Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

For the first time in 12 years, we were home, by ourselves and not having to rush off to anywhere, from Christmas Eve to New Years Eve. We had some great, relaxing family time. It was a nice Christmas with my little family.

Building the gingerbread house.

More eating happened than building. But it was still fun.

A strand of lights went out on the tree Christmas Eve. What great timing.

Cute kids in the wrapping paper.

Checking out what Santa brought them.

Both of the girls got pillowpets. To say they love them is an understatement.

For Christmas dinner we made ham and the trimmings. We used the good plates but stayed in our pj's. That's the way to do Christmas dinner.

Christmas with the Malletts & Ryland School Party

Well, I'm a little out of order here. Lee and Sandy came into town the weekend before we spent time with the Wiggains. Oh well.

We didn't do much excited while they were here. Mainly just played, ate and opened presents.

Opening presents from Pappy and Grammy.

Ryland got a Harry Potter blanket.

Leland got a new toolbox.

I did make it to Ryland's school Christmas party. There was a ton of food, gifts and lots of crafts and games. The kids had a good time.

Christmas with the Wiggains

For the holidays this year, my family came to DFW. My dad found some cabins on Lake Grapevine. Each family had their own small cabin right on the lake. It was great. The weather was wonderful and we all had a great, relaxing time.

The moon the morning after the lunar eclipse. Leland and I had set an alarm to see the eclipse. We got Ryland up to see it to which he said "Oh cool" and then went back to bed. He doesn't even remember getting up. It was neat to see though.

Part of Lake Grapevine right by our cabins.

I had 2 nieces born back in July. These are my brothers, the proud father's of those sweet girls.

The Tuesday we were there, the weather was gorgeous. My family enjoyed fishing and playing outside. And yes, Reese is wearing her Christmas PJ's and her pink boots - she loves those boots.

This is the only picture we got of all the older grandkids. We had a campfire on Tuesday evening. The kids enjoyed cooking hotdogs, making smores, and playing with the glow sticks.

Grandma with Reese and Jacey. These 2 are 2 1/2 months apart in age.

RRR enjoying the campfire.

Mitch brought his guitar and we had a good time singing by the fire. We sang some old goodies.

Kelly and my nephews.

All the kids got matching Christmas PJ's. We missed getting a picture with them all together, but they were very cute.

"Christmas Morning"

All the grandkids made personalize plates for Grandma and Papa.

Kelly and sweet Hannah Beth.

Mitch and Katie gave Ryland a Harry Potter Lego game. Mitch was great and played it with him several times.

Mitch also played the Wii with Ryland alot.

Wednesday morning, my morning girl and I were up and ready when everyone else was still enjoying being lazy. So we took Grandma with us and went to get pedicures. It was lots of fun.

On Wednesday afternoon, we all went to Bass Pro Shop to let the kids enjoy all the Christmas things there. They all had a great time.

Raylee, Reese, and Jacey.

Some of the kids wanted to sit on the big, stuffed bear. Parker and Jacey weren't so sure about it.

Hannah Beth enjoying the sights at Bass Pro.

Katie and Mikeyla enjoying Bass Pro also.

I ended up with most of the kids most of the time at Bass Pro so we made a train to go everything. I'm sure we were comical to watch when there were 5 kids ages almost 3 to 5.

Keynan checking out a boat at Bass Pro.

And of course, we got to see Santa while at Bass Pro.

We really enjoyed the few days with my side of the family and we all seemed to enjoy the location. I think we'll be staying there again.

Christmas Parade & Holiday in the Park

We had a fun weekend in December. On Saturday was the Mansfield Christmas Parade. The kids and I really enjoyed the parade. We gathered lots of candy and saw lots of fun stuff. A great time.

On Sunday we went to Holiday in the Park at Six Flags. We LOVE Holiday in the Park. It was pretty cold that night, but we went prepared so we weren't miserable. We had lots of fun.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday. The boys both had all week off of school, so I got my work finished Monday morning and we headed to Artesia, NM at lunch. The kids were so excited to be at Pappy and Grammy's house. We had a nice relaxing couple of days with them. We hung out, went to the movies, and just chilled. It was nice.

The kids playing in the club house.

Lee decided my boys needed BB guns. Ryland had a good time learning to shoot.

The girls got to play with Pete while the boys were shooting.

You can always guarantee a tea party while at Grammy's.

On Thursday, we went to Hobbs to join the extended family for dinner. It was good weather, so the kids were able to play outside. They really enjoyed getting to play with some of the second cousins. We enjoyed seeing all the family.

Cousin Drew playing with the kids outside.

The kids wanted to play cards like the big people.

My mother-in-law is one of 5 girls. They were all there for this holiday so we had to capture the moment.

Reese chillin with aunt Lesa.

Aunt Brenda got the kids antlers. The girls really enjoyed them.

It took us a while to get a picture because Reese kept jumping in front of the group - such a ham.

Granny with the great grandkids that were there.

On Friday we headed to Lubbock to see my parents on our way home. Their yard was covered in leaves when we arrived. The kids didn't even make it in the house before they were asking to rake those leaves. They stayed out there for a long time raking and then jumping in the piles. Fun times for sure.

On Saturday much of my mom's family came over for dinner. My Granddad had turned 92 the weekend before so we had wanted to get together to celebrate. It was great seeing some of the family again.

Ryland reading to the 4 girls.

My gorgeous cousins. They were the flower girls in my wedding 12 years ago.

My mom, her sister, my cousin, and our girls. 3 generations of girls.

Granddaddy with 3 of his great grandkids.

My mom, her siblings, and their dad.

It was a great Thanksgiving holiday. It was relaxing and we got to see lots of family. A great week for sure.