Christmas with family and friends

 A few pictures right before the Christmas Eve service

 We had our friends the Tkaches over for a soup supper after the service. Thanks to late supper and no nap, we all got to enjoy a small meltdown from Catherine. But their boys were super sweet and it was SO much fun to celebrate the holiday with family and friends. Oh and my dad thinks Andrew is his new best friend!

And a few shots from our Christmas morning (which lasted all day!)

Catherine clutching her new baby Cinderella doll

Caroline hasn't put down Minnie since this picture was taken!

Fun snuggly hooded blankets from Nana and Paw Paw

And a flashlight from Uncle Josh

Russell soooo surprised by his new hat for running (Catherine told him what it was at least four times - if you want to keep a gift a secret, don't tell your three year old!)

Our friend Jason joined us for Christmas dinner. Here, you see him enjoying the ladybug blanket and some whipped cream. Yes, he is just as charming as this picture would lead you to believe.

Then things got really crazy.

It was a wonderful Christmas, full of worship, love, and fun. Happy birthday, Jesus!

Christmas card photo shoot

Some of you might have received a Christmas card from us in the mail. I have mixed feelings about this tradition. In this age of blogging and Facebook and email and telepathic communication, Christmas cards seem to lack that "Wow, look how much they've grown!" feeling I remember getting cards from long-distance friends year after year during childhood. Also, I tend to get wrapped up in making them look just right and can lose sight of the point of wishing a happy Christmas to family and friends. And it just seems a little wasteful to spend money on something that will be tossed in the trash next month. Sorry to be such a downer. But I also LOVE receiving cards in the mail, going through them with our kids and quizzing them about who everyone is. So maybe we'll keep doing it. Or maybe we'll go to an online card.  I have to admit that I had fun taking these pictures! And they will make great Christmas decorations in the years to come. Am I the only one who feels this way about Christmas cards?

Playing with some of the Lightroom Presets I got for Christmas

Yes, folks. Here it is! Our first-ever photo with both girls looking at the camera and smiling!

More Lightroom shenanigans

Christmas fun

Here are a few highlights of our pre-Christmas festivities! With Thanksgiving really late and taking a trip over Thanksgiving, I felt rather discombobulated through the whole month of December. We still managed to have quite a bit of fun! Because everything is fun around here . . . right? :)

In late November, we enjoyed a walk-thru night at the Galaxy of Lights (hosted by Hsv Botanical Garden). We went on a special night when dogs were allowed! Flash was all too excited to participate. And steal cookies. But mostly participate.

About to start our walk

Catherine looking into a luminary. Call it a photography experiment, but I like how it came out.

Caro hanging out in the stroller (She would have enjoyed the experience more if we had been able to let her wander around. Maybe we'll try to go when it's less crowded and not full of unfamiliar dogs next year!)

Cookie and hot chocolate halfway through!

Walk-thru nights became ride-thru nights for these two!

I attend a morning Bible study with ladies from my church and one of our sweet members hosted a lovely Christmas tea party! (Shhh, don't tell Catherine that she was at school and MISSED a tea party!!) Caroline loved it!

Some of the sweet ladies in my small group at our Christmas party

We finally got around to trimming our tree.  This was the first year that the girls were able to "help" very much. Their attention span for the process didn't last too long, but they each put on a few ornaments. With every new ornament, Catherine would ask me how breakable it was. If I said it wasn't breakable, she knew it went on the bottom of the tree. Fragile ones up top!

One Friday morning, we decided to have a few friends over for decorating Christmas cookies. There was a little decorating and a whole lot of eating! And a lot of stain removal immediately following. A good time was had by all!

Thanksgiving in Big D

Sooo . . . it's December 28 and I'm writing my post about Thanksgiving. That reveals quite a bit about what the last month has held in our house.

We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving this year. And no, not because I didn't do any of the cooking. Though that was nice!

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we loaded up the dog, both girls, a stroller, and way too much luggage, toys, videos, books all in our little CR-V and hit the road. We left our house at 5:15 and managed to pull into my brother's driveway by 7:15 that night. LONG day. The girls did better in the car this time, but Caroline was still less than enthusiastic about being strapped in her carseat all day. Catherine actually loved the trip. She got to spend the whole day in her pjs, watched Doc McStuffins on repeat for hours, and have snacks all day long. Apparently, this is pretty awesome when you are 3. We arrived at my brother's house with an abundance of pent up energy. By some miracle, both girls were finally asleep around 10:30.

The next four days were full of fun! We snuck in a trip to the Dallas World Aquarium on our first day there. This place is just incredible - so much more than an aquarium. The girls were pretty tired and it was a little crowded that day, so they didn't get quite the kick out of it I had thought they would. But they still really enjoyed themselves.

Catherine feeding a toucan a blueberry, while explaining to all that would listen that blueberries are out of season and must have come from far away

As awesome as the aquarium was, I was actually even more excited to find that it was down the street from a Capriotti's Sandwich Shop. Growing up in Delaware, this was pretty much my favorite place to eat and they have franchised now, and they have a few locations in the DFW metroplex. People, I got to eat a Bobbie. Since most of y'all probably are unfamiliar with this slice of heaven on earth, I'll tell you about it. Fresh crusty bread, pulled roasted turkey (lunchmeat? blech!), moist dressing, mayo, and sweet cranberry relish. I should have felt bad about eating this the day before Thanksgiving. You better believe I didn't. It was wonderful. Amazing.

The days that followed, we spent with Russell's family. Our Thanksgiving celebration included lots of incredibly yummy food, attention (and accessories) lavished on our little girls, and even extra attention for the Flash. I have great in-laws, the whole lot of them! We assembled a semi-coordinated family picture as well. For where I am, there seem to be pictures. I just want to bottle up these days and remember them. Life and family is so precious.

Everyone looking at the camera - yay! (How did I not notice we were taking all of these with a t. u. flag in the background??? Arg!)

Catherine with Uncle David and Aunt Liz

Catherine in accessory-induced euphoria

The only shot I got of the lovely Thanksgiving table

From 3 to 80

Russell's sweet grandparents

Goofy Caro!

Caroline and her great-grandmother

The great and wonderful Aunt Ow-son

A big part of the reason we decided to take the plunge and drive to Texas for a pretty short break was a surprise birthday party held for his grandfather the day after Thanksgiving. He turned 80 a few weeks ago and almost all of his kids and their spouses, grandkids and their spouses, and great grandkids were in Dallas for the celebration. How could we miss the chance to see all these precious family members whose paths we don't cross often? Man, I hope I'm as cool as he is when I'm 80!

Catherine took it upon herself to help Gramps open his gifts at his birthday party. Presents and cake are sorta her thing. Sigh.

An extra perk of being in Dallas for the break was that we got to be with my brother for his 30th birthday, which we celebrated with a barbecue lunch on Saturday. Welcome to old age, little brother. Catherine and I baked some birthday cupcakes for him and Bethany made sure that he got the bathroom trashcans he wanted for his birthday. Flash didn't eat the cupcakes, so I figure the whole experience was a success.

Reading Uncle Josh's birthday card

Josh and his girlfriend Bethany, who loved on our girls a bunch! She is a sweetie!

Big shoes to fill

Josh and the Joffs

By Sunday, it was time for us to drag ourselves back home to Bama. We were sure sad to leave (and sad to have an umpteen hour drive ahead, ha). But we would do it again in a heartbeat! What a great Thanksgiving, full of special memories. We sure miss you, Texas! We miss you more, Texan family!
 

A few notes about this post - Caro was on my hip through a lot of this trip so you'll notice that she isn't in quite as many photos as her sister. No favorites were played, I assure you. I also realize that my account of the trip includes a very large section about a sandwich. I did enjoy the family more than the sandwich, but I guess I have a lot to say about the Bobbie. There is probably something wrong with me. I welcome suggestions for character improvement.

Maybe I'll publish a post about Christmas in another month or so! <3 br="">