The Growing Caldwell Family

Some little moments of fun during our weekend at the lake. We thought it was too cold to enjoy sitting around a fire outside, so Sissy decided to roast her marshmallow in the fireplace! Beautiful, clear winter day! The crazies making their own fun as a “sandwich”! Aaron has been giving a small gift each day to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas and remind us of the meaning of each day. This one was an origami book for “Seven Swans A Swimming.” Pops keeps a fire going and the crackling, warm glow feels so cozy! Sissy picked up origami easy! A walk outside to take in the beautiful day! May gave the kids this fun basketball shoot out game. Pops and Charlie spent some time putting it together as an indoor activity for the kids. Charlie and Livy immediately got into and started making up “games”.

 We kept our tradition of celebrating Christmas with Grandaddy and MeMe over New Years at the lake.  We met up for dinner at the local Mexican restaurant.  Then, the kids were happy to open a few more gifts! Fun start to the holiday weekend!

We planned a fun outing to the movies to enjoy Wonka and dinner! The movie was great and dinner during a movie is always a treat!  

 Day after Christmas Aaron and I were back to work - thankful that work slows down a lot during the holidays! After work we spent time as a family trying out a new game that Santa brought! Turns out Sarah Graves is pretty competitive! The game has you collecting visits to National Parks and it was pretty fun! Nice to have a quiet evening to enjoy time together!

I love how our Santa pics turned out this year! Rod is very kind and keeps thinking of ways to keep it fresh! Sarah Graves and Charlie are very sweet and don't complain about going for portraits with Santa. I love the momento for each year! Santa is photo bombing us! I love this fence pose for my big kids!  My cool kid! This beautiful girl has gotten so tall! They each asked for one thing and Santa was astounded they didn't have a longer list. They are very grateful when it comes to toys and extras.  I love how our card turned out this year!  

After celebrating Livy, we were ready to dive into the mountain of gifts from Lovie and Pops! Because we take turns watching each person open, telling stories, and doing quick try ons and unboxings this takes a few hours. We enjoy doing it this way and I think it helps the kids appreciate the joy of giving and watching someone enjoy what you gave them.  A new doll for Livy. A toddler that she decided is three years old with a Christmas birthday like hers! Lovie with the two new babies - Katie and maybe Perseus Nay and Sissy are going to learn to crochet! Sarah Graves spent a lot of time designing and sewing Barbie clothes for Olivia. She took great care to make each piece and really thought about Olivia. It was a special gift! Charlie got a comfy! Look out! With a gaming chair and this to keep him comfy, he may never come out of his room! Aaron is going to be ready for anything on our next cruise! Pops is set with "shampoo" and now Aaron will be with "sunscreen"! Su...