Merry Christmas

Well, Christmas Eve the kids put the cookies and milk out and Matthew even threw out some oats for the reindeer:) Where does the time go??

Yeah Christmas morning and it was after 6am:)

Abby got a turkey dinner platter set of toys, which she has all but destroyed now!

IPad:)

Trains and more trains:)

Mimi and Pappy's for more!!

The dogs were waiting for their treat too!

My Mom made this cake from a Southern Living recipe that was in the December issue
this year! It was delicious!!!

Bring on the Presents

We got together with Joe and Grace so the kids could do their gift swap, and of course they enjoyed their time together even more than the gifts!






























































I finally made it to Bush n Vine to get fresh strawberries. We even saw them in the fields picking when we picked these up. I love the Fall berries better than the summer ones:)



















Of course we had to dip some of them in chocolate, yummmm!

We did Christmas with Katie and Emily at Mimi's and Pappy's early. Glad we got to be with them even if it wasn't on Christmas day:) Love you girls!!

Photo Day

I hadn't had a picture taken of Elizabeth since she turned twelve so I decided when we did our Christmas card pic I would take some of her too. A couple of years back the photographer who took all the pics of the kids passed away and although I went to someone I like since it just hasn't been the same, so I just don't seem to get it together like I should. I guess I thought he would just be there until my kids were done letting me get their pictures taken:( I can't believe Elizabeth is twelve! Wow! We also got a few interesting photos out of our Christmas card attempts. Pretty good I think considering we had to use a tripod!

Darn Abby closed her eyes:)

I liked this one, but the headless dog didn't seem very Christmas card appropriate, lol!

LOVE THIS ONE!

Tree decorating and a Hike

What was left of our holiday weekend we spent decorating, shopping and hiking. David and Matthew headed up to Crowders Mountian (Abby too) while we got some holiday shopping done. They enjoyed their hike enough that David has been back twice and we all went this past weekend and did the 3.5 mile hike up to the top. We enjoyed it, and it was a challenge since its rough paths and rock for most of the hike. We need as much exercise as we can get since we have enjoyed quite a bit of sweets and treats since Thanksgiving Weekend:)

Thanksgiving Weekend

We did the usual over Thanksgiving weekend, we ate too much and got our Christmas tree! The weather was perfect so we just had to head out there and pick one. We took both dogs so they could enjoy some outdoor fun as well! Lucky David got to do most of the cutting, Matthew didn't want to and Elizabeth did try, but in the end Dad finished the job!















The attempt at a Christmas card photo, as you all know this did not make the cut:)

Glad my parents were willing to join us:)














To the truck with the tree, I don't know how many more years we will do this, but as long as the kids want to we will!