Merry Christmas Part 1

Jeff and I started off our Christmas celebration by going to see A Christmas Carol at the DPAC with my mom and grandma. We got to stop for some pizza at Mellow Mushroom first:

We decorated our own tree. I made our topper this year, I'm trying to transition some of our decorations to burlap.

We then went to Providence for our annual Christmas Eve service with the Gardenhire family. We have grown up with this family and they have 4 girls just like we do.

We always take a picture in age order. Here are some from years past:

Our family:

The Gardenhire family:

Number 1s:

Number 2s:

Number 3s:

Number 4s:

The newest additions to our families:

They were both dressed so adorably cute in some Christmas gear! This was the start to our Christmas, be on the look out for more Christmas pictures.

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Grandkids Make Life Grand

While perusing Pinterest one day I came across this really good idea: I thought to myself that both my mom and Jeff's mom would really like this! So the crafting began. First I painted a wood board the colors that both ladies wanted. My mom wanted yellow and purple and Jeff's mom wanted tan and red. Next I played around until I found the right size for the letters. Then I cut them out of vinyl on my handy-dandy Cricut: I got some contact paper and lifted up the vinyl letters: Then I lined the letters up on the wood and attached: This is just me making sure that all of the edges are pushed down: And viola! The words are finished! To finish I added a ribbon on the back, ribbon flowers, and small clothes pins to hang pictures with. The final touch was adding pictures of the grandkids. After making this Jeff and I decided that we really liked it...so I might be making something similar for ourselves!

Paddling through Brunswick Stew

Last weekend was quite an exciting one for Jeff and me. Ashley and Neil came up Friday and stayed at our house that night. We love having friends come over, especially when we don't get to see them very often! The next morning we headed up to the Hester family farm that's in Virginia. The Hester clan was having a get-together because a family friend was teaching how to make Brunswick Stew. Now, when I think of Brunswick Stew I immediately think of Smithfield's. Probably because that's the only place I've actually eaten some...yes-I'm not a southerner. When we arrived at the house I was a little surprised to see this: Brunswick Stew cooking outside in a 5 gallon pot that was being stirred by Uncle Mac with a boat paddle. Ok-it's not really a boat paddle, but it sure resembles one! This was the true southern way to make Brunswick Stew, I was told by the other man in the picture (Mr. George). Mr. George also told me that he had a 30 gallon pot to make ...

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving started off with a sister, husbands, and dog walk before we stuffed ourselves silly! A Riegel girl tradition started many years ago after watching Winnie the Pooh. Pooh and his friends play a game where they all put a stick in the river and see whose stick comes out on the other side first. We've called it Pooh sticks since we started playing. I won! Back at the parents house ready to eat: Naomi enjoyed her first Thanksgiving meal: After Naomi's nap we went to have Thanksgiving with Jeff's family: Naomi enjoyed playing will all of the kids And Uncle Nich: Brother time:

Hester Happenings

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