Texas Fun

We arrived in here in Houston on Saturday morning after waking up at 4 am. We have had a lot of good food and played some fun games so far. Steve's sister Kasey, her two kids Madi and Evan, and Steve's mom Mona are here. The kids are having fun playing together and Gavin adores his Grandma!

Not sure on plans for tonight...but Happy New Year! And my man turns 36 too when the clock strikes 12!

Fibber

Have you ever heard of the game Fibber? I got it for Paige for Christmas and we played it tonight after Gavin went to bed. Here's the sequence of events, and you can guess who the biggest fibber was.

White Christmas

We woke up to a white Christmas today!

Gavin woke up and opened all his presents and loved every minute of it. He got tons of toys, but his new tricycle, Rock and Roll Mickey, puzzle mat and cleaning cart were among his favorites.

I got a new Coach purse and wallet, a stocking full of makeup, a new piece of art for the wall, and some shower stuff and ring from Paige. I would have loved a ring from Steve, but this is the next best thing. :)

Steve got the new iPhone 5 and case for an early birthday present (his bday is New Year's Day). So for Christmas I got him an iPod/iPhone/iPad dock to play his music on. He also got a shirt, some movies, a cd, and other stuff.

We spent all morning watching Gavin play with his new toys, and then at 2, Paige came to open all her presents.

She got a new doll with a closet and multiple outfits, lots of clothes from Justice, her favorite store, and her favorite gifts were a pink guitar and a wooden flute. loves her music! They both got a ton of stuff!!

The rest of the day we watched the kiddos play, and took down all the Christmas decorations and tree! We don't waste any time around here.

We surprised the kids with a trip to Houston, we leave Saturday to see Steve's sister, her kids, and his mom. We are so excited!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas Eve!

We had a nice quiet Christmas Eve today. I had to work, so the boys had boy time and finished up some shopping.

When I got home, we dressed up and headed to church. Gavin made a friend (like always) with the lady sitting next to us and ended up on her lap, and when I was holding him and standing and singing, he held his hand out so she held his hand through the song. Quite the charmer!

Then we headed home and made dinner and Christmas sugar cookies for Santa.

Gavin got to open his gift...a recordable storybook from Hallmark. We chose a Mickey Mouse Christmas book and he of course loved it...Mickey and books are his two favorite things. We also sent one for Paige to open, Frosty the Snowman.

We all opened our new Christmas jammies. Steve got "Christmas Story" pants, I got "Ho Ho Ho" pants (Steve lovingly picked them out:) and Gavin's are matching Santa jammies. Gavin was sooo excited to open presents and was so good about not opening any more than we said he could.

We watched a few classics, White Christmas, Christmas Vacation and Gavin's new favorite, the Grinch.

After Gavin went to bed, Santas helpers got to work and put together Gavin's new tricycle and wrapped all the "Santa gifts" and filled the stockings!

Our dog Charlie got to see what Santa got him...a new bed. He snuggled right in!

We made some cookies, milk and carrot remnants and put our elf Buddy away for the year. All set for the morning!

Merry Christmas everyone, lots more pics to come tomorrow!

Old Buds

More shopping today...we got to see Santa again too!

Getting Ready for the Big Day

Thursday night we went and saw Santa. I called my mom on FaceTime so my parents got to watch the kids sit on Santas lap and tell him what they want for Christmas. Gavin wasn't scared of him, but he wasn't too sure either.

Friday night we put our Gingerbread house together. Buddy the Elf ended up sitting by the house this morning.

Today, Gavin and I had a great day together doing some last minute shopping and having lunch together at Firehouse Subs...he LOVED his new fireman hat!

While he napped I wrapped some presents. They aren't all under the tree yet, but we have a good start!

Then, he and I watched the Grinch (he really loves the Jim Carrey version), and had popcorn before daddy got home.

Tonight, we drove around, listened to Christmas music and looked at Christmas lights. I remember doing that as a kid and loving it.

We have had a great week of traditions and are looking forward to celebrating Jesus' birth as a quiet little family.

The Big 3-0 Bash

Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate! Especially those who traveled!

My friend Kristin came from Omaha. i finally got to meet her sweet baby girl Ella.

Irish and her family came from Wyoming and stayed 4 days with us. it was great to see our sons together!

My brother Nick and his girlfriend Kylee came from Lincoln for 5 days...Gavin absolutely adores Kylee.

My friends Jenni and her husband, Michelle and April came from Kearney.

Several friends from the Denver area made it too...Shiloh, Zack and his wife, Kenny and his wife, Jorie and Brian, Carrie, Mike and his girlfriend, Chris, Emily, Mark, Kaytie and her husband, Katie, and more!

But the biggest surprise of the night was when my brother Joey walked in the door! He flew in from California to surprise me! It was so great to see him, it has been too long.

We had a blast enjoying karaoke at a dive bar here in Denver. The pictures say it best :)