Merry Christmas!

Well, we made it through our second Christmas. This year was much more involved than last year. I remember sleeping babies and lots of snuggling last year... this year, chasing and playing were the two main events! It was perfect. The boys had an amazing second Christmas. Here is a brief run down of our festivities.

Christmas Eve is spent with my family. My mom, the kids, and grandma Carol came over yesterday afternoon for some fun and games, eating, church, and of course... PRESENTS! We all had a great time being together. The boys love playing with their Uncle Sam, Aunt Abby, Uncle Ben, and Aunt Sarah. It is nice for us too because they keep them very entertained.

The little men got so many great presents, thank you Gaga and Tonka! Aunt Sarah made them the most adorable hats. She is so talented!

Kale and I have the boys three gifts each, after all... that's how many Jesus got on his birthday! Here are them and their three presents.

Gift 1

Gift 2

Gift 3

Gift 1

Gift 2

Gift 3

Kale and I also got three presents each. Kale got Under Armor pants, Blue Man Group tickets and a Razorback Bequette jersey! I got a Columbia jacket, watch, and a Nike sweatshirt and pants. I will spare you pictures of our gifts :)

That night we cleaned up the house and make our cookies for Santa. We left him three reindeer noses and a glass of milk. From the looks of it he sure enjoyed them! The boys slept until almost 8! When they awoke Lolly, Pop, and Uncle Jake were here to see what Santa had brought. We had a great time playing with all our new toys.

Aunt Carrie and Uncle Kris came over soon after Lolly and Pop, and so did Nay Nay, Uncle Ron, and Mamie. We had great family time and yummy breakfast casseroles. It was a perfect way to start out Christmas morning. Of course there were more presents, and we thank all of

you for the wonderful and thoughtful gifts. The boys are so lucky to have such an amazing family, and so are we. I can't wait to use my new steam mop!!!!

After a HUGE nap we headed over to Carrie's house to be with the rest of Kale's family. The men got to see all of their aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course GiGi and Granddaddy! Of course... more food, and more gifts. It was fun playing with all the younger kiddos and watching the boys mix and mingle.

Peek-a boo!

Now we are home. In the toy scattered living room, watching the boys play and waiting for the Packers game to start! I am so thankful for our families, my babies, and my husband.

Merry Christmas everyone. God is SO good.

-Stephanie

Silver Dollar City

On Saturday we loaded up and made our first trip as a family to Silver Dollar City. The weather was, like last weekend, PERFECT! It was sunny and in the 50's, a great day to walk around the park and look at the 4 million lights. The boys had a great time taking in all of the sights. Heck, Kale and I had a great time taking in the sights! The men absolutely loved the light and music show. We watched it MANY times. Can't wait to go back next year. Here are a few pictures of the trip. Five more days until Christmas. I'm so excited!!

-Stephanie

GDE Staff Christmas Party

Tonight Kale and I had the opportunity to host the first stop of the Glenn Duffy Elementary Christmas party. I say first stop because it was a progressive dinner and dessert was hosted by the Hubanks'. We had an absolutely delightful time! We had a total of 34 people, not including all of the babies. The food was amazing, the laughter was abundant, and a good time was had by all. I am so lucky to work in a place where everyone truly cares about each other. Everyone took part in the mixing, mingling, and baby passing. Hats off to our courtesy committee, Carrie for hauling the tables and chairs, my sister Sarah and her beau Jeremy for unloading tables and chairs and helping watch the boys, all the people who stayed to clean up, and Mr. V and Teresa for coming to pick everything up at 9 o'clock at night! Also a big hats off to my husband, who never huffed or complained about moving our entire living room into the garage, and then putting it back in place before bedtime!

Here are some shots I got from the party... well, there would have been more but my camera died :( Enjoy!

The Transformation!

Mingling

All the babies

Playroom

Fletch escaped from the playroom... he wanted to be amongst the grown ups!

The boys and Bella.

The Minute to Win It games! So much fun. Way to go contestants!

-Stephanie

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears... Oh MY!!

Saturday we had a lovely family day at the zoo. Yes, the zoo in December, but it turned out PERFECT. Kale and I loaded the boys up after breakfast and we headed west to the Tulsa zoo. The weather was in the high 40's and it was a beautiful day out. We still bundled the boys in jackets, hats, and blankets, but with all of that they were completely comfy for a day of animal observing! The men saw their first real life bears, monkeys, apes, snakes, hippos, rhinos, elephants, giraffes, peacocks, pigs, llamas, alpacas, flamingos, lions, tigers, pelicans, penguins, and many others that I can't think of right now! They LOVED the grizzly bear and the chimps. Fletcher roared like a bear through the entire zoo, and Anderson let out random monkey sounds.

We were one of six cars in the entire zoo parking lot. This was great, it meant we got to get right up close to all of the animals and really take our time talking about them and observing them. The boys really liked the curious leopard. All I can say is that I'm sure glad there was thick glass between us... he kept pacing back and forth and licking his lips! Yikes :) We got to see the penguins being fed. It was pretty sweet.

It was a great day at the zoo! So, so thankful for my family. Have a great week everyone!

-Stephanie