Christmas (part 2)

Payton couldn't wait to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. Payton asked Santa for a "turn on Hello Kitty toothbrush" and a "light-up ball". Thankfully she is easy to please! Grant was less thrilled as you can tell by the picture.

Below is Payton when she was Grant's age so I guess he is right on track...

 and then last year's pic, fun to see the progression...

Even when we went the second time with Liam, Grant was still not a fan. Liam did great, didn't seem to mind at all, I do love the look he is giving his older cousin. It will be interesting to see what happens next year... 

 We were home this year for Christmas so we got to celebrate this little guy's first Christmas with him. We had a great holiday. Brian was able to make it home so we spent 3 days straight just hanging out with the fam. On Monday the 23rd we celebrated Uncle Steven's 21st birthday with all of the "grown-ups" we had dinner at Benihana and grabbed drinks after at CB & Potts, it was fun to celebrate with everyone, I can't believe my baby brother is 21...

Below are pics of the three grand-kids in the same shirt on their first Christmas, kind of fun!

Liam 2013

Payton 2010

Grant 2012

 

 Christmas Eve we had everyone to our house for presents and dinner. We got the kids Christmas jammies, hopefully they will still think it's cute to dress alike for years to come, because us moms love it!

 It was a nice relaxing evening

 This guy was pretty thrilled with the wrapping paper...

 On Christmas Day we did our own family thing at home for the first part of the day and then met up with the fam again at my moms for gifts and dinner. I guess I didn't get pics of Christmas morning, but I did take a video. Payton was thrilled to see Santa had come and left her the toothbrush she had asked for and a few other things. I'm not sure Grant had a clue about Santa, but he was excited that she was excited and he loved his remote control car Santa brought. We went to my moms early afternoon and hung the rest of the day and stayed the night. We had 7 adults 3 kids and 3 dogs, it was fun! Payton and Grant enjoyed the gifts, of course, but I think spending the quality family time together and having Uncle Steven sleep over Christmas Eve and then sleeping over at Nana's Christmas night is what made the biggest impression on them. These kids love being with their people and that makes this mom so incredibly happy.

As always, so thankful to have family close by to spend the holidays with. Love you all!

Christmas (part 1)

 Grandpa and Grandma came out in early December to celebrate Christmas with us since it was our year to stay home. We had a nice relaxing visit.

 New outfit from Uncle Kyle

 His Bears jersey from Uncle Kyle and tools from Uncle Jerry and Aunt Lana were a huge hit

 The kids of course enjoyed opening presents, but really they just loving having their Grandpa and Grandma around. Their visits just go by too fast. I have a feeling it will get harder and harder on the kids to say goodbye each time.

Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving this year. We had my family (minus Brian in MS and Kels and Josh and Liam who were in NC) and some friends.

 We had seven kids this year and decided that was enough to warrant a separate kids table. I saw this cute snack idea on Pinterest. Thank goodness for that site, it's so great for someone like me who has no creative vision. My table decor was also Pinterest inspired.

 "helping" Nana make whip cream

 Have no idea what she was doing here...

 Kole worked hard on the turkey, he put it in a brine, stuffed it and baked it. It turned out perfect!

 

 We had quite the spread, everyone contributed which made it a lot more enjoyable for us.

 I forgot to snap a picture of the desserts before we dug into them, there were plenty to choose from!

It was a wonderful meal shared with family and friends and the kids had a total ball playing with the extra company around. I don't really remember, but I think the weather was ok. I love being home and hosting, but I also look forward to the years where we just show up :)