Christmas Fun

Christmas activities were lots of fun this year. The kids are at such fun ages so it was very enjoyable. I'm going to attempt to go through each event in order. This will be long - so be prepared. :)

We began with exchanging gifts with our good friend Donna on the 16th. The girls got matching leopard print coats, outfits, and hats and gloves. Ryland got the below pictured wall art. Donna personally painted these and each letter has special meaning. All the kids loved their gifts. Thank you Donna!

That evening we did a gingerbread house. The kids always love this activity. They are getting pretty good at it too. :)
On the 17th, Leland's parents and sister flew in to visit for a few days. The 18th was Ryland's party at school. Sandy and I joined him for the fun, but I forgot my camera, so no pictures to share. It was nice meeting some of his friends though.

That evening we opened more gifts. We opened ours to the kids, and all the ones from my in-laws. The funniest part was Reese - with every present she ooooed and ahhhed - it was precious. The kids received lots of clothes, games, and a few toys. Everyone was pleased.


Every year we take a picture of the kids in the wrapping paper. It sure is a challenge getting all three to cooperate. This is what we ended up with this year. :)


On the 19th, we took everyone to Grapevine. We had given Lesa a gift card to the Nike store which is at the Grapevine Mills Mall so we girls and the kids headed out to do some shopping. The kids even talked us into riding the carousel too.

Leland and his Dad joined us later at the Bass Pro Shop where we had gotten Lee's gift card. We had a great time there. They had a winter wonderland area with crafts, games and Santa (pictures were free). The kids loved it. We even managed to get a decent picture with Santa. Lee's only complaint was that we didn't stay long enough for his liking - but we would stay all day if we let him. :)


For supper we walked across the parking lot to Fuddruckers and then we loaded up and went to the Gaylord Texan. We had heard they have a great winter scene, so we had to check it out since we were in the area. We all enjoyed looking at the lights and train villages. The hotel also has a huge ice sculpture area. Leland and Lee weren't interested so they headed home, but the rest of us wanted to check it out. We had to wait about an hour to get in, but they had Polar Express playing on a big screen, so that helped pass the time. Once in, they give you huge blue coats because the temp is 9 degrees inside! It was very crowded, but we all enjoyed looking at the massive ice sculptures. Towards the end they even have an ice slide that Lesa and Ryland went down. Raylee and Reese both fell asleep during the walk through, but it was still enjoyable.


Santa came to our house on the 20th. Raylee was up super early of course so I contained her as long as I could. We finally went to wake up Ryland and he said "Santa's not here yet, it's too early. " - it was after 7am! Those two are so opposite in their sleeping habits. The kids were excited with what Santa brought them.

The Mallett's flew back home on the 21st and then my brother and his family came in that evening. Because of a not so pretty weather forecast, our travel plans to see my family got bumped up a day. So we quickly packed that night and we left on Monday after I had gone to the office to run payroll for the week.

We finally left town at 1:30. We stopped in Pryor, OK to eat supper with some good friends, but then decided to hit the road again. We pulled into a hotel in Springfield, MO at midnight. We all slept well that night and enjoyed the whirlpool tub the next morning.

We headed back out at 11 the next morning and made it to the house in Branson we would be staying at by lunch time. The rest of my family arrived a few hours later. We all went out to eat and then the girls went grocery shopping. We spent the 24th and 25th just hanging around the house. Everyone was pleased with their gifts - I think. :)

On the 26th we went shopping for awhile at a mall and that evening we went to the Dixie Stampede. It was a great day all around. The 27th we headed home and arrived at 6pm. We enjoyed the travels, but were glad to be home.

Our little tree with craft ornaments.

This is all the grandkids. We traditionally receive pjs for Christmas Eve so of course we had to take a picture of the kids. Left to right - Ryland, Raylee, Keynan, Reese, Jacey, Parker - all in birth order.

Since Jacey was so upset, her mom joined in the picture to calm her down.

Parker enjoying a box more than the toys.

One day we decorated sugar cookies. The kids really enjoyed it. This is Grandma helping Reese with hers. These 2 will be a dangerous combo one day. :)

The house already had a Wii so we brought some games to play. Mitch also brought his Xbox so we played lots of Rockband.

Unfortunately, we've all (except for Ryland) have had a stomach bug since we left. It has been a long week of recovery, but I think we are all finally doing much better. Tuesday we decided we needed to get out of the house so we went to Six Flags to enjoy Holiday in the Park. It was really nice. We walked around enjoying the lights, the awesome food vendors, rode a few rides, and went to a show. We didn't do everything, but it was a enough for our crew. A few of us were down again the next day not feeling well, but it was fun while it lasted.

So that was the last 3 weeks of adventure for our family. We've had a nice vacation time and aren't looking forward to getting back to work and school next week. I hope everyone else had a nice holiday. Happy New Year!