Christmas Morning

The presents lined up under the tree

The anticipation of finding and opening their presents was very exciting! All of the kids came down to mom and dad's bedroom to wake us up at 8:00 (that was the designated time this year - I think we snuck in a 9:00 appearance last year - what happened???)

Rebecca got a lot of crafty things (ie: coloring crayons, books, paints) and dollhouse accessories

Emily opening her game board

Everyone picked out their own stockings for this year

Minecraft Legos

Jacob unwrapped his presents so fast then moved on to mom and dad's!

Nerf Vortex Football was a big hit for Matt!

Beautiful Barbie for Bex

Emily scored with clothes this year!

Matthew got a great gift from Grandma and Grandpa Whimpey! His very first grown-up fishing pole!

This boy will be out fishing in our neighborhood pond and stream all Christmas break long!

Bex got lots of Barbie stuff for her doll house

Katie got an awesome gift from Grandma and Grandpa Whimpey! A super cool chair for her reading corner in her bedroom!

Definitely comfy!

Matthew's big gift was his new scooter

Jacob taking Matthew's scooter on a test drive around the house!

Rebecca's big gift was her Nabi Tablet

Jacob had the biggest present to unwrap under the tree this year!

His very own train set and table

Chilling on his trains and eating pez candy. Doesn't get much better than this!

Katie and Emily had to open the final presents for this Christmas season!

They were so excited to get their own cell phones! Look at those happy faces!!! Loved watching everyone open their gifts in turn this year!

Sweet Bex taking Jacob's dump truck for a spin!

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Eve

Uncle Brad came over to visit Christmas Eve afternoon. He brought gifts for the kids and they were thrilled to open them!

Bex got the talking, walking puppy she wanted so much!

 Jacob got a Paw Patrol "Rubble" stuffed animal that talks

 Matthew got Super Smash Bros for the Wii

 Emily got the DVD Cinderella

 And Katie got the Avengers

We gave Brad the book he really wanted to read - Katie and I had fun shopping at Barnes and Noble the other day, searching for one of Brad's picks! 

 After Brad left, we had friends over for dinner. Brandy and her husband Jake along with Judy (who's husband Don recently passed away and was a good friend of Sam's). They were definitely entertained by our rowdy bunch!

 Ham and potatoes for the main dish were yummy!

And of course the kiddie table was fun for Bex, Matt and Troy! The anticipation of Santa's arrival was at the top of conversation the entire night! We had a great time celebrating with our friends and looking forward to tomorrow!

All You Can Eat

 We have been making it a tradition to go out to dinner as a family each Friday night! So we pick daddy up at work around 5:00 and head to one of our favorite restaurants!

These cuties have claimed Golden Corral as their favorite spot! All you can eat buffet plus desserts! They are truly in hog heaven here!

Lights at Gullo

 One of our favorite places to stop around Christmas time is the Gullo home! Their Christmas lights display is phenomenal!!!

 We watched their train set go round and round for quite a long time! Looking very festive Matthew!

Katie and Bex caught watching the train 

What a perfect Winter Wonderland!

Katie, Emily, Bex and Matt 

 We even snuck a few pictures of Jacob in!

He sure loves trains! 

 My selfie with Bex and the donkey

Wow! I've got such cute kiddos!

 Daddy and Jacob taking in all the lights!

We hope you are all enjoying this blessed holiday season!

Thanksgiving with Family

Of course on Thanksgiving Day, we headed to our awesome cousin's house in the Galleria. Jacob discovered this train track in one of the front rooms and was in heaven! These two were so cute to watch!

I loved watching Uncle Brad put the train tracks together for him and help him push the trains along! 

 Getting ready to load our plates! Maren, Alex, Matthew, Jacob, Bex and Aunt Amy

 The adult table: Jake and Daddy, Katie, Alex, Uncle Brad, Brady's mom Sue, Amy and Brady

Brad and I were awesome labeling our drinking cups "M-Dawg and B-Dawg" 

Dessert was super yummy and we were so grateful to be with our family that day! After dinner was over, we all headed across the street to the park for some pickup basketball games and playing on the playground of the elementary school. The kids had fun watching movies in the theater room upstairs and the adults got to play some games. We are so blessed so live so close to family and love spending time with them! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!