happy birthday jesus

There was so much excitement when the kids woke up to Santa's gifts the next morning!  They could hardly sit still for their annual picture with their stockings!

She had asked Santa for a doll, and she loved this ballerina Mooshka doll.

He had this game on his list and Andrew was trying to figure out how in the world Santa knew that!  He was saying he must have peeked at his list!  Ha!

He always tries a few boxes thinking it is the gift he's looking for (this year he wanted Skylander Trap Team the most).  Finally he gave up and went for the big one!

Santa always has tricks up his sleeve and wrapped it inside the bigger box, along with lots of Skylanders to go with it.

Something else Santa saw on his list!

She loved this nightgown.  Santa finally figured out, along with mommy, that she will only wear nightgowns.  No pj's with pants.  

A Frozen Christmas!

She had been asking for an Anna dress since her birthday!

I loved how Andrew lined all his gifts up like this.  Ha!

Kerigan is really into Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.  She loves the kittycat character so this was a big surprise because she hadn't seen these toys before.  She was so excited.

It took them a while to figure out what to do with the presents that had princess paper and Skylander paper!  Santa tricked them again and wrapped it in both papers because the gift was for both of them!  I didn't get one of the gift, they got those sumo bumpers that you blow up and bump into each other!  They are going to have some fun with those, I'm sure!

Belle got a few toys, too!  It was super fun having a kitty on Christmas morning.  She loved all the paper and ribbons!  We were cracking up at her.

Like always I made brunch- cheesy potatoes, egg casserole and this year my nephew's wife made the sticky rolls.  She has a business and does baking for people for things, so I ordered some rolls this year since I was busy getting ready for a big trip the next day.  I was so glad I did and they were delicious!

Playing their Disney headbandz game.  Andrew was trying to guess what his card was!  Ha!

Saying good bye to our kitty was hard.  We took her to be boarded at our vet's office on Christmas evening, since we were leaving early the next morning.  The nice thing is, our vet's daughter is in my class at school!  She promised to go over and play with her the whole time we're gone, so we know she was in good hands!

We are back from an amazing trip to Disneyworld!  I'll be working on posting updates hopefully soon after I start sorting through the 1000+ pictures I took!

a merry little christmas

We went to Ga Ga and Papa's house on the 23rd to celebrate Christmas Eve with my side of the family.

I was so excited my niece was there from South Carolina with her sweet baby Nash!  We hadn't seen them since we road tripped out there this summer.  He had grown so much!

This was so funny, my sister in law posted this of me and my niece and nephew as a #tbt on Facebook. I'm pretty sure I made that cake when I worked at Baskin Robbins back then!  Ha!

So we had to take an updated picture, 20 years later!  So fun that we all have kids now and they can grow up together like we did.

This is my nephew's daughter, Lucy.  She and Kerigan are 4 months apart and they played so well together.  I didn't get a picture of her little sister but she's a sweetie too!

Andrew with precious Nash.  Andrew absolutely adores this baby!  He totally wishes he was his brother!  

My brother Tim (aka Uncle Tim!) was playing so cute with the girls.  He has this calm demeanor, which reminds all of us so much of our dad.

Daddy and Kerigan being silly!

Nash with Ga Ga!

Kerigan just loved Mary when we went out to see her last summer.  She loves big girls and Mary is so sweet and the best big cousin!

We were so glad she was back for Christmas!

See?  The kids pretty much couldn't get enough of Nash!

After everyone left, Ga Ga let the kids open one present, much to their delight.

In the morning Papa made pancakes and the kids gobbled them!

Then the kids passed out presents and Andrew had to dig pretty far under the tree to make sure he had them all!  Ha!

Do you think this is a big enough stack??

Ga Ga and Papa outdid themselves!  My kids are so blessed.

Andrew put this on his list for Papa because he said Papa likes to get him cars things!  Ha!  This is a remote control car that drives on the walls!  Yeah, I'm not super thrilled about that one! 

She loved her new Elsa doll!

Andrew is really into Big Hero 6.  He can't wait to meet Baymax at Disneyworld!  He was so happy to get this toy Baymax!

This provides hours of entertainment for our princess!

Andrew was so happy to get Disney Infinity!

With all the gift openings, we couldn't forget the real reason for the season.  Christmas isn't Christmas without Jesus.  We attended my childhood church with mom and Jim.  It is always so fun to go back and I see so many people I knew growing up that are back for the holidays with their kids and families. It's fun to catch up!

He was cracking me up.  I was trying to take a picture of him with his candle and this is what he did!  Ha!

Finally got a smile!

My favorite part is lighting all the candles and singing Silent Night.

There's just something about seeing my babies holding these candles in their sweet hands and thinking back to when I prayed so hard for both of them.  God has blessed me more than I could ever have hoped or imagined.

After church Ga Ga and Papa always come back to our house so we can have Santa come the next morning!  The kids love tracking Santa on the iPad.

Buddy left them reindeer food to sprinkle on the lawn.

They gave Ga Ga and Papa their gift.

Tracked Santa again!  He's getting closer!

Daddy always reads "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

And the kids each pick a special cookie for Santa.

They wanted to have a sleepover together in Kerigan's bed.  So sweet!  This night was so magical for them.  I love our traditions that they are coming to know by heart.

Santa came!

And to all a good night...