Wrapping up 2018

We had such a full December, and I'm ending the month feeling very happy about all that we were able to fit in to our Christmas season. We've left up our tree and decor to enjoy for just a while longer. I don't want to rush to put away all the twinkling lights and the greenery, though I am ready to organize and put away all the new toys that came into our house! :)  Here are our December highlights:

Snowman Peeps in homemade hot chocolate . . . a tasty way to start the Christmas season!

At the beginning of the month, Home Depot had a project to build Santa's sleigh and reindeer, which the boys loved.

We went to President Benjamin Harrison's home for the first time. It's a 10,000 sq ft mansion that was beautifully decorated for Christmas. They even had actors reenacting Harrison and his wife Caroline on Christmas Day 1888.

When big brother gets a new winter coat, everyone has to try it on :)

We went to the Santa Lucia Fest and had a great time! The boys met Jultomten, ate Pepparkakor cookies, and listened to Christmas songs sung in Swedish.

Steve's university threw a Christmas party, complete with real reindeer to pet!

After dinner, the line to see Santa went down, and the boys gave him their wishlists!

Matching Christmas jammies, 2018 edition! I love this photo!

 My friend Lindsay and I went to a Christmas tea at her church, and it was a lovely morning.

 

August is always trying to steal my drinks and food!

We haven't had any significant snow yet this year, but August is ready with his Lightning McQueen boots!

The library has a program where kids can read to therapy dogs. Nolan and Ephraim loved doing this!

Not many other kids showed up, so they read to their dogs for nearly an hour!

I made Dala horse gingerbread cookies, and August became pretty obsessed with eating the "neigh neigh" cookies. :)

We also built a gingerbread A-frame cabin from Trader Joe's. It turned out really cute, and August was intent on eating it.

It's always a great feeling when the Christmas cards are done and mailed out!

 

Our Christmas photo - thanks to Phil for taking it for us!

  

Ephraim's always offering to open his afternoon snack shop for his ever-hungry mama.

The Friday before Christmas, we headed to Pennsylvania to celebrate with our families, and we were there for over a week.

I won this book from my friend Heidi's Instagram, and it is the cutest Christmas book! The illustrations are beautiful.

Mormor and Papa Don took us to Mary Poppins Returns, and August sat completely still throughout the entire thing - a Christmas miracle!

Nolan and Ephraim have been singing the songs nonstop since we saw the movie!

We had lunch with our friends, the Yohes. Carol made a completely kid-friendly meal of dinosaur chicken nuggets, pizza tater-tot casserole, fries, strawberries, and ice cream sundaes :)

The boys share a full size bed at Mormor's house, and every night, I would find them in these adorable cuddling positions!

It was too funny!

On Christmas Eve, Steve and I sat in the same spot we got engaged 10 years before :)

August REALLY wanted to hold his own candle at the Christmas Eve service. He did not want me holding it at all, which meant he screamed through half of Silent Night, and I was left with this sweet photo :)

We had a Christmas Eve dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, rice pudding, and French Silk pie.

 I snapped this photo of the four brothers and their dad playing a game and never looking more alike.

Relaxing after the big rush of gift-opening.

The whole Zimm gang!

 Traditional Christmas Day lunch with cousins!

All of the activity of Christmas week was really tiring for this little guy!

 

 While we were in PA, I reached the 20 week mark of my pregnancy! I can't believe we're over halfway to meeting this little baby, and I wonder who he or she is going to be!

Grandma made brownies to celebrate August's birthday a little early at their house. He loved being sung to!

I finished my 2018 goal to read the Bible in a year! I wrote a quick post about books here.

 

 These were my "Top Nine" most-liked photos of the year. Looking back, we had such a great year. The two biggest things were buying our first home and finding out about baby four!

Here's to a fresh start in 2019!!!