McGregor Christmas

A few days after Christmas, we loaded up the wagons and headed to McGregor.  Jaclyn and Whitney both had to work the week of Christmas, so they as well as Jon, Peyton and Rob met us up in McGregor for our Strutt family Christmas. Brandon and I took Josh along with us in our car, and he was a great traveler! He quietly played with his Kindle until the battery ran out, then he read books or played with Jonah. Shortly after we arrived at the apartment, we were informed that they were having some issues with the plumbing - and the plumber was not coming until Monday! That meant no showers, laundry or dishwasher - and try to limit the toilet flushes, please - for the whole weekend. Made for an interesting weekend with 14 people staying in three bedrooms! Thankfully, we have lots of other family in town - we just had to shower and do dishes off site :)

Friday night, we had dinner at the Old Man. These boys love their grandpa :)

On Saturday, we made our way up the street for the big Strutt family Christmas dinner. My cousin, Cheri, and her husband, Jon, did not join us because she had a baby days before Christmas! But their kids were able to make it, and Jonah and his cousins enjoyed playing with the Mosers and opening a few gifts after a yummy dinner.

Grandma Strutt and I were twins!

Grandpa and Carly

Seeing double -- Grandpa with his twin brother and his twin grandbabies :)

The Weldons

Jonah rocked a three-and-half-hour nap and missed most of the party, but he was able to fit in some fun before we left. Uncle Jon proved the hit of the party among the under 8 crowd. He got quite the workout dragging the kids around by his ankles. I'm sure he was quite sore the next day :)

Katie made my grandparents a "Family Birthdays" sign with a little disk to represent each person's birthday. Even baby Gretel, just 6 days old, had a disk :) Turns out March and October are big months for birthdays in the Strutt family. And somehow we have just one birthday in the month of June - Trace Moser.  Funny how those things work out.  

 After a while, we went back down the street to my parents' apartment for our family Christmas. After more eating (how we could possibly be hungry again after eating all day, I'm not sure!), we opened gifts. It was a lovely evening together.

Layla and Carly (...I think - I can't tell in this picture)

Grandma and Grandpa got all the grandkids matching Christmas jammies :)

Common sights over the weekend - Peyton reading with anyone who was willing, and Patrick petting Kinnick. P-man LOVES dogs, and Kinnick was no exception.

More reading!

Patrick, Jonah and Peyton -- the one-year-olds

Aunt Whitney and Uncle Bob :)

Opening gifts, and being super pregnant

Grandma and Grandpa got the three one-year-olds rocking chairs. Grandma even hand-carved their names and birthdays into the backs and stained them herself!  Now Jonah has his own little reading corner :)

  

The littlest ones didn't stay up long enough to open gifts,
so they opened theirs the next day :)

On Sunday, we went out to my Aunt Kari and Uncle Don's house for the big Henkes Christmas. Although, it was a small gathering this year - Kari and Don, my grandparents, and Kari and Don's youngest son, Leigh, and his family...oh, and our crew of 19 :) We shared a potluck lunch and opened a few gifts. And Don entertained the kids in the basement for most of the afternoon.

The two P's

Opening gifts

A phone is a large draw for all children, apparently - not just mine :)

The kids table

Silly Uncle Jon

We could totally do two at once...NOT! Miss these girls already.

And we finally managed to get a picture of the whole Strutt crew -- although after a weekend of limited showers, some of us were not looking at our best :/

Then we tried to get a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Henkes with the great-grand-kids.  It went about as well these things usually do :)  I think Patrick was especially excited to be there, haha.

Jonah was not impressed...

 To end our time together, the Weldons and Vargas' stopped through Coralville on their way back to Des Moines on Monday. We all met up at Backpocket for one last meal together. Brandon squeezed in a little more practice with two babies at once. (Not too much longer now!! Although we'll have one hopefully semi-helpful one and one newborn ;)

Whew! It was a busy, but good week with family. Next up, a visit from Bibi, Babu and Uncle Caleb!!