As the kids get older, Christmas becomes a little easier and a lot more merry. I think this was the first year since the little ones were born that Trey and I felt like we could actually relax, visit with family, and let the kids out of our sight for a few minutes. Our first stop was Rowlett to celebrate with Trey's family.
It was such a beautiful day, that the kids immediately headed outside...
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All of the other kids went outside,
she wanted to read. Makes my
teacher heart happy!! |
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| Outside Fun |
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| Girl talk |
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I love this face - Finally, a picture with a real smile, not
his goofy faces! |
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| These two are inseparable!! |
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| William and Daddy |
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| Happy Boy |
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| Playing with Daddy |
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| I just love Ruby's face in this one - pure joy! |
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This is the face I usually get when
I ask for a picture. |
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| I think Trey had more fun than the kids! |
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No matter how many times
she tried, she could not hit
the ball with the bat... |
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...So she will just look cute instead!!
She gets her athletic prowess
from her mama!! |
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| Bryan and Daddy |
After a lot of fun outside, the kids were called in for a special visitor...
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| Their faces when they saw Santa. |
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Savannah was first up, she was a
little unsure, but did much better
than last year! |
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| Next up, Bryan... No tears!!! He even talked to him! |
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William was like an old pro - he even told
Santa how old he is! |
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| Carrying his big present from Santa. |
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No tears from Ruby, but she absolutely refused
to look at him! |
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| Opening Presents |
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Skylar charming Santa
in her pretty dress. |
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Santa giving Jake a hard time - sadly he's just
playing along for the little kids now... |
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Santa likes to give Luke an especially hard time. This year,
Luke got a candy cane, to which he responded, "A candy
cane, really?!?!" He then got his real present. |
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Trying to get 9 kids to cooperate
in a picture is near impossible!!
Ruby was not going to stand by
Santa for anything! |
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Grandmom showing Ruby
how to hold her baby. |
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| Ruby saw my camera and asked for a picture with Pops. |
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| The kids great-great grandmother Webb. |
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Testing out the stroller with her
cousin Brady. |
It was such a fun night. We are so blessed to have so much family to spend the holidays with.
The following weekend, we went to the other side of Trey's family for Christmas lunch - sadly I forgot my camera. The kids played and we got to visit with family. It was a wonderful Sunday!
Christmas Eve was spent with Trey's mom. The kids had so much fun running around with their cousins and opening presents. I didn't get many pictures of the playing - they were upstairs most of the time jumping from bed to bed. There were only a couple of bumped heads and one bloody nose in all of the craziness! Ruby had been diagnosed with strep the day before, so she pretty much hung out with the grown ups.
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Avengers Action Figures - I wish I had gotten a picture
of Bryan's face when William opened them. I'm pretty
sure he was plotting a way to steal them...
*I love Ruby trying to hold on to her loot in the back! |
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...Until he opened his Star Wars
action figures!! |
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| Bryan also got his very own camera from Skylar! |
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| Savannah got Frozen wooden dress-up dolls - so excited! |
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Singing Elsa Dolls for the girls...
We had to listen to Let It Go, in
rounds all night! |
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| Grandpa Dean playing with Thor. |
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William hid in a corner and admired
his action figures! |
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| Let It Go!! Elsa and her Star Wars friend. |
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| Boys and their toys.... |
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| Ruby wanted to play too! |
After the kids wore themselves out, we had to head home and get ready for Santa. We had put the reindeer food out before we left, so that was done. When we got home, we put the kids to bed - with a lot of tears when we took Elsa dolls and 'Hulk Smash' away! About 10 minutes later, we realized that we forgot to put out the cookies and milk out for Santa. We got Bryan to come get the cookies put out, got him back in bed, and didn't hear a peep for the rest of the night. Then, Santa got to work...
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| The Girl Pile |
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| The Boy Pile |
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| Bryan was very excited!! |
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The last minute add to his wish list - he actually told me
that he would be happy if the Spiderman action figure
was the only thing Santa brought (the day before
Christmas Eve) - what is Santa to do?!?! |
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| Legos! |
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| So much to see and play with! |
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| Hoarding the Avengers |
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Taking a break before more playing... Actually, still
fighting strep, but we didn't realize that the antibiotics
weren't working... |
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| Unstuffing his stocking |
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| Checking out her stocking |
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| Ruby only wanted the chocolate... |
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| ... Searching for more... |
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| ... Check out the pile she has made... |
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| ... It just gets bigger!! |
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| "What's in here?" |
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| He liked whatever he found! |
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| Princess in her castle |
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| 5 minutes later, still lining up and counting her chocolate! |
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| Even Spiderman wants to visit Snow White's cottage. |
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| Playing! |
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| "ROAR!!" |
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| I don't know who liked the Legos more... |
After a somewhat quiet morning, just the six of us, my parents, niece, sister, and brother-in-law came over to spend Christmas Day with us.
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Ruby immediately climbed up in
Papa's lap for a little snooze. |
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| Getting help opening presents from Nana. |
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| Presents from Nana and Papa |
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We had Cerah convinced that she got a box of diapers...
She was much happier when she opened it to find her
sewing kit and fabric! |
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Optimus Prime Hauler - he has been asking for this for
months!! Thanks, Nana and Papa! |
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| Love the look on William's face! |
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Bryan watching William open his Transformers that
Bryan picked out - he had been waiting for days to
play Transformers with William. |
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Aunt Katie got the kids Disney Twister - we made her
demonstrate how to play! |
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Bryan's Turn!! He is a little short for this, but managed
with a little help! |
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He was supposed to put his head down, but
couldn't reach, so he face planted instead...
Gotta appreciate the commitment!! |
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| Moving on to Mouse Trap |
After the littles woke up from nap, it was time for dessert. Cerah decided that we should decorate birthday cakes for Jesus. Katie made individual cakes for everyone, so fun!!
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| Sprinkles!! |
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| Trying to decide what to use. |
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| Fun Times |
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He just wanted to eat - notice that
he only had time for 3 sprinkles! |
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| Enjoying Cake |
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| Savannah was still a little tired! |
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| Yum!! |
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| Cake Coma!! |
My parents stayed for a couple of days after Christmas. Mom helped organize the toys and help me get rid of the old ones. Then they watched the kids one night so Trey and I could go have dinner. The visits are always too short, and I hate when they leave - but I am so thankful that they came and added to the memories!!
We still have one more Christmas to go at Trey's dad's.... Pictures to come....
