Christmas Crafting with the Elsts

Ashley agreed to help with an ambitious crafting project at the Elsts family Christmas!

We gathered at the new Carmel house for some wassail and ornaments!

We had 17 kids participating in the "decorating" of ornaments!

A lot of sequins, fake snow, paint, and messes later, we had some pretty cool creations!

Victor's blue bear was of course a highlight!

It was a bit of chaos mixed with a dash of crazy and a sprinkle of Christmas.

Hopefully all the kids have a good memory and a memento!

As for us, we had some time together and a lot of cleanup!

Ashley got to see a lot of the extended family that she doesn't often run into and Emily got some much needed help!

Great time rounding out this year of twin nights!

A Christmas Carol at Beef and Boards

We took Gran to see A Christmas Carol at Beef and Boards!

It was a one-hour show with a buffet beforehand.

We let her bring a friend and she chose Marilyn George.

The show was really good, and apparently this is their 24th year with this production.

We all had tears in our eyes at different points and Gran was tapping her toe throughout!  HAHA!

Both ladies ordered hot fudge sundaes for dessert and devoured them like school girls!  

Ashley and I really liked how they used an older man to play Scrooge.

It added a depth to the character-being older and understanding that some choices you cannot change.

It was a great reminder of the spirit of giving, forgiveness and love this season seems to inspire.

Ashley spent nearly the entire day with picking up, escorting, preparing plates and chauffeuring the ladies, but they both seemed overjoyed with being able to take in some local theatre.

Marilyn said it was her Christmas and that alone seemed to make it worth the effort.

It was a stirring show-one we will carry in our hearts through this Christmas.

Great twin day and may God bless us - every one!

Christmas at Natalie's!

We had Christmas early this year with a gathering at Gilbert Farms!

Natalie had her house completely decked out for the occasion!

Ashley and Ross were very festive in their matching red and black color scheme!

The food was all perfect and the table was awash with SPODE!

The kids were more interested in the cookies than the dinner!

After lunch was presents!

Everyone gathered under the family nativity scene to open gifts.

Mom's theme: Nutcracker Christmas was carried throughout the day - including the gift wrap.

The piles of presents were endless!

Victor really enjoyed playing with his Avengers!

After her nap, Lenora was back at the cookies!

The matching Nutcracker shirts were difficult to capture on film. LOL

The sisters mostly enjoyed the food, fun and time together!

The kids climbed into their Nutcracker pajamas for the sleepover.

Mom wanted a picture of her and gran's Nutcracker sweaters.

Ashley's Moscow Mules helped smooth the rough edges of the day!

We all got into our pajamas for a movie!

The guys got in on the fun for movie night.  We watched American Made this year.

It was a great time with all the family together for a sleepover.

Sunday morning we had an amazing spread and then all headed for home.

Great family time!

Christmas Cards and Lights with Gran

We wanted to spice up gran's December with some weekly holiday fun.

So we headed to her apartment to help her put together her Christmas cards and gifts for friends.

We pulled off labels and wrote out "Merry Christmas" on all her special cards over Panera soup.

Then we donned our festive light-up necklaces for the drive to Fishers!

We wanted to take in a traditional Christmas lights display to bring the nostalgia for gran.

First we stopped at Starbucks for some hot chocolates and gran led us in Jingle Bells at the top of our lungs!

We found a longstanding free display near-by in Fishers at Reynolds.

This free local event brings in nearly 32k in donations for a local food pantry yearly in addition to 600 lbs of food! 

Gran proclaimed she hadn't been to one of these in many, many years and that she had never seen such an elaborate story of the first Christmas.

It was absolutely magical.

Gran told us stories about growing up in Pennfield and her father buying a galvanized bucket of hard candies from Sears.

Then the family sneaking pieces until only a half bucket remained on Christmas Day!

She chatted away about cracking nuts on Christmas and all the years of memories and joyful times.

It is such a blessing to have her leading us through this Christmas season.

Great twin & gran night!

Christmas on the Farm

We made the annual trip to Traders Point Creamery for Christmas on the Farm!

The whole gang - 10 of us - met up at the drafty barn for some holiday fun.

We found a nice little table to make home base as the kids rotated through crafting stations.

Aunt Ashley helped make the special reindeer antlers! 

Gran was loving the music.  She especially enjoyed the line, "From 1 to 92" as she was seated next to Lenora!

There was hot coffee and treats to keep everyone cozy.

After a 20 - 30 minute wait to see Santa, some were more happy to see him than others.

Jack happily rattled off his list on Santa's lap.

Lenora wanted nothing to do with it.

Victor was willing to give his one wish list item - a purple airplane - but from a distance.

The Marshalls had their chance with Jolly Old St. Nick as well.

After the Santa chat, we bundled up to head outside for the hayride.

The Gilberts and Schwindlers braved the cold to make the trip around the farm on the hayride.

We all met up at Panera afterwards for lunch and birthday cupcakes!

There was presents and enjoyment for everyone as we capped off the day with hugs and warm drinks.

Great family fun on the farm!

34th Birthday Celebration

We decided to ring in our 34th year with some wine and spa services!

We started the day with lunch at Granite City!

After a slight mix-up we got free glasses of wine in addition to our bottle!

Then we had a free appetizer and got $10 in free gift cards!

They offered a free dessert as well, but we had to run off to the circle for our spa day.

After a quick jaunt through some rain, we were inside the lovely Studio 2000 on Monument circle.

The interior was an Emerald City / Slytherin Common Room mash-up.

So luxurious!

We had salt scrubs and gel manicures in complete comfort.

The waiting area was perfect for taking in the day and chatting. (we even got free beers!)

Ashley had taken advantage of their 20% off gift card purchase the day before so we really got a great deal too.

We talked and talked and talked before heading out into the cold again.

We walked past the Circle of Lights and all the festive decor on our way to Giordano's.

We each picked up dinner for our families and said our goodbyes.

Such a perfect way to start a new year!

Great twin day!

The Crimes of Grindelwald at Flix

We decided to take in the second Fantastic Beasts movie at Flix Brewhouse in Carmel.

This venue has become our favorite for enjoying dinner while taking in a movie.

After a quick shuffle of seats, we were settled in and ordering a bottle of 10Span Pinot Noir.

Ashley ordered a burger and Emily had a pizza.

 

By a happy accident, we arrived early enough to watch their HP trivia before the show!

Then the movie began and we were back at MACUSA.

We really enjoyed the film and our food.

We especially liked how many of the characters and other HP lore was tied into the story.

Of course we had to have a meet and greet with Newt afterwards!

The show time fit us perfectly and the theatre was not too crowded on a Monday night.

Although we missed the opening weekend by a day, we were happy to see it so soon after it came out!

What a great twin night in our wizarding world!

Accio more twin nights like this!