Christmas 2016

    Christmas started for us Friday, because we got to go pick up Uncle Ben from Teen Challenge! He was able to spend 4 days with us and it was the best! Rylee, Payton, and I went to go pick him up and then we went to lunch and had to run to walmart to get him a few things. All the while, Ryan was at home putting together Payton's big Christmas present...

     A playhouse! When we got home and showed it to her, she was the happiest little girl in the world! She and Rylee played in it until Liz, Kaden, and Levi arrived. Then of course they had to show it off to them, too.

     After the kids played for a little bit, we came in and made Christmas cookies. It was so much fun. Of course it ended in a huge mess, but that's just evidence that everyone enjoyed themselves. After we made cookies, Ben left with Liz so he could spend the night with her and we ate dinner and had a quiet evening at home.

    Saturday was Christmas Eve, so we had our annual Christmas Eve sibling celebration! This year we had 1 more sibling to celebrate with! It was awesome. Maybe 1 Christmas Ever we will be able to have all 6 siblings together on Christmas Eve. That would eb the best!

    These cousin have so much fun together! They played and played and played some more. We ate breakfast, opened gifts, played games, and just had a really great day together.

     Then we headed home to have our little family Christmas celebration together. As you can see coordinating outfits are a must on Christmas -ha!

    The girls opened their presents from us. We didn't get them as many as we usually do. They can get so over stimulated this time of year, and I'm starting to think less is more, but they loved what they got.

   Then we opened out gifts from them. Payton made us a beautiful Christmas canvas at daycare, and Rylee bought us these little treasures at our school Christmas Store. We loved our gifts! After we finished opening and had a nice dinner together, Brandon dropped Ben off at our hosue so we could spend Christmas day with him.

     On Christmas morning, the girls gave Uncle Ben his presents. Rylee got his a silly pen from the Christmas store. Payton gave him a wallet-sized Christmas photo of her, and Ryan and I gave him a bag a skittles. It was so cute to watch how excited they were to give him the gifts.

     Then the girls opened up their stockings. The stocking gifts are always their favorite gifts.

    After we got dressed, we headed to Granny and Paw Paw's for our annual Christmas breakfast. We ate until we couldn't eat anymore, then opened gifts and laughed at our crazy kids who of course loved the wrapping paper more than the presents...isn't that how it always works?

     After a restful afternoon, we headed to Nonna and Granddaddy's for Christmas dinner. It was so good. I'm surprised I'm not 1000 lbs after all these holiday meals, but luckily I'm not! After we ate, we opened gifts. The girls were spoiled rotten as usual, and Ryan and I were pretty spoiled, too.

    I made the decals for these cups and give them personalized Christmas gifts this year. They do so much for us all year long. It's always so hard to get them a gift that seems good enough. But these seemed to come pretty close!

    Yesterday, we went out to lunch at El Patio and then headed to the movies to see Sing. The movie was okay, but spending time together is priceless! Then we headed home and played board games until bed time. It was such a fun day!

     Today we had to take Ben back to Teen Challenge. We woke up early so we could have a good breakfast together at IHoP, then we had to say our goodbyes. It was such a fun 4 days together, but it's hard to not want more. I'm so proud of how far he's come and hopefully by this summer, he will be graduated and be able to see us any time he wants. That will be great!

   After we dropped Ben off, we drove all the way from Memphis to Dyersburg to take Payton to the Doctor. She started coughing Sunday and then started running fever yesterday, so I wanted to get her checked out. Unfortunately, she has a flu-like virus, so there's nothing we can do to make her feel better until it runs its course. It's hard seeing her so down, but I am thankful that this waited to hit until after Christmas was over. We had a really great Christmas, and I'm glad she didn't have to miss out on any of the fun.

Christmas Concerts

      Friday night and Sunday morning, we had our church Christmas cantata and readers' theatre. We practiced all month, and the kids did so good! Rylee had a bit of stage fright and hugged my leg the entire time, but she sang beautifully and it went really well.

     The readers' theatre was put on by our church's adult choir and it was very powerful. We loved it.

    Tonight MES had its annual choir concert and 1st graders were the special guests. After Rylee's stage fright in front of our church, I didn't know how she would do, but she rocked it. It was so cute! They sang 2 songs and had little dance moves they did with them. It was adorable.

   Nonna and Granddaddy even drove out to Munford to see her perform. She was so excited. Now we only have 1/2 day of school tomorrow standing between us and Christmas Break! We can't wait!

Christmas City

     Tonight we made our annual trip to Christmas City in Burlison. The kids love all the Christmas lights, and it always puts us all in the Christmas spirit!

     We drove through a couple of times to see all the lights. Then we parked and rode the train through. It never gets old looking at the pretty lights and seeing the story of Christ mixed in with the kids' favorite characters. 

    After we got off the train, Kade visited Santa and then walked around for a few minutes. By that time, the kids were starting to complain of being cold and poor Levi was ready for bed, so we decided to call it a night.

     ...but what a beautiful night it was.

My and Kaden's Birthdays!

    Yesterday was my birthday! I turned 27-yikes! I'm inching closer and closer to that big 3-0, but actually I don't mind. I had a great birthday, at school my class celebrated with mini cupcakes that Ms. Brown bought. When I got home I was surprised to see Ryan's car in the driveway! He took a half-day so he could spend my birthday with me! I was so surprised and excited to have him home. Then we headed to Olympic to have dinner with Liz and the boys to celebrate. It was a perfect day! :)

    Today our Kade-man turned 6! It doesn't seem right that our babies are all 6 now, but time has a way of flying by. Kade got a new puppy for his birthday. He named him Helix. Helix was the star of the party! He's such a sweet little puppy.

    We ate pizza, watched Kade open presents, then headed outside so he could try out his big present: a new bow! After he got the hang of his new bow, we had a huge nerf gun war. It was so much fun. Everyone got into it, kids and adults alike.

    I love having my birthday so close to Kaden's because it always feels like the celebration lasts longer that way! He is such a sweet, compassionate, smart, energetic boy and I love getting to be his Aunt!

A Weekend Getaway

     Friday we packed up and drove to Nashville to spend the weekend at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel with Nonna and Granddaddy. When we got there, we were all in awe at how beautiful everything was. Our rooms were adjoining and the girls were so exciting to have a "secret door" that led to Nonna and Granddaddy. We spent much of the first night walking around the hotel. There were people EVERYWHERE, but it was so pretty.

   Then we headed back to our rooms and ordered room service for dinner. While we waited for it to arrive, we took the girls swimming. They were so excited to able to go swimming in November. It was a lot of fun.

    The girls were so excited, it was hard to get them to sleep, but once they were out, they were sound asleep until morning. They loved the big hotel beds and having their favorite blankets and cuddly toys from home helped, too.

     Saturday, we woke up, got dressed and walked over to the Opry Mills Mall. It was a lot of fun. At first we walked around and checked it out a little. Then, we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. The girls absolutely loved it there. It was so pretty and a lot of fun.

     Then we split up, the men took the girls and Nonna and I went and got some major Christmas shopping done. Nothing better than a day of retail therapy. It was a lot of fun, but by the time we left, the mall had gotten so busy, you could barely walk around anymore. It was definitely a good tie to leave.

     When got back to the hotel, we took the girls behind a waterfall inside the hotel. It was really cool. Then we went on a riverboat cruise through the hotel's garden. It was gorgeous. We got to see all the Christmas decorations from a different view and it was nice not to have to walk around through masses of peopl for a few minutes.

    After the cruise, we took one last walk around the hotel and outside to take in all the beautiful lights. It is such a beautiful place to visit this time of year! Then we headed back to our room, fed the girls and got them ready for bed. Once we got them to sleep, we snuck away while Nonna and Granddaddy kept their door open to keep an eye and ear on our sleeping beauties, while we had a rare dinner by ourselves. Alone time is such a rare, precious thing when you are the parent sof young children and we made sure to make the best of it!

    Now we are home, and Thanksgiving break is coming to an end, but I can truly say it has been a fantastic break filled with memories that will last us a lifetime!