Home for the Holidays

As always Christmas was a crazy time in the Heiple house, and the amount of love and generosity was completely overwhelming!

On Christmas Eve, we started at 5:00 Mass at our church and then headed to grandma and Jim's house in hopes that Santa Claus had already made it there. Olivia and I were tracking Santa all day on the Santa Tracker (which I have to say is incredibly cool to watch), and when we checked before Mass he was headed straight for Illinois! When we got to grandma's house we were relieved to see that Santa had made it and left LOTS of presents. Some of Olivia and Joey's favorites were Olivia's cheerleading outfit and roller skates, and Joey's Mater truck and work bench.

After grandma and Jim's house, we headed back home to lay out some cookies and milk for Santa and of course a few carrots for the reindeer. We also had to put baby Jesus in the manger since it was his birthday. Then everyone headed off to bed so that the big guy could visit.

On Christmas morning, I will admit, I was the first one up to make sure everything was ready for Livi and Joey. Then I couldn't wait any longer, and went in and woke everyone up. Olivia and Joey were so excited to see that Santa came to visit and left them quite a few goodies. Olivia's favorites were her movies and her guitar and Joey's favorites were his dinosaurs and blankie. Santa even left Ollie and Bella big bones for being good dogs!

After opening presents and having a quick Christmas breakfast, we packed up our sleigh and headed towards Great Grandma and Grandpa Sennott's house for Christmas. Once again, Santa found their house, and boy he really must have thought that Joey and Livi were good, because he left them even more presents. Livi's favorites were her doll and games, and Joey's favorites were his trains and wood activity sets.

After Great Grandma and Grandpa's house, we had one more stop to make at Uncle Dave's house for the Dressler Christmas. Olivia and Joey were still going strong, and it was so nice to get all of the Dressler's together. We even got to visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa Dressler, which was VERY special to us. We had a great time, but unfortunately we were pictured out. We did capture one moment, a keepsake, a picture of Olivia and Joey with Great Grandpa and Grandma. Olivia's favorite at uncle Dave's house was her very on CD player from grandpa; Joey's favorite was his Lightning McQueen car, and mommy and daddy's favorite was a 37" high definition flat screen tv...WHAT A SURPRISE from grandpa (dad)!


After Uncle Dave's house, we packed up and headed home. Olivia and Joey were pooped, and so was mommy and daddy. There are no words to express our appreciation for everyone's generosity...we are very loved and blessed!