New Year's Eve

This year Randall's mom watched the kids so we could go to dinner with another couple, and then we came home and celebrated with the kids. We had a couple of friends come over, and we popped fireworks and played in the bounce house. What I will always remember most about this night though is that the kids had been sick, throwing up the night before. We had told the others in case they didn't want to come, but the kids seemed fine by that afternoon so we thought maybe it was something they ate. Well, it ended up being a stomach bug and everyone else got it...a 1 year old, 4 year old, and 5 adults! Yikes! I felt so bad! Here's the sweet 1 year old we infected! Here's Lexie spreading her germs all over Carson!

Christmas Eve

Our family time was so good this year! The kids were truly happy being with everyone that loves them so much!

Randall and Lexie went to church and I let Tripp take his nap instead of going. Then it was time to head over to my parents' house. We watched the kids play together, ate, sang Christmas carols, shared about how our adopt-a-family experience was, and then opened presents. It was great! As always we had to leave early so I'm not even sure what all I missed out on after that! :(

These pics are before we left home...

At my parents' house:

Then we drove over to Randall's aunt's house. We HAD to be on time because we hired a Santa to arrive around 8. Lexie was so excited when we told her we thought Santa was going to be stopping by. Randall is so sweet about things and he made a big deal about it so she was pumped up. He said he thought he heard something, maybe it could be Santa!! She shrugged her shoulders, hands clasped, and with a big smile and wide eyes and all her innocence said, " I've never seen a Santa come down the chimney before!!" Sweet little thing thought she was going to see him come down. Awww...every bit of me at that moment wanted Santa to be real and for her to see that! We explained that Santa only comes down the chimney when we are sleeping and can't let him inside through the door. :(

Should have seen their faces when there was a knock at the door...and then when the door opened! It was sure worth the $150!!!!! Beautiful, magical night. I am so truly blessed with wonderful people in my life and a husband with such a big heart for his kids. He will do anything for them!

Lexie got all the princess dolls she had been asking for!

Kids Crazy Christmas Show

2nd Baptist Church is pretty amazing. This show is incredible for something that is free! Lots of puppets, singing, and dancing. The songs are awesome and explain Jesus' birth. Both kids loved it!! We went with some of our friends and had dinner afterwards.

Here's our friend Mason who moved to South Carolina.

Christmas with Papa Collum

Visit with Santa

We took the kids to visit Santa at Bass Pro Shop. They were SO happy to see him. Tripp was even trying to skip in line to get a good look at him. However, as soon as I dumped Tripp of in Santa's lap this is what happened.

Here they are eagerly awaiting to see him. I thought this was going to be a breeze.

After leaving there we went to Richmond State School to look at their lights display. They had a Santa at the end so we gave it another try. He did fine this time because Santa was handing out candy canes! We actually got a great picture of him and Lexie. I don't have it on my camera...just the print they made us. Sorry!

Tangled

I took Lexie to see Tangled, the Rapunzel movie. She liked it although she kept asking me throughout the movie when it would be time to go to Grandma's house. Ha! We had fun! She got Rapunzel's tower for Christmas. It's so beautiful and she loves it, so I am so glad we saw the movie!

Christmas Train

We took a ride on the Christmas Train this year in Alvin, TX. http://www.thechristmastrain.org/ It was a great concept, however, we had to wait 2 hours to take a 10 min ride. There were some activities for the kids but not enough to keep them entertained for 2 hours! You could take pictures with Santa, they had model trains, food, and you could walk around the lake. The train just took you on a little ride to look at lights. The kids really enjoyed it though. Not sure if we will be back next year! Maybe it's best not to go on a Saturday night!

Moving Away

One of my very best friends moved to Dallas this month so I've been a little sad. She's very special to me as we became great friends when we were pregnant with our first babies together, and our friendship just grew and grew. Our families became great friends! Her little boys are super sweet and are so special to us! Since we both stayed at home we hung out often and our kids played together a lot. It's such a weird feeling knowing they aren't around anymore! We miss them dearly but are excited for their new opportunity! Here are some pics from the party.

Fun times

Braden getting us the music ready.. After getting our Christmas Tree, we went over to my sister's house that night. What a great time we had! We danced to the Cha Cha slide. Chase and Braden are getting so big and it's so funny to see that's what they are into! We did S'mores and the kids brought every blanket they could find into the bounce house. They were having the best time for hours! What fun!