Christmas Eve Dinner

We celebrated Christmas Eve at the Long's house with an awesome yummy dinner! We enjoyed our cousins, Aunt Amy, Uncle Brady and Uncle Brad! Here we are at the adult table.

 The kiddie counter

Jake and Bex playing on the floor

 Bex, Maren, Emily and Jacob hanging out

Katie and cousin Jake checking out the Christmas tree 

 Jacob checking out all the presents!

 Time to sing our favorite Christmas tunes!

 More music!

 Aunt Amy the accompanist 

 And of course we had to witness Brad and Matthew trying to light up this place!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!

Magnolia 1st Ward Christmas Dinner

This year we were blessed to be able to double dip in the Christmas celebrations at church! We had breakfast with the Magnolia 2nd Ward this morning and now dinner with Magnolia 1st Ward.

Needless to say, Jacob was not a big fan of Santa this year! This is as close as he would get!

 Rebecca was a complete angel for Santa

 Emily sat on the jolly fellow's lap!

And shared a good laugh! 

 Matthew got to share his short list of gifts he wants for Christmas

Even Katie got to sit on Santa's lap!

What a great group of kids! 

 They were so excited to get awesome candy from Santa!

 In the end, Jacob came around to at least look at Santa without any tears!

 We were the VIP crew as Sam's friend Freddy Youngblood was Santa that night! He was fabulous and none of the kids knew who he was so it was special awesome for everyone! Thanks to Freddy and his wife for sharing that evening with so many great people! 

Mag 2nd Ward Christmas Breakfast

What a fun way to celebrate Christmas this year! All my kids are ready to dig in to their yummy breakfast!

 The older girls were ready to help the younger primary children decorate their Christmas tree ornaments!

 Katie helping Bex craft

Super cute gingerbread man ornaments! 

 Emily finds time to work on one also!

Matthew telling Santa what he wants 

Rebecca waving with Santa 

 The whole crew gathered for one quick photo with Santa! Everyone had a great time!

Katie's 7th Grade Christmas Performance

The 7th Grade Choir performed a couple beautiful Christmas songs - Katie's favorite to sing was "The 12 Days After Christmas" 

  Mrs. Hehli directing the choir - Katie is just to her left

After the 7th grade choir performed, we listened to the 8th grade choirs and also the Magnolia high school choirs. It was a wonderful concert!

And of course Matthew was a stinker and wanted to leave as quickly as possible, but we made him sit through the entire concert!

5th Grade Christmas Play at Ellisor

 Emily had a huge part in her Christmas play this year as the narrator and she NAILED it!!!

 Here she is in her singing spot

But she mostly stayed in the giant red chair at the Christmas tree 

She spoke so confident and clear and we were all impressed with her performance!

 Making her pose next to super tall Santa

 This was her comfy spot!

And of course her #1 fans afterwards! 

BBJH Christmas Concert

 As part of the 7th grade choir, Katie was able to sing in a small group for one of the Christmas songs up front at the microphone

 Here she is singing her heart out!

 The choir teacher announced all the solo/ensemble scores at the end of the concert and Katie was one of the few that received a 1!!! (best score possible)

Music has always been a big part of Katie's life and it is fun watching her mature into it! She loves to sing and it's a piece of who she is!

Market Street Holiday Performance

Emily has been so fun to watch in her 5th grade choir! I love her animation! Sam took the day off from work to drive out to The Woodlands Mall area and we watched her 5th grade class perform several Christmas songs while being videotaped for a clip of the local news. She was so excited to be on TV, missing 1/2 day of school for this field trip, and having a pizza party for lunch!

The group getting ready to sing

 Emily has a beautiful voice and I hope she continues with music! 

 The Market Street Square is a fun place to visit with all the holiday cheer! Here is the entire 5th grade choir posing in front of the giant Christmas tree.

  Emily was kneeling on the far left bottom row

 Emily's #1 fan - Daddy Sam! He also loves to joke with her and stole her Santa hat several times! She loves trying to get him back!

I am so proud of this awesome girl! She always brings a smile to my face!

 Daddy was busy entertaining Jacob while mom and Emily mingled with the crowd!

 Holly and Emily are great friends in choir and in the classroom! It is so much fun watching these girls grow into such beautiful young ladies! Let the holiday season begin!