Christmas with the Lutz's

Saturday morning we headed to Norfolk to celebrate with the Lutz's. The weather was about the craziest Christmas weather we have ever driven in. The wind was blowing like crazy and around Columbus it started to thunder, lightening and snow all at the same time. I think Nebraska is a little confused on what season we are in. We made it there safe and sound and ready to celebrate Christmas again.

This year, like every other, Susie made all the girls a Christmas dress. This year we took Emmy with us and she let her pick out her fabric because she was old enough. We realized our mistake very quick when she wanted character fabric, mermaid looking fabric etc. We finally had made it into the Christmas dress fabric aisle, when she spotted this crushed red velvet with sequined stars on it. She fell in love with it and was convinced that this was the one and only fabric for her Christmas dress. Susie and I tried to humor her for a little bit while we tried to figure out if we could make this into a cute dress or would it just be obnoxious. The final consensus was that it was horrible and we had to choose something else. So in the spirit of Grandmas never say No, Susie offered to make Emmy a "riding hood" out of the fabric. She agreed and then we went on to pick out really cute dress material. Anyway, Susie had made this riding hood for Emmy and she was thrilled with it! It turned out to be adorable for this and it almost has a Harry Potter cape look to it. It was a win win.

When we got there lunch was ready and everyone was ready to eat, especially the kids because they were anxious for presents.

Grammy had made all the kids personalized pillows from t-shirts that were special to them. It was such a neat and thoughtful gift and all the kids loved their pillows!

Merry Christmas from our family.

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids

They clean up pretty well if presents are on the line. 

Grandma and the girls in their beautiful dresses. Crazy Emmy and her sensory issues with clothing made it impossible for her to wear her sequined dress without something under it so you can see her dri-fit 3/4 sleeves sticking out. 

The girls in their Christmas dresses.

From here on out the photos are courtesy of Aaron. Having a photographer in the family has its perks! Except after seeing his pictures I realize how mediocre mine really are. Bryce loved his new basketball shoes!

Emmy looking really surprised and adorable while opening gifts.

AJ is about the funniest  kid ever to watch open gifts. Big or small he thinks everything is the greatest thing ever. It makes him pretty fun to buy for. We bought AJ the most questionable gift this year. Last year I bought him a NO PANTS sign and he loved it. He loved it so much that a NO Shirt, NO Underwear, NO Shoes sign made his Christmas list this year. So I bought him a sign that said Clothing Optional Past this Point. A sign that will have to be taken away in high school and college but for now he can live it up in his own room with his clothing optional sign.

Caleb loved his new Husker jersey but the favorite gift was a hoover board. He couldn't wait to use it!

Abby was super excited to get an Alexa speaker that you talk to and it plays music. She is constantly stealing mine out of the kitchen so now she can have her own. Brook is getting all grown up this year and I had to ask permission from her parents to purchase clothing from Victoria Secret for her this year. Not the under garments but they have a juniors clothing line. Still seems odd that they are growing up so much. The kids are lucky to have such great cousins to call friends. 

We had a blast at the Lutz's house but we had to head home that evening. Working the holiday sure puts a cloud over things. I guess once every 3 years won't kill me. That's what I keep telling myself.