Christmas at the Homestead

Every year we pretty much have three Christmases . . . Christmas with just our little family, Christmas with my side of the family, and Christmas at the N Homestead. The blessing of having so much family, good food, gifts, and places to visit is not lost on me. I try to always think of it in this light . . . as a blessing and nothing more!

This year, we went out to the Homestead to celebrate Christmas with Chris's side of the family on Saturday, December 26th. Even though the Homestead is only 40 minutes from our house, we aren't able to spend much time out there. It was nice to be able to visit this day.

We started our visit with lunch, then exchanged gifts not long after lunch was over. This, of course, is the kids' favorite part!

Brecklyn and Brooke got the Cry Babies they have wanted for a while!

Bren was a happy boy with his loot!

Brooke, Brecklyn, Meme, and Brianna

We're always thankful for beautiful weather when we visit the Homestead because that means we can spend time enjoying the outdoors. Bren had been itching to go out there and shoot a BB gun my brother gave him back at the end of the summer. I said above that gift opening was probably the kids' favorite part of the day, but I don't think that was true for Bren. His favorite part was definitely shooting his gun!

He is so serious about his target practice, and literally stood out there for hours aiming at different targets. 

For the first time, the girls actually got in on the target practice, too. 

Brecklyn

When I asked Brecks if she enjoyed this activity, she replied, "Not really." Lol.

Brianna was having a great time, but Daddy was not impressed with her not taking it very seriously. We are hard core about gun safety, and she had some lessons to learn.

Brooke wanted to shoot more than any of the other girls. This is not surprising to me!

While Bren looks forward to shooting out on the Homestead, the tire swing is Brooke and Brecklyn's highly anticipated activity. They LOVE the tire swing!

They had Daddy, Papa, Uncle Joe, and Zeke pushing them at different times throughout the day.

Meme likes to have a family photo taken when we're all together, and somehow I'm typically the one she appoints to take said photos. This year, I thought it would be nice to take the photos outdoors since the weather was so gorgeous. I scoped out a place, waited until the lighting was just right, and set up my new tripod with a remote shutter. 

After looking through the photos I captured, I realized I made a mistake in not personally placing everyone. This was take number one, and the only somewhat decent photo I took. Meme is mostly hidden behind Papa, and my face obviously wasn't camera ready. 

However, I think it beats take two where Meme is still hidden, Papa is picking his nose, and Brooke has her hand over her face. 

Take three - Brooke is mimicking Papa and Papa is, well, being Papa. *shrugs shoulders*

It doesn't get better with take four. Someone is acting the fool in every photo. In most photos, it's multiple someones.

I mean, he's standing on one foot in this one!

At least we were being silly on purpose in this one. Ah well, what can I say???

So yeah, despite the family photo fail, we were thankful for a nice day, the opportunity to spend time with family, and the beautiful weather that allowed us to be outside!