{pre-christmas festivities}

christmas is my favorite time of year.  well, next to summer because it's warmer and it lasts longer.  we cram a lot of fun into december.  we went to john's gfs annual christmas celebration in grand rapids.  we stayed one night and rocked out to switchfoot and listened to some comedians.  on sunday we went to breakfast and did a little shopping.  it's always fun to get away. we got the kids gfs gear and they all had to wear them to our church family christmas.  we looked like a gfs advertisement (and i realized that easton's shirt was inside out...it took me a while but i couldn't figure out why the logos were on opposite sides for the longest time).  

 my mom painted the ceramic christmas tree and gave one to each of my grandmas.  my mom was able to get them back so jen and i both got one.  i love it.  it's definitely one of my favorite decorations and i will always cherish it knowing it was made by my mom and loved by my grandma for so many years.  i also did a little chalking on my board for the first time.  i love my nativity and always enjoy having it on display. one of my sweet students got me a tree with lights and ornaments.  i'm pretty sure i didn't water it enough and it was pretty brittle the last few days before break.  i intended to bring it home and try to revive it but i definitely forgot it in my classroom.  i'm sure it's not going to look to pretty when i return. 

 we played a lot of games and celebrated with john's mom and dad before christmas.  i also made the kids get a picture without their gfs attire on a sunday. they were thrilled. ha!

we hosted our annual friends christmas with cookie decorating and lunch.  that night john and i went to his work's christmas crawl.  we went to four of his co-workers houses for a progressive dinner.  it was a lot of fun to see their houses and spend time with them in a less formal situation.