Christmas Eve

We hosted Christmas Eve this year.  Everyone wanted a "real fire" like we've always had in the past at Mom & Dad's house.  This is the first year we weren't there, so keeping some things the same were nice.  Even Dad says he misses his fireplace.  The menu was Mom's homemade pizza which we all love.  Not to forget Grasshoppers after gift opening, a Montag ritual;) 
We attended Christmas Eve Mass at 5 PM, and it was a full house.  Please note that the Radtke's were there well before anyone else, and had a pew reserved!  I was pretty proud that we were early :) Easton is really starting to be a pain in church.  He doesn't want to stay in his pew! It's very trying, but that won't keep us from going! 
We ate supper, had the little boys exchange their gifts, and then put Easton to bed.  He was so tired.  Then we were able to all enjoy the gifts, fire, food, and family a little more ;)

Easton's Christmas outfit was worn by Cameron and Preston.  I guess I'll need to save it for baby boy #2 Radtke!

Our annual self-timed Christmas picture! Not too bad, everyone is looking and smiling :)

I got the little boys matching pj's for the occasion!

Easton has matching slippers, but he never leaves them on!

Festival of Trees in Rock Valley

I had all 3 boys on this particular evening, James & Cori took Mom & Dad to Christmas at the Cathedral and out for a nice dinner as their Christmas gift.  So I watched the boys.  I thought they would enjoy this event, so I drove back over.  It was alright, I was kind of disappointed in the picture display, but considering all the kids that were present, etc.  I suppose it's hard to do much else.  I knew Easton would be afraid of Santa, so I asked if he could hide behind the chair.  It worked, for maybe 10 seconds! He realized he was there, and then it was over. This was the best one we got ;)

I didn't get any pictures, but they also got to decorate a cookie and color a picture.  We left before the parade of lights to head to Sioux Center to Culver's for supper!  It was fun, and I'm thankful for Cameron's help! I wonder if I'll venture out with 4 little boys in the near future?!? I'm thinking not....

Please excuse the picture of a picture, I had to buy the prints so don't have a digital image.

December Birthdays!

We celebrate a lot of special Birthdays this month!  First up is my sweet, loving, caring, husband, Mark (12.16)!  We didn't have a Birthday cake this year.  We were celebrating with Spiderman cake the very next day!  We had so many delicious Christmas goodies in the house, Mark agreed it wasn't necessary.  He spend the evening at home with Easton, I went to Cameron's Christmas concert at school.  Was very entertaining, and Cam did a great job! The picture is from a distance, but if you look close you can see him ;)

Easton wore his Can-Am 4-wheeler shirt just for Daddy!

4th one on the top from the right

Next up, Preston James (12.18)! He turned 4 this year, I still can't believe it.  He's a busy body, and loves to chit-chat!  Enjoys playing with his brother and cousin.  He is very entertaining, and always makes us laugh.  He loves dogs, but not enough to get close.  His main man this year is Spiderman.  Last year it was Woody, from Toy Story, but he's grown up and is into action figures now.  Loves to play farm, and prefers to go shirt-less.  Even when it's -5 degrees outside! You can find him running around the house without his shirt or socks :) He's a character, whom we love so very much!

And let's not forget the reason for the season, Jesus (12.25)! He celebrates his Birthday later this month, and we'll be sure to give him glory & praise. 
Enjoy all the season has to offer, we sure are!!

Holiday Memories

My favorite time of the year is here! Easton seems to be enjoying everything that comes with it.  Lights, stories, movies, presents, Santa, he loves it all!  He even starts to dance to his books that play Christmas music.  Grandma Sheri stocked him up on musical books, but he loves them.  We watch Frosty the Snowman daily, and when he sees a snowman, he lights up!  It's pretty special, we're loving all that comes with the holidays this year!

He enjoys his wagon, even if it's meant for toys and not little boys!

Tree #1

He's learned to say "dog" and "Nelli".

Helping Mom while she holiday bakes!

 

Season's Greetings!  

 



He got a Mickey Mouse table and chairs from James, Cori, Cam & Preston on Christmas Eve.  I finally got it out of the box, and he LOVES them! (12.26)

Nelli enjoying her new Christmas Scarf- 12.26

Tree #2, much smaller this year, but we still love it!

Breakfast with Santa

Last year photos were fun, this year I was lucky to get one!! I thought maybe he's sit with Preston, but no luck.  Cori got some better pictures, Easton giving Santa a high-five, but I haven't gotten them from her yet.  So you get the point ;) Preston was excited to sit on his lap this year, but wouldn't tell him what he wanted for Christmas, because it was a secret ;) Hope he writes him a letter!!

My photographer (Cameron) almost cut the one I wanted in the picture, off!! ;)

Christmas with Gma & Gpa Radtke

It was our year to spend Christmas with the Radtke's, but due to the holiday landing in the middle of the work week, and Mark not having any vacation left, we weren't able to travel to Denver this year.  And his parents didn't want to travel to Iowa during the holidays, so we celebrated early while they were here for Thanksgiving.  Easton was spoiled and sure does love his gifts!  Oh and we were spoiled too :) You'll notice the outfits & locations change in some of these pictures.  Grandma joked that it was the "12 days of Christmas" because he got a gift every time we saw them for the week they were here! 

Thanksgiving Night @ their house

Checking out the lights on Gma's tree.

Finding the loot in his stocking!

 

Oh Christmas Tree......

It's been a long standing tradition to cut our own Christmas tree down.  We've always gone to Riverview Christmas Tree Farm.  They usually have a great selection and maybe we were just late this year.  We found a tree, but seems to be a lot smaller than ones we've had in the past.  We went with James, Cori & the boys.  It was right around Easton's naptime, so he didn't last long . We let him walk for the first 15-20 minutes, but shortly after got the stroller!  It's hard enough for him to walk on even ground, so he kept falling.  It was a combination of the snow boots, winter coat, and of course rocky road. 

I found out fast that Easton isn't a fan of the "in person Santa", so I guess I'll save myself a trip to the mall this year!