Tyler is 30!!

  So my awesome husband turns 30 the end of December. To be quite honest...I totally forgot about it. Not the birthday part but the big 3-0 part and the party that comes with it. I had planned on doing some sort of small party for him but with all of my sessions, planning our church Christmas program, planning Tenlee's birthday party and just Christmas in general I totally forgot about it! So this past week I picked a date and prayed it would work for our immediate family and super close friends, sent out quick "text invites", ordered some party supplies hoping they would come in time for the party and tried to plan a very budget friendly food list and do this all without him finding out. And then to top everything off he told me right after I had it all planned that he would be out of town for a few days and not be back till the night of the party. But my dad knew about this and promised he would be back in time! The day of,  he called me and told me they were having problems with the machine and it would be later than they thought. So it ended up be about 45 minutes later than I had orginally planned. But in the end it all worked perfect. He told me as much as he didn't want a party he was so touched that so many people gave up their Friday evening to come celebrate with him.

Merry CHRISTmas

We had a really fun Christmas this year. Tyler and I were saying last week that it is amazing how we used to love getting gifts each year, and we still do, but the older we get (and the kiddos) the more exciting it is to watch our kids open their gifts. I have the same exact excitement on Christmas Eve I had a kid, but now its excitement towards seeing our kids faces open their presents. 

Reading about baby Jesus being born

I'm pretty sure the horses were a hit

Kooper giving daddy his gift

Sissy's gift to mommy

 Tucker loved his turtle, it went directly in his mouth

Tenlee was so cute...she knows they only get 3 presents so when she saw 2 extra little boxes on top of her biggiest gift she was confused as to why she got 5 things and the boys only got 3 things. Tyler told her that the two little gifts went with the big gift and there wasn't any room in the box to put them. She was ok after that...but it was neat seeing her worry that she got more than her little brother's.

 Her reaction was just priceless when she opened 

up her tinkerbell dress and wing set. 

Phares Christmas

 Troyer Christmas

We got down there earlier than we thought so we had to wait for a few people to arrive and then we ate before opening up gifts. Lets just say she was trying so very hard to be patient about opening up the presents. 

He loved his new big boy underwear and his new 

shoes. He wore them pretty much all afternoon

 Tucker's first tractor

Getting Ready for CHRISTmas!

  The older the kids get, the more exciting and just fun CHRISTmas time is for our family. I love how Tyler and I have started traditions with Tenlee and now she remembers them and is telling Kooper those little things. There are several things we did last year that she has remembered and is asking to do again. 

  This year Tenlee was old enough to do Operation Christmas Child. She chose to buy for a girl age 5-7 and picked out everything on her own. She had so much fun shopping for her and as we were putting everything in the box, Tenlee said "I can't wait to see her smile when she opens this!" It just melts my heart to see my daughter get excited about seeing someone else smile about some small gifts she picked out. This is definitely a tradition that we will be doing each year and adding the boys as they get older.

One tradition that we started when Tenlee was born was buying each one a new ornament each year to add to the tree. I think it would be neat to give them 18 ornaments when they graduate. Each one will be such a special memory and something they can pass down to their own kids someday. 

 

Sending her letter to Santa...she is asking for a treehouse with squirrels
and a tinkerbell outfit with wings so she can fly to heaven and see Jesus.

We took the kiddos to the Windmill Museum in Kendallville to see Santa and to see all of the pretty lights they decorate with. It was a great night to walk around outside with all 3 and see all of the decorations, and of course they loved Santa.

 A tradition we started last year was doing a gingerbread house with my mom, Tenlee and I. This year we did one again and had so much fun! The kids love Charlie Brown so I was excited that I was able to find one at our local grocery (and on sale:).

The kiddos were in our church CHRISTmas program this year. Tenlee was supposed to be an angel in the program but ended up getting bronchitis so she stayed home with my mom. Kooper sang "Away In The Manger" with the big kids and he was also a grandchild during the reading of the birth of Christ. Tucker was baby Jesus, and he did just perfect...no fussing at all!

All dressed and ready to go to church