santa came!

Christmas morning is always a magical time around our house!

The kids love to wake us up early and dig right in!  They start with their stockings.

The excitement is contagious!

Santa filled their sacks, too!  Andrew was so happy about his electric scooter he had been wanting!

Poppy's hair was sticking out of her sack so she put it on and this face just cracked me up!

Ga Ga and Papa always join us and we love having them!

Something else she had been wanting!

Santa is so good at finding rare things!  Andrew was so excited to get a couple Ninja Turtle toys that haven't been in stores!

They just had a blast opening and showing us all their loot!

Andrew has really gotten into Plants vs. Zombies

She had been wanting these mystery shopkins.  For some reason she loves it when she doesn't know what is in the box/package.  "Blind bags" are her favorite thing!

He's excited to try out this drone this summer!

His first big, real Lego set.  His cousin had to get him started on it but he did a good job putting it together all by himself!

Anything else in here?  Ha!

She had asked Santa for a Fur Real friends puppy!

Andrew's big surprise was a box full of Skylanders!

Santa always likes to trick him by wrapping small things in bigger boxes or grouping things together.  He was looking everywhere for small Skylander boxes and they were inside this huge box he waited til last to open!

A girl loves a spa day!  So she had to have one for her doll too!

Santa tricked Kerigan too!

With a box of Americal Girl Wellie Wisher stuff!

A new Barbie camper!

Lately she has loved these sleeping masks.  She has one that she loves to wear to bed.  This is a soft one Santa thought she would ike too!

The aftermath.  Ha!

Time to play!

She has become a scooter expert since we moved here so she got a real razor with faster wheels!  She can't wait to do tricks this summer!

Then we always have a special brunch made by mommy and Ga Ga!

This year our sweet neighbor Judy made us homemade cinnamon rolls!  They tasted as amazing as they look!

Christmas night Craig and I whipped up some moscow mules in his new mugs and we all enjoyed the evening with Ga Ga and Papa.

What a magical Christmas in our new home!

goodbye buddy

The next morning, Mary and Nash came over before we had to head home so we could see them one more time.  They live in South Carolina so we don't get to see them often.

Kerigan wanted Mary to play pie face!

Ha!  Nash was not a fan, so he just watched.

Andrew introducing Nash to Buddy.

We headed back home and these two missed each other so much!  So they had to exchange their gifts and Kerigan wanted to show Avery what she got from Ga Ga and Papa.

Isn't snapchat just the best!?  We love it!  It's especially fun around the holidays!

Then we drove back home and brought Ga Ga with us for Christmas morning!

Here they are before church on Christmas Eve

It just doesn't feel like Christmas without lighting a candle and singing Silent Night at church.

We got home and the kids got in their jammies and went right out to sprinkle their reindeer dust!

This is one of those magical things I'll miss someday.

They picked out their cookies for Santa!

Two excited kids right here.

They always love to track Santa on the iPad to see how far away he is!  Kerigan's hand on Craig's head just melts my heart.

Daddy always reads the Night Before Christmas.

Then we had to say goodbye to Buddy.

Hugs!

And this is where it got emotional.

Andrew could not take it.  He hates hates hates when Buddy leaves.  He has loved Buddy for as long as he can remember.  I think he started coming to our family when Andrew was 2 or 3.

It was so, so sad, he even made Ga Ga and me cry!  Oh Andrew.  You melt us.  I was so thankful for one more believing year... I know the years are numbered.

Santa filled their sacks and brought scooters!

I was just thankful my giant tree fit in our new house too!  Although it's not quite the same without those huge, gorgeous windows in the background!

Buddy left a note and a photo of him for each kid.

Christmas morning, coming soon...