NYE bash

Six years ago Dan and I decided to hold a Christmas party as a way to reunite our college friends after graduation. We had such a great turnout and so much fun that we decided to make it an annual event. This year we held the party on New Year's Eve. It was fun having plans for the evening (not always the case when you have two small children) and we enjoyed playing games and laughing with our friends. We missed our out-of-towners that couldn't make it this time and hope they (you) will be able to join us next year!Scootles even made an appearance to help us clean up.

Christmas with the DeYoung family, day two

After a fun afternoon and evening yesterday, we returned to my parent's house this morning for breakfast, Christmas songs, and the opening of presents.

Christmas with the DeYoung family, day one

I love our families. We have a lot of fun with both Dan's family and with mine. They are rather different, however. Dan's family consists of seven adults (soon to be eight) and four kids (soon to be five). My family consists of ten adults and twelve kids, all age eight and younger. It's loud and chaotic and a lot of fun. Today we had part one of the Christmas celebration, which consisted of an afternoon of games, a big dinner, and the opening of stockings and a few presents. Enjoy these snapshots into the chaos.

A short video of our Christmas dinner to really give you an idea of what our gatherings are like. I'm sure Dan and Megan are thrilled about this.

The biggest surprise of the day? My parents got each family a Zhu Zhu Pet of their own. I am pretty sure I was just as excited as the kids.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

After our trip to the museum we grabbed a quick bite to eat for lunch and then met up with family once again to take the kids to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Dan and I were quite impressed because Lillian sat through the entire thing. Caleb did quite well too. Way to go, kids!

Childrens Museum

This morning we met up with my parents and most of my siblings to bring the kiddos to the Grand Rapids Childrens Museum. I love taking our kids there and always enjoy taking pictures of the experience too. Everyone had a great time!Lillian loved dressing up as a penguin and didn't take the costume off until we made her. Caleb couldn't really explore the museum like his sister, so he just practiced his facial expressions instead. Here's a little bit of "Blue Steel."He learns from the best.

Five months

Last week Caleb turned five months old. Today I had a little photo shoot after church to commemorate the milestone.

Bonding with Bada and Poppy

After our photo op this morning we returned to Dan's parents' house for lunch, naps, and playtime before heading home. Caleb and Lillian each had some special time with their grandparents.

Pictures with cousins

Dan's family has a tradition that every year the cousins get professional pictures taken together for Christmas. This year we weren't able to make it work before Christmas, so we headed out for the annual photo op this morning. We were pleasantly surprised with how well it went.

Christmas with the DuPuis family

After having our morning festivities (and after Caleb got a good nap), we loaded up the van and headed to Flint to celebrate Christmas with Dan's family. Despite the excitement of the morning, Lillian eventually settled in for a nap along the way, which was a very good thing.
As always, we had a great time and the kids (and us) got some fun gifts too!

Christmas morning

Merry Christmas! Here are some scenes from Christmas morning at the DuPuis household. We had a really great morning together and enjoyed solidifying some family traditions now that Lillian is old enough to form some Christmas memories for the future. Enjoy!

Opening stockings...

Eating monkey bread...Reading from Lillian's Bible and lighting the Advent wreath...
Opening presents...

Wearing matching jammies (with matching penguins)...

Looking sweet!