Fun Times in the Tarheel State

We squeezed in a lot of fun while we were with our Tarheel peeps. Here are our favorite moments from our visit.

1. Meeting baby Jaxon! It was definitely love at first sight! He is such a sweet baby.



We are looking forward to seeing him in February and stealing more of his sugar.



2. Playing with Charlie and Ethan. John David had so much fun playing with his boy cousins.



Whenever we get in the car now he says, "I go to Charlie's house!"



3. Visiting "Little Grandma". It's always fun to go visit Grandma when ever we go to NC. She is such a sweetheart.



4. Service project at Grandma's house. Grandma needed her bushes cut back, so Aaron and Dalen did the cutting down, and everyone else helped haul it to the woods behind Grandma's house. Everyone worked hard and did a great job.



I was so proud of my little man. He was so happy to be outside and helping with this project.



5. Building a fort in Grandma's living room. I loved that the kids did this. It totally reminded me of when me and my brothers and sisters used to do this same thing.



6. Searching for our elf, Freddie, everyday. We were so happy to see that he came to North Carolina to keep an eye on us.



7. Hair day. When I heard my mama and sister, Kristie, talking to my friend, Lydia, at church about getting highlights and haircuts, I told them I wanted to tag along. So I ended up getting highlights, and Katie sweet talked her Daddy and me into getting "swoop" bangs. Although I was sad that she wanted to get it cut, I think it turned out really cute! And most important, she loves it! My baby is growing up. :'(



8. Decorating gingerbread houses. The kids loved this activity, and made some pretty cute houses.



9. Park day! On Thursday we took the kids to the park. They had a great time, and so did we. It was a gorgeous day!



Have I mentioned how much I love all of these cuties?!



What a great looking bunch!



*We also enjoyed the free entertainment from Aunt Melissa! Hahahahahahaha! She's gonna kill me if she ever sees this! I love you Melissa, and how you can always make us laugh!



10. Making candy. Thursday night we made some yummy treats for our Christmas lunch the next day. Everyone wanted to help with this!



Ally was our taste tester, and what a cute tester she is! It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.



Thanks for all of the fun memories everyone! We love you all tons, and can't wait til next time!

The Rest of Christmas Day

After opening gifts from Santa, we quickly got ready and went to Sacrament Meeting. After church we went to Grandma's house for lunch. She is almost 92 and still insists on cooking for everyone. I know.....amazing! She had my two favorites--chicken & pastry and collards! Yummo!



After visiting for a little while, we went back to Mama's house. It was so quiet without all of the extra people there, and the kids were missing all of the cousins to play with. Later in the day we went to visit Daddy's grave.



Mama and the girls.



While we were there we ran into my friend's husband, Jerry (who is from Louisiana). He was riding his horse, Flossy, and offered to let the kids ride. Sarah was first.



She was thrilled, to say the least.











John David wanted a turn too.



Flossy was a sweet, and pretty horse.



After the kids each had a turn, we thanked Jerry, and promised to bring him some boudin next time we come back. Then we went back to Mama's house to find Eric and his family there. The girls were thrilled to have more cousins to play with. Ericka is the 5th girl to be born the same year as Katie. She is such a sweetheart!



And so pretty!



And handsome little Julian, who's really not so little anymore, still doesn't want anything to do with me. Although I think I scored some brownie points when I let him play on my kindle. I just hope he remembers that next time I see him. :)



I thoroughly enjoyed playing with and watching my sweet little nephew Chase.



He has grown so much since we saw him in July.



He is a busy little boy, but oh so cute! Here he is with his sweet Mama.



It was so good to see them, even if it was only for a few hours. It was a great way to end a beautiful Christmas Day!

A Visit From Old St. Nick

Katie woke us all up on Sunday morning telling us that Santa had been. So we all got up and went into the living room to see for ourselves.



Aaron and I obviously weren't as good as the kids.



The before pictures. Katie was more excited than awake.



Sarah was bright eyed, and ready to get down to business.



Although John David looks grumpy in this picture, he was actually really excited, and so fun to watch.



He wanted me to take a picture of him before he opened each gift. It was so cute. He got some tools and Cars 2 stuff.



Since it appeared that Santa had gotten the girls the same things, we let them open their gifts at the same time.



Maplewood windbreakers--they love them!



They LOVE their kindles too! I love that Santa is trying to encourage them to read. ;)



Movies! Katie's movies are based on books she is reading, and Sarah are about animals. Santa is just so smart! Love him!



Santa put Rubik's cubes in their stockings. I told them that was the "dsi" when Daddy and I were kids. :)



It was a fun morning. Thanks for all the fun things Santa! Merry Christmas!

From Our House to Yours

Getting Ready for Santa

After everyone left, we started making preparations for the arrival of Santa. I baked some cookies while Aaron and the kids checked on Santa's location.



Katie, Sarah, and John David were delighted to discover that our elf, Freddie, had followed us to NC to continue to keep an eye on them. We spotted him in several different places at Grandma's house, but by Christmas Eve, he had made his way to Grandma's Christmas tree so he could have a bird's eye view for all of the festivities.



We gathered around the Christmas tree and read the Christmas story. Then the kids opened their gifts from us.





Soft and cozy robes for the girls...........





..........and pjs for John David.



We put out some cookies and milk for Santa............



.............and were off to dream of sugarplums!