We had a Christmas Cookie Baking Night as a family — everyone chose which cookie they wanted to bake and then we all baked the cookie we chose.
Guess what I made? Yes — the World’s Easiest Christmas Candy. (This stuff is so addictive and delicious!)
My friend, Kate, handed down this walker to Baby D and he LOVES it! He especially enjoyed scooting around the Christmas tree.
We went out driving around looking at Christmas lights one night as a family.
Jesse and I went to a Christmas Party for other local foster families.
The girls made food for our All Day Family Christmas celebration.
Kaitlynn did the Cinnamon Rolls this year. She used our family favorite recipe.
All Day Family Christmas (which we celebrated on December 21 before we left for Kansas) started with Cinnamon Rolls, Sausage, and Orange Juice for breakfast.
The obligatory pics before gifts! 
(Our good friend, Isabel, joined us for the morning.)
Kierstyn got a Duplo set and she was SO excited about it! Baby D loved playing with it, too!
The next morning, we loaded up early and left for the 11-ish hour drive to Wichita, KS to spend Christmas with both of our families.
We stopped at Lambert’s on the way! Baby D was mesmerized by everything on the ceiling and walls.
Kierstyn was excited about the hot rolls and butter!
We made it to Springfield, MO and stayed overnight there. One of Kierstyn’s very favorite things about hotels is getting up early for the hotel breakfast!
We found a local coffee shop to stop at before we headed on the road. (We love trying out new local coffee shops when traveling!)
And we also stopped at a crepe shop that came highly recommended to us.
The two crepes were enough for all of us to share since they were so sweet and filling!
Our first stop in Wichita? Braum’s for burgers and fries!!
Our hotel has a little kitchen in it and I made some casseroles for brunch the next day at my family’s house as soon as we got in. It reminded me of cooking in our little basement apartment galley kitchen.
I made Copycat Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole.
And Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Casserole.
Working on a LEGO set at the hotel.
The sunset the next morning was gorgeous.
Of course we had to hit up the hotel breakfast buffet first thing in the morning.
And then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for brunch.
Look at the little feet on his jammies!!
One of the highlights of Christmas was getting to meet my brand-new nephew (my brother’s first son!)
My Dad had a treasure hunt for the kids to find their gifts this year, like usual.
Christmas morning: headed to the hotel breakfast!
We introduced Kierstyn to Kinder Joys on this trip!
Patiently waiting for Christmas gifts!
Kierstyn wanted to “help” everyone unwrap their gifts.
Playing Exploding Kittens after gifts.
After spending Christmas morning with Jesse’s family, we headed over to my family’s house for Christmas lunch.
We did a White Elephant Gift Exchange this year.
And then it was back to Jesse’s family’s house for dinner, games, and stockings.
(Yes, that’s Kathrynne all decked out there opening up her stocking!)
My 10 Goals for This Week
In reviewing what worked and what didn’t work in 2021 and what I want to change and do differently in 2022, one thing that kept coming up was the fact that I didn’t set weekly goals. I will write more on what I learned from this in an upcoming post, but for now, I’m excited to be bringing them back every week for the accountability and focus it gives me.
So, here are my goals for this week… (Note: We are traveling most of this week, so my goals will look differently than if we were at home.)
Personal Goals
- Make a Spotify playlist with my favorite uplifting songs.
- Delete 5000 photos and videos from my phone.
Reading Goals
Family Goals
- Have a family Game Night.
- Go on a date with Jesse.
Business/Blogging Goals
- Write a post with my Goals for 2022.
- Write a post on my Top Books Read in 2021.
Book Goals
- Read 10 chapters + intro and epilogue aloud to Jesse.
- Write 3000 words for the end sections of the book.
