We're still recovering...

It is hard to believe that Christmas was three weeks ago. Part of the reason may be that we just took our tree down this past Sunday. We had a great time with family during Jeremy's two week break from school and we're still trying to recover. Almost every day was spent out and about and the kids didn't always get sleep when they needed it, so I'm very glad that we were able to stay healthy. Here are some random pictures from our Christmas.

One of our first outings was to go downtown, eat an early dinner and walk the length of the 16th St. Mall to see the lights and decorations. We stopped at the Denver City and County building (located just across from the capitol building) to take in all of the lights. It was so pretty!

It was a very chilly night and we did our best to keep the boys warm. I kept joking that Bryce looked like he was a geriatric patient, with the blanket spread out over him.

They had a manger scene on display, just across the steps from Santa's workshop. I don't recall hearing any controversy over the display, but I'm sure it is only a matter of time until someone claims it is offensive.

The boys were troopers and did great, but as you can see all of the riding around wore Bryce out. On our way back to our cars we stopped in one of the FIVE Starbucks they had along 16th St. (The mall is only a mile long... yet there is a need and apparently a demand for that many coffee shops!)

Here is a picture of the boys on Christmas Eve in their pj's. This picture is sooo telling of our two boys. Bryce is a pretty calm, laid-back kind of kid who is generally happy and smiling. Kyle is our "in-your-face", crazy, out of control, happy maniac.

This is what my living room looked like after Christmas morning. I usually try to maintain control while things are being opened, but I'm realizing that is a losing battle if I try to fight it solo. We had to rush out the door to spend the rest of the day with family, so it stayed like this for at least a day. The rest of the house soon started to look like this in the following days due to the fact that we were rarely home, except to sleep, change clothes, and feed our dog. Maybe that's why it has taken us so long to recover. It was a great Christmas, full of family and laughter and the joyous reminder of our Savior and His overwhelming love and humility regarding us.