to eat!

The lady that makes it all happen!

The kids even got their own little table, and I think they had a good time!

When we were done eating everyone hung out for a while and we played a couple games of Bananagrams. 

Never too big for Grandpa's lap, I guess!

Austin did NOT want his picture taken. Muhahahaha!!

To round out the night, we put a puzzle together to kill the time until midnight when we could all ring in Jared's 22nd birthday!!! A great end to a fun party!