Christmas Eve

Here are some more pics from our GA trip.  Don't worry, there is still more to come after this post.  ;-)  I asked Anna today what her favorite part of GA was.  She told me, "BARBIES!!"  When I was a little girl, my mom bought a bunch of handmade wooden barbie furniture.  I LOVED it and would play for hours.  We pulled it all out for Anna and she was in heaven.  I tried with all my might to get her to smile for a picture but she wouldn't take her eyes off of her barbies for even a second. 

 The whole family got there on Friday and the festivities began.  Anna and her cousin, David, decorated a beautiful gingerbread house. 

 Aunt Ashley brought the cutest snowman cutouts for the kids to make.  They each made 5 or 6 and loved every minute of it. 

 I just love Anna's curls in the picture.  Oh, I hope they last. 

 Here is cousin Jacob.  He and Andrew are almost three months apart.  They seemed to really like having someone there that was their size. 

 Uncle Greg and Granddaddy are helping Andrew ride the tricycle.  So cute!

 Now, Andrew is trying to run Granddaddy over!

 Here is our baby whisperer!  Aunt Kellie is UNBELIEVABLE with kids. 

 This is our Christmas Eve big dinner.  The kids were so excited to eat at the big table. 

 And doesn't it look pretty?

 We had a big Christmas Eve party.  This is part one, (pre bedtime). 

We sang carols, dressed up in reindeer antlers and Christmas hats, rocked out in jingle bells, read the Christmas story, and let the kids dress up like Mary and Joseph. 

 Here is our ever talented Amanda playing her violin with Dale accompanying her.  It was beautiful. 

 And here are Mary and Joseph.  Anna was SO excited to be Mary. 

 She took it very seriously.  She held that baby Jesus all the way until bedtime.  She rocked him to sleep, sang him songs, ....it was all very sweet. 

Christmas Eve party post bedtime, still to come.

Georgia!

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year!  We sure did.  We just got back from a two week vacation in Georgia.  It was wonderful, every second of it.  We have one billion pictures to share, but as for now, we'll take it one day at a time.  So, here's the first batch.  Anna LOVES going to "Granny's house".  Everything in Georgia is Granny's.  Granny's river, Granny's nursery, Granny's restaurant.  It's so cute.  I wasn't worried about her having the time of her life.... I was worried about Andrew destroying Granny's house.  That boy is curious, let me tell you.  He's into everything, all of the time.  However, he did awesome.  I think he loved having so much space to walk around in compared to our small apartment.  Both of the kids were super happy which made for happy parents.  Overall, it was a great trip, filled with lots of memories and love.  Now we're just counting down the days until we get to go again.
My dad set up our reindeer and sleigh just because he knew the kids would love it.  He was right.  Anna was so excited to ride in "Santa's sleigh". 

What's a trip to GA without some good Mexican food?  Yea, that doesn't even make sense.  We usually go here the first day we get to GA and then make multiple trips before we leave.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.   

We made some Christmas art for Josh's family.  Anna loved being able to use sparkles.  I think my Mom is still trying to get those off her counters.  :-/

 Andrew got in on it too!  Cute.  ;-)

 One time in the sleigh was just not enough.  It was quite entertaining for them both. 

 My mom had a birthday while we were there, so we threw her a little party.  It was so fun.  Anna MADE us wear our hats for hours before the party started.  Every time we took them off, she begged, pleaded and cried for us to put them back on.  I don't think I've EVER seen someone so happy for a party. 

 The noise makers were a hit!

 My mom is such a special person to me.  She has always been there for me and has given me such unconditional love.  I'm the luckiest person in the world to call her Mom.  I'm so glad I got to celebrate her special day with her.  Happy Birthday Mom!!

Part two to come soon!

Santa Claus

We had our ward Christmas party last week.  The kids loved it.  Here are a few pics from the event.

 Anna helped decorate letters for members of the ward with lots of stickers. 

 Daddy, also working hard on his letters. 

 The big event was Santa Claus at the end.  Andrew didn't seem to mind it at first....

....then he was terrified.  ;-(

Anna, on the other hand, loved every minute of it.  She was very nervous beforehand and wouldn't let go of me.  Once she was on his lap, she was in heaven. 

Merry Christmas

Deck the Halls

 Welcome to Christmas season.  I love this time of year, especially since we have kids to enjoy it with.  We decorated our house the day after Thanksgiving.  Anna was beside herself; she was so excited!  Andrew kept pulling down the Christmas tree and eating hooks.  It was dangerous for him.  All of these picture have poor lighting but you get the idea.  Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Gobble Gobble

 Happy Thanksgiving.  I thought the picture above was very fitting for this post.  I think Andrew thinks he's cute enough to eat.  I found him in the crockpot the other day.  It's his favorite place to sit.  Whenever I turn my back, there he is, all squished in there.  It's cute.
Now, on to Thanksgiving....  It was a great day.  We got to spend it with some of our good friends, the Gublers.  WashU put on a formal Thanksgiving dinner for free for WashU students and their families.  We figured that free was a good option for us this year.  I think Anna was in heaven being at Daddy's school.  She squealed the whole way there and back. 

 I tried to get some pics of the kids after our dinner but they just wanted to play.  No surprise there.  It was fun to see them so happy. 

 In the midst of all of this happiness, Andrew head butted Anna, hence her screaming.  Sad moment. 

 Here are a few pics I snapped of Andrew later on in the day.  I just thought he looked so grown up.  His favorite place is the "baby table."   He can get on the chairs all by himself.  He gets this big look of accomplishment each time he does it. 

 My sweet boy loves giving hugs. 

 Even though we didn't make the dinner, we did make the dessert.  We had some really delicious pies to enjoy.  The pecan pie took the gold though.  It has been a fabulous weekend.  Happy Thanksgiving everybody!