Monty's Mayhem: Christmas 2013

Yes, I know it is already half way through January, but it's the first time I've had to sit down and edit all the pictures (over 300 taken!) and update the blog.
We had such a great 10 days back in Illinois. The first half was spent at my parent's house (the 20th- Christmas morning) and the second half was spent at Kyle's parent's house (Christmas morning until the 29th.)
While we were at my parent's we helped my Dad celebrate his 60th birthday on the 20th, attended my Mom's side of Christmas on the 21st, went sledding on the 22nd, took the kids(Aidan, Aubrey, and Reese) to see Frozen in the movie theater, celebrated our family Christmas on the 24th, and then opened Santa presents on Christmas morning before heading to Kyle's parents. Reese and Preston got lots of neat toys this year- Preston's generally revolving around anything with wheels (firetrucks, tractor, animal truck, etc). Reese got lots of neat games, and Barbies too. Kyle (and my parents) surprised me with a new 35 mm lens for my camera, so I can get better shots upclose. I used it Christmas morning, and am excited to practice with it more. I signed up (with a Groupon) for a 6 week class again online- through a different photography website. I have to use it before May- so I'm thinking I will do it in March, as February is a busy month for us. But, the greatest surprise of all was that Kyle got our family a puppy! Well, we get to pick her up on Feb.1 about 35 min north of Indy from a breeder I was already in talks with. You see, we had arranged to go meet the breeder and see the puppies in the middle of December, but the breeder text me the day we were supposed to go saying he just received a deposit on the ONLY female in the litter (I only want a female.) So, I just told him we would come again and visit when his next litter was due in May. Little did I know, Kyle was the one who put the deposit down, and got us the Mini Goldendoodle! We went up to see her last weekend, and we can't wait to bring her home in a few weeks!!
Christmas day was spent at Montgomery's, opening presents and eating lots of yummy food. We relaxed and hung out the rest of the week, and helped Mekenna (Kyle's niece) celebrate her birthday on the 27th. Ont he 28th, we had the extended Montgomery family Christmas. We then headed back to Indy on Sunday- and luckily the traffic was much better than when we came home after Thanksgiving.
OK- there's the Christmas update. Below are some pictures from our week back.

Aubrey sledding at Nana and Poppas