A Date on New Year's Eve

Jon and I were able to go out on a date for New Year's Eve this year.  This is the first date we have had since June so we were very excited to get away for a few hours and just be together without the kids.  We went and saw Les Miserables and then got some coffee afterwards.  It was such a fun night just hanging out and enjoying each other's company.  It is definitely something I want to try to do more often this next year.  We hope you had fun ringing in the new year!  2012 has been a wonderful year for our family and we are looking forward to seeing what 2013 has in store for us!!

A Visit From the Carters

 Last Saturday one of our favorite families came to visit us on their way home from the holidays.  Although we don't get to see them nearly as much as we would like to, we always pick up right where we left off and are so thankful for their friendships.  Our kids had a blast playing together.  We barely saw them the entire day, which meant we were able to sit and visit without too much interruption.  I love looking at old pictures of the kids and seeing how much they have grown!  Our quivers have definitely multiplied in the past years!  The kid's attempt at an adult picture turned out as good as could be expected!  We are already looking forward to the next time we will see the Carters!

Snow

This year Mansfield had a white Christmas, with snow falling most of the day.  Unfortunately, Cleburne, where we spent the day, did not see one snow flurry the whole time we were there.  As we drove up into our driveway Christmas night, the girls were so excited to see the snow.  They were even more excited when they looked out the window the next morning and found the snow was still there.  Jon bundled them up and let them go outside for a few minutes.  He pushed them around the yard in the recycling box for a while.  Aubrey didn't last very long, and came inside to snuggle with me!  Addison stayed out a little longer and made some snow angels in the snow.  Aubrey made one last attempt to play when Addison asked if they could jump on the trampoline that was covered in snow.  The fun ended when they came to the door crying with their tights soaked.  They were following mommy and daddy's rules and took their boots off to jump!!  The snow is now gone, but they are glad they were able to see a little bit last week and are hoping more will fall at some point in the next couple of months.

Celebrating Grandma Rowland

Jon and I got a call on December 22 letting us know that his Grandma Rowland had passed away.  We were so thankful that we had just seen her at her 90th birthday celebration in October.  She was a wonderful godly woman who prayed for each one of her family members daily.  

The funeral was scheduled for last Friday in Colorado, and we were so thankful Jon and his brother were able to fly up there to attend the service.  They left early Friday morning and came back Saturday morning.  Jon said it was a nice service that honored his grandmother.  He also enjoyed getting to see all of his family.  Jon and all of his cousins served as pallbearers at the funeral. We will miss Grandma Rowland, but we know we will see her again one day.  I know she had a wonderful Christmas this year celebrating with her Savior in heaven !

Christmas Day in Cleburne

Once we finished Christmas and breakfast at our house, we loaded up the car and headed back to Cleburne for Christmas with my family.  As always, the first order of business was trying to get a decent family picture.  We got a fairly good one, and were also able to get a picture of our whole family that turned out pretty well.  

The kids were super excited about their stockings and presents (and let's admit it - the adults were too!), so we decided to go ahead and open our gifts first.  Ryan was so excited he laughed and danced around - it was very cute!

 My new brownie pan I got - I made some this week and I love it!  Every brownie has edges, which is my favorite part!  This year my parents got all of the kids (except Ryan) a Fisher Price digital camera.  The kids loved them and all took over 100 pictures that day alone!  

After presents the kids put on a play of the story of Christmas.  My mom was the narrator, Parker was Joseph, Addison was Mary, and the three little girls were the angels (with a little stage fright).  Meredith did a great job helping out backstage, and the big kids did great remembering all of their lines.  It was so much fun watching them, and I am hoping this becomes a tradition in future years.

After the play there was still a few minutes before dinner was ready.  My mom decided this year she would plan some fun games for us to play, so we broke into two teams (Team Santa and Team Rudolph) and played a couple of games.  In the first game one person from each team threw 25 marshmallows into a bucket, and the winner was the person who got the most marshmallows inside.  The kids thought that was pretty fun, and we found Ryan multiple times with his mouth stuffed full of marshmallows!

The second game was Pass the Present.  We passed around a present, and when the music stopped the person holding the present got to open it.  The kids thought it was funny when each time they opened it, another wrapped present appeared!  After all of the kids got a change to open one present, Meredith opened the final box to find Chick-fil-a gift cards for everyone!

After that game we decided to stop and eat dinner.  My mom had bought a brisket and Amy had received a turkey from her school, so while Jon was at work on Christmas Eve he used the smoker at the fire station and smoked both of them very slow all day.  They both turned out delicious, and mom had made beans, coleslaw, macaroni, and salad to go with it.  We ate way too much, but it was worth it!  Before dinner Amy and Meredith fought over the wish bone, and Meredith won this year!

After dinner the kids were getting tired, but we decided to try one more game.  In this game each team was given things to decorate one person on their team (Granna and Granstan were great sports!).  It turned out to be a lot of fun for out team, and both Santa's were very cute in the end!

I love this picture!  Ryan climbed up in Granstan's lap and was mesmerized by his beard!  He smiled and laughed for several minutes!

At this point the kids were worn out and it was getting late, so we decided to pack up and head home.  I am so thankful for parents who do so much to make Christmas a wonderful day full of so many memories for our family.  This year did not disappoint, and the kids are still talking about the things we did that day!

Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning

Jon had to work the two days before Christmas, so the kids and I spent the night of the 23rd in Cleburne.  We stayed most of Christmas Eve in Cleburne and played with the cousins, and then drove home after Ryan napped.  Our church provided childcare for the little ones this year for our Christmas Eve service, so I decided I would go and take the girls with me.  They did pretty good during the service, and I really enjoyed getting a chance to go for the first time in years. After it was over, we stopped by the fire station to see Jon.  While we were there we let the kids open a couple of their presents (their ornaments we get them each year), which they thought was pretty fun!

After Ryan went to bed, I let the girls help me put all of the presents under the tree (I didn't put them out early this year because I knew it would be a losing battle trying to keep Ryan away from them day after day).  They were so excited to see their presents and had a hard time going to bed after that!  Once I knew they were asleep, I set out their stockings and headed to bed myself.  

The kids slept until Jon got home the next morning, and I was able to get up early to get ready before they woke up.  We let them open their stockings first, with some of their favorite things being new slippers and mittens.  Ryan liked the new trucks he got!

After stockings we opened all of our presents.  I love the idea of buying each kid 4 presents (something you want, need, wear, read), and did pretty well sticking to it this year.  I also like having them one present from just me and one from just Jon.  I gave the girls a nice necklace this year (something to wear) and Jon gave them a basket for their bike.  They didn't really need anything, so their "want" and "need" gifts were a new baby doll (Aubrey's "want" for about three months now) and a puppet theater with new puppets.  They also got some new books ("read").  Ryan got lots of new cars (a great find at the consignment sale this year!) and a new dump truck.  

We had such a fun morning spending time as a family opening our gifts.  The girls have been playing with everything they got the week.  Aubrey takes her baby everywhere and is such a good little mother!  They have also been putting on some very cute plays for us!  

After a quick breakfast, we loaded up the car and headed to Cleburne to enjoy the day with my family.