christmas eve eve

"and the angel said to her, “do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." -Luke 1:30-31

happy christmas eve eve!

on this special friday in 2011, our family met up at the juengel house for our annual cookie decorating tradition. it was ricky's 1st year participating and brooks's 1st year actually being able to ice the cookies - they were both immediate pros.





here is brooks just one year ago helping us with cookies. look how much he has grown!


ellie was also present for the experience. maybe next year she will be able to ice and sprinkle too!







ricky made 5 whole cookies, though he ate 4 of them.

heres the whole gang (minus mom, who took the picture)

later that day, lauren, dad, ricky and i went to the burlington tennis center to place some doubles. chris got there a little later, so i got booted from our game, but i enjoyed watching and taking pictures!







that night we went to sal's for dinner. YUM







apparently dad somehow got out of being in a picture? sad story. but this picture makes up for it. someone thought it was a good idea to tie a napkin on brooks's head! i agree.



after dinner, we came back to the house and opened presents. chris, meredith, and brooks gave ricky a mini fooz ball machine (which brooks referred to as "fuzzy ball"). they ended up playing fuzzy ball for about 2 straight hours while, of course, watching the canes game on tv.







stay tuned for christmas eve and day!

the christmas card

"for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." -Isaiah 9:6

its that time of year again - christmas card pictures! and as you can imagine, it wasnt exactly the easiest process to pick out the perfect picture for every member of the family. in fact, the entire process took about a week ha. but it was totally worth it. enjoy! and MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)

first: mom and dad (also now known as mimi and pops)



props to these two for the most coordinated outfits ever chosen.

once lauren arrived home from CA, it was our turn. and it was quite a special experience. thanks mom, for being our photographer! here we are:

it is still weird for me to look at this picture and see myself with blonde hair. sadly, ill never be as beautiful as a blonde as my sees.

lauren and momma!

a few days later, it was the other half of the juengels' turn. baby ellie was all decked out in her christmas tutu!



lauren was a great photography assistant.

and here is the whole fam.





love this pic.



later that day, david & katie arrived. here are the curtis family pics!



and then here are some more pictures of ellie and brooks. sorry there are so many - i just really couldnt decide on my favorites.













trying very hard not to smile...





and then the many faces of brooks..