Boys Room Re-do



the bookshelf with Brad's extra-special Lego Collection on top



the boys new-to-their-room-shelf which helps organize all their things
(Trent resting in the cowboy chair)

the un-cluttered dresser

the boys-too cute!

After receiving so many awesome Christmas presents, we decided to make better use of the boys large room and make their beds into bunks. Not only did this bring excitement for the boys, but it also opened up their room enormously. (Brad is on the top bunk and Trent's on the bottom.) We were able to re-organize toys and make room for new ones. We were able to pare down the clutter on the boys dresser and make the adorable cowboy chair easier to use and enjoy. We all love it! Brad's bed has been the location of many "club"and "secret" meetings with Rachel, Bradley and Trent.

Christmas Morning Fun!

The Milligan family had a very Merry Christmas!! It was a nice, relaxing day where the kids got some really great presents from Santa: Rachel got a Bitty Baby Doll, Brad got a scooter and Trent got a bike! Then, the kids opened their presents from mommy and daddy and got even more goodies! (Way too much, in fact, when combined with the awesome presents from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins!!) We had a nice day just playing with all of our new stuff and trying out the bike and scooter outside. We also had fun showing everything to both sets of grandparents when they came by on Christmas day!

We are one very blessed family!!

Pure JOY!

Christmas this year was full of wonder and fun! Starting on Christmas Eve, we spent a few hours at Nana and Pop's house eating delicious food, playing with our cool cousins, opening fun presents and being realllllly loud! Then, we headed over to Gege and Papa's for a few hours to eat another delicious meal, open boocoodles of awesome presents and play. It was a wonderfully, family-filled, present-filled, food-filled, spectacularly awesome day!! And, that was just the beginning!

Christmas Eve Fun with the cousins

These pics are a little blurry but they are an attempt to capture the fun and chaos that 9 grandchildren bring on Christmas Eve. It was a blast, for sure!!

Deck the Halls...

My view from the kitchen- I loved it!

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree...

Some Christmas pictures...the one on the far right is the "nana" picture
(read below) :)

the infamous "nobody there tree" according to Trenty
(read below)

the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

our multi-family children's nativity set-
the kids love playing with this one

our more formal nativity scene

the special Santa that has been around for a loooonnnnngggg time-
this is from Nick's childhood and Deborah was kind enough to give him to us to enjoy.

I had such a good time putting out Christmas decorations this year! Part of it was the motivation to have it done early...and a nice presentation for some friends who came for an ornament swap. The bonus was looking at it all month long and enjoying all the little things we've acquired in 12 years of marriage. I really loved our tree this year...and where we put it in the den...and how we rearranged our den. It just felt really cozy in there all month long! Plus, for the first time in 8 years, we didn't have to worry about little fingers messing with every little decoration or breaking something. (We did have 2 ornament casualties, but they weren't sentimental, so all was okay.) The funny thing was Trent's take on some of the Christmas pictures I put out. One was of me when I used to have shorter hair. Trent thought it was a picture of Nick, Nana and baby Rachel, but it was, in fact, Me in the picture. :) The other funny one was a picture of mine and Nick's 1st Christmas tree. It looked a little lonely and pitiful and there were only a couple of presents under it. The funny thing was Trent saying, "nobody there" everytime he looked at it. He just didn't understand why we had a picture of our first tree, but we weren't in it. :) The decorations haven't come down yet, but I'll probably get them down before 2013 is here!

The biggest Christmas tree ever...

We chose our largest and tallest Christmas tree to date in the history of our family And...we LOVE it!! From the moment Nick put it in the den and cut off the plastic netting, it looked like it belonged. With our high ceilings, I felt like our den could handle it. We rearranged our den and ended up putting the tree in a different spot than is shown in this picture. I love how we rearranged our den into a cozy and Christmas-y set up. The kids love the tree too and had a BLAST decorating it.
*A decorated tree picture coming soon*

2012 Christmas Card Outtakes

Since my huge blog following (5 or less ppl) has already received our Christmas card, I thought I would show you the funny outtakes. Any guess who was the LEAST cooperative this year? MOST cooperative? I'm betting you can figure it out. :)