This past Sunday my brother James and his wife, Malinda, and their new little one Mason came to visit. My other brother Bryce arrived too. YAY! What a treat to go over to my Mom's house after church and enjoy their company along with a delicious meal!
James and my brother-in-law Rob are afflicted with the same eye-closing disease when it comes to pictures. We're glad Mason didn't inherit it!
Luke and Logan
What would the holiday be with out dinner and dessert?
What a fun evening! We always celebrate Christmas eve with Chris's side of the family. We had Jeff & Shana over with the kids and enjoyed a delicious ham dinner! We were treated to a Christmas dance by the girls and decorated cupcakes for Santa this year instead of cookies. We thought he might like some variety in his snacks. The kids also left reindeer seed in the yard and carrots. (There always thinking!)
This year we lucked out and Santa came to visit us. What a treat! One of our neighbors threw a fabulous Christmas party last night. How great is it to walk across the street and enjoy an evening with friends and neighbors with dinner, music, and a personal visit from Santa himself? 
Over all it was a very fun night. After the festivities, we all kicked off our shoes at home, jumped in the car, turned on our Christmas tunes and drove all around our neighborhood looking at the beautiful Christmas lights.
We had mixed reactions from the kids. First, Kathrine....she did not want to 'sit on Santa's lap.' Second, Taylor.... she insisted she wouldn't take the gift if it meant she had to go near him, but in the end, when he called her name, she jumped right up and took a picture with him. Third, Logan....no worries. He sat patiently until his name was called, hopped up, end of story. Fourth, Claire, she was horrified at the sight of Santa, did not want to go near him, touch him, or look at him. She is truly my child. She followed right in the footsteps of her older siblings and how they reacted to Santa at her age.
It was PJ day in the 4th grade for their Christmas party~ The kids were able to wear their favorite PJ's and enjoy several crafts and games. They made a snowman bookmark, an ornament and a hot chocolate mug. Then it was time for ice cream sundae's. Claire is always excited to come to school and visit with her brother and sister. She's feels like quite a big girl. She enjoyed the crafts as much as anyone else! 
Here Taylor and Claire share their dessert, and Claire tries out the comfy chair in the reading corner. (Man....do I look tired or what??? I didn't realize I looked so haggard until I saw these pic's. Yikes!)
Logan's class had such a fun Christmas party. There were many crafts, music and a snowman pancake breakfast. I was able to come and help out and spend the morning with Logan and his friends. I so enjoy watching him do crafts and work hard on little projects. I was glad I could spend this one-on-one time with him! What stark differences can be seen in the boys in his class. I hope he stays the sweet boy he is now - forever!
When breakfast and the crafts were done, it was time to put on his snowman costume and walk through the halls caroling. "Oh what fun, it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh....." The photo of Taylor was a quick snapshot while I walked through the halls with Logan. Her party is going to be my next post!
While I was at school the other day Darcy's choir came over and sang some fun Christmas songs for the elementary kids. I was so happy to see her perform!! They did a great job! Their shirts say, 'CHOIR.....enough said.'
Final creation. AKA: dough ball special 
While my sister was here visiting, my Dad had his 60th birthday. I would have loved to whooooop it up, but that's not really his style. We had a nice dinner here and let the kids play while we visited. Chris was here....somewhere...I'm not sure how he missed pictures, but we all celebrated together. (Thanks to him....not a dirty dish was to be found when everyone left.......sooooooo nice!)
Two of my favorite ladies!
Here's some of what I mean when I say....Enjoying the Journey. I love family gatherings! Rob was trying to look grumpy, but I don't believe he's ever that way! :)
Claire.....our new dancer and poser. She was dancing around saying, "Mommy, take a picture of me!" I couldn't resist. Towards the end of the evening...Sophie got sick and everyone had to leave early, but we enjoyed the short time we had together. Happy Birthday Dad! We love you. 
Here's something unique to Austin. We've done the Trail of Lights for 3 years now and we all look forward to it. If any of you have wrapped trees with lights, climbed ladders and strung lights from a 20 foot roof, placed lights along your sidewalks or driveways, pulled reindeer out of the attic, connected an uncountable amount of extension cords together or tried to plug 17 plugs into one outlet, you would be in awe of this creation. This first picture is a tunnel of lights. If you look closely you can see the reflective bars on the workers vests within the tunnel. This is the beginning of a rainbow of color and Christmas sounds.
Taylor was drawn to this sign and asked specifically to have her picture taken with it. Won't it be great when peace reigns on the earth?
Here are just a few of the spectacular trees they cover. It's really amazing. The bottom right corner is another tunnel of lights at the end of the tour. It's not just trees with lights, but many little vignettes with figures, stories and music. Lots to see. We enjoyed our homemade hot chocolate & whipped cream while strolling along.
Audrey and Rob were just here visiting and I was so excited to take them with us. They loved it! What made this time especially memorable is: When we arrived, the weather was beautiful. We couldn't have asked for a better night. We've gone before and it's been sooooooooooooooo crowded or super cold, but this was not like that. Towards the end of the mile long tour, the wind began to kick up and cool considerably. We were suspicious of the change, and knew from experience that Austin weather can change in a snap. Just as we rounded the corner at the end of the last tunnel of lights, it began to sprinkle, then quickly rain, then suddenly DOWN POUR! We had to run with everyone back to the car being pelted with large rain drops. We were soaked to the skin by the time we arrived at the cars. We were laughing! We even heard on the news that night, the rain had shut down the display until further notice. It was an exciting adventure that won't soon be forgotten! 
Recently my good friend did us the big favor of taking our family pictures this year. She is so talented and I'm not sure these photos reflect that because some of her subjects weren't totally cooroperative! We did our best.
Some of these are silly, and some are really great. I think it each child is free with their own personality under these circumstances. I posted just a few as I'll be framing some for the house, and if you want to see more, I guess you'll have to come on over! 
Last week the kids came running in the house from the backyard, yelling...."Mom, Mom, look what we found!!!" It was a snake skin. It was right out our back door on the stone retaining wall. You can't tell very well from the picture, but it is totally intact. There isn't a tear or anything in it. You could see the detailed head all the way to the tiny tip of the tail. It's pretty cool! My kids love the outdoors and all the animals, (in this case reptiles ;) plants, bugs, dirt, and rocks it provides. It's God's perfect playground! 
It was almost as long as Logan is tall. 
