Christmas Celebrations

We had a very Merry Christmas this year and hope you and your family did as well!  

Here is our Christmas card picture that our dear neighbor took for us before church one Sunday in December.  

This holiday season, Ruby helped me do lots of baking which included at least three separate sessions of cut-out cookie baking and frosting.  

She's a pretty good helper ;)

When Grandpa Bill and Grandma LaDonn came for Ruby's birthday, we made cute little Christmas tree goodies to give to our neighbors.

I took the kids to the Holiday Lights Parade in Cedar Rapids.  We dressed very warm and had a great time!

We celebrated Christmas with the Van Heukelom side the weekend before Christmas because both Paul and Jon had to work Christmas Eve and Stef and the kids would be in Sibley over Christmas.  

The whole gang ;)

Ruby and Asher

We spent the week of Christmas at home this year.  It was very calm and relaxing.  Paul had to work through Christmas Eve but he had Christmas Day off.  

The Elf on the Shelf visited us this year and the kids loved finding him every morning.  On Christmas morning, he left us a note explaining that he was back with Santa.  He also reminded us that although Santa is a fun guy who loves Christmas, Jesus is the reason we celebrate Christmas.  Our Elf, who Ruby named Arky, found The Christmas Story book on our bookshelf so we read that Christmas morning.  

The kids opened stockings and a few presents from us (and Santa too!) on Christmas morning.  We went to Papa Gary and Grandma Ruth's in Williamsburg that evening for supper.  

Paul had to work for a few days after Christmas and then he had about a week off over New Year's.  We headed to Sibley on the 30th.  We have pretty awesome travelers.  :)

One of Jace's favorite things about Sibley is getting a ride in Grandpa's skidloader.  

On New Year's Eve we went to Sioux Falls and had supper with Kenny, Carrie, and Tate.  We got to visit the Light Show at the Western Mall.  The kids had fun dancing to the music synced with the beautiful lights.  

Then we braved the freezing cold weather and went to Falls Park.

It was also our TEN year anniversary!  Crazy how time flies!  :)

Our time in Sibley also involved a lot of baking!  Ruby got to decorate more cut-out cookies.

And helped Grandma LaDonn make popcorn balls for the second year in a row.  I sense a tradition forming!

Hattie and Brandon arrived January 1st, as did Autzen.  Jace loves him.  

We also spent some time with my grandparents.  My grandma fell in her garden this past fall and broke her hip.  She is 84 years old and is probably the most beautiful 84 year old I know!  ;)  Despite being so tiny (she also has some tummy issues that limits her diet), she is doing amazingly well.  I was so impressed to see her up and moving around like nothing ever happened.  

One afternoon while Jace napped, the big kids and Ruby went bowling!  My cousin, Ally manages part of the bowling alley and invited us to our own private party.  ;)  We had the whole bowling alley to ourselves and had a blast.  I bowled the best I've ever bowled at 7 months pregnant!  I'm not sure what that says!  ;)

This was Ruby's first time bowling.  She said this was her favorite place ever!  They did not have bumpers or anything for littles to use to roll their ball down the lane.  So after a few variations in rolling the ball, she got some pins down!  

Jace, my cousin Ally's little girl Jaylee, Tate, and Ruby

Tate and Jace 

Saturday mornings in the Hartzell household almost always includes bakery doughnuts!  

And this girl can put one down no problem ;)

We opened gifts with my whole family on Saturday morning, January 3rd, before traveling home the next day.  

Ruby loves putting on magic shows, so she got a Princess Sofia magician's costume.  We caught her in the mirror later in the day just looking at herself with her new look! 

Jace and Tate helping eachother.  

Grandpa Bill trying hard to help Jace before his patience runs out.   :)

We always love our time in Sibley and it is always so special having the whole family together.  

Ruby's busy birthday week!

Ruby turned FOUR on December 17th!   

She requested an "Octonauts" birthday theme. 

She had quite the fun and busy birthday week.  It started on the Saturday before her actual birthday.  She had her first "friends party" which was held at Synergy Gymnastics.  Ruby and Jace both take gymnastics classes at this gym and they put on a great birthday party as well!   

It proved very difficult to get good pictures as none of the children sat still for more than 2 seconds!  

Jace tried very hard to keep up with the older kids!

Ruby and her friend, Lauren

The whole gang

Jace and Grandpa Bill

Sydney, Emerson, Ava, Lauren, Zoe, Elsa, Nora, and Awen

Colin and Clara

Deegan

Lauren, Zoe, Elsa

One of Ruby's favorite gifts ;)  She was completely spoiled and loved receiving gifts from her sweet friends.

The day before her actual birthday, her preschool held a Christmas program for family.  It was so fun to have them sing for us.  Ruby was on the top row and was pretty serious during the concert.  She told me afterwards, she was a tad bit afraid of falling off the top riser.  She did give us some smiles though in between songs!  

Ruby and Elsa  ;)

Cinnamon rolls on birthday morning 

Jace's "cheese" face... oh dear....

Ruby had dance on her birthday and she brought frosted sugar cookies to share with her dance friends.

Ruby and Zoe

Then that night we had Papa Gary, Grandma Ruth, Jon, Stef, Syd, and Asher over to celebrate again!  

The day after her birthday was her "special helper day" at preschool.  We brought reindeer cookies for her special treat.  

She brought her Octonauts octopod and accessories for show and tell.  The second it came out of the bag, Jace was front and center wanting to play.  Ruby handled it very well and continued to share while Jace played.  

Her class also sang their Purple Song for the parents that day.  

Ruby received a gingerbread house kit for her birthday so we put that together the day after her birthday as well.  

This girl is so kind-hearted and we just love her to pieces.  She is a good buddy to her little brother although we do remind her often that the way she treats him is teaching him how to act, so she better share and be nice!  ;)  

The most exciting thing about turning four, was the fact that she gets to attend Sunday School at church.  She informed us one day, that after she turns four she will be very busy because she will have two schools to go to: preschool and Sunday school.  ;)

She is getting smarter by the day and it amazes us the things she comes up with.  She is becoming more aware with serious issues in her life and others.  For instance, she has started to ask questions about why her hair isn't growing.  It kind of breaks our hearts, but we assure her that her hair is growing, just slowly!  And that it doesn't matter what we look like!  We will love her always and so will Jesus!  We are just glad that this is the most serious issue we have to deal with at age 4!  

Love you tons, Ruby girl!

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving celebrations took place over two weeks.  First, Ruby had her Thanksgiving Feast at preschool.  Although I wasn't able to help prepare the feast for the kids, Jace and I did sneak in a bit early to snap a few pictures!  

Ruby and I have a standing date most afternoons for craft time while Jace naps.  

The weekend before Thanksgiving we headed to Sioux Falls.  We stayed one night at Kenny and Carrie's house.  We also got to see Uncle Joel's new house for the first time!

Jace and cousin Tate, who is just five months older!

Then we headed to Sibley to spend the rest of the weekend with my parents.  Jace has a strong bond with Grandpa Bill.  

The guys held down the fort on Saturday while I went to a wedding with my mom.  They got lucky and had both kids sleeping while they watched the Hawkeyes!

Nap hair ;)

Grandma LaDonn gave the kids Christmas jammies!  

Paul worked on Thanksgiving Day, so the kids and I headed to Pella with Gary and Ruth.  Here are just some of the youngest grandkids/great grandkids on the Van Gorp side.  

Jace also has quite the bond with Papa Gary ;)

The kids stayed overnight in Williamsburg with Papa Gary and Grandma Ruth.  Paul had to "work" the Iowa/Nebraska football game the next day.  It had to be one of the coldest games played in Kinnick!  

Snow on our seats.  

Despite the freezing cold weather and wind, it was a great game to watch.  However, the Huskers pulled away with a win over our beloved Hawkeyes.  

Meanwhile, back in Williamsburg, Ruby found the only snow that was left to build a small snowman.  She apparently didn't mind the cold as much as we did!