December

I was lucky enough to do some Christmas shopping with Stacey and our friend Mandy in Canton, a massive market in East Texas.

You know you've had a successful day shopping when you can barely fit three adults back in the car!

One of my favorite traditions - the Christmas show at our church!  I had nice long-sleeved shirts picked out for the boys but this was one of the warmest Decembers we've had, so we didn't get to enjoy them this year.

Matt was originally supposed to be gone on a business trip, but his flight changed and we were so happy to make it a family evening.

We made a quick visit to Santa because Alex needed to tell him he wanted a ripstick for Christmas.  This may be our last visit with the big guy because the boys look huge and Alex may hear some upsetting news on the street between now and next December.  We shall see...but at least this year was full of magic!

The kids loved our new inflatable this season!

Our first stop after school got out - Star Wars, of course!  The kids had been dying to see it and we all loved it.

 

Probably the most fun part of our holiday break was helping Grandpa with his Christmas surprise for Grandma - a puppy!  We went with him to bring Holly to our house then we got to play with her for days before the big reveal.

We may not have gotten around to baking our Christmas cookies this year, but it was much more fun playing on the floor with this sweet girl.

Casey didn't share in our joy at first.  She was upset that this little invader kept sleeping in her bed or her crate and played with all of her toys!  After several days, she could no longer ignore Holly's constant invitations to play and they ended up getting along really well.  Casey might finally have a dog friend!

We surprised Grandma with her sweet little puppy and spent a few days there celebrating Christmas.  We let the kids open one gift early and they were a tiny bit excited to figure out it was the xbox they'd been hoping to see.

We got lots of fun gifts from Grandma and Grandpa!

Holly loved the wrapping, not so interested in the gifts.

We enjoyed one of the candlelight services at church on our way home Christmas eve. The empty seat next to Alex happened to be where the pastor was sitting during all of the worship.  Thank goodness the kids were perfectly behaved that evening!  This is always my favorite service of the year :)

We left our cookies out for Santa and said goodnight to two very excited boys.  No Christmas pjs this year because it was too warm!

Bright and early Christmas morning, the boys couldn't wait to check out their new toys.  Alex was happy to find his ripstick.

Ben was thrilled to get the guitar he'd been wanting!

Alex was really excited to get his own watch from Mr. Scott and Miss Lou Anne.  Notice the sun has finally come up outside!

Ben was happy to test out Alex's ripstick before it went outside.  Alex needs a little more practice just yet. 

It's hard to believe another year has come and gone!  We are thankful for all the wonderful memories that 2015 has given us.