Christmas in Alabama

 We drove from Texas to Alabama on Saturday.  We made it home by 6:00.  The boys were SO excited to open their presents.  I made Link some personalized bookmarks.  

 The boys spent their money buying each other gifts.  

 They both did fantastic.  Both boys said these were their favorite gifts. 

 Marilyn made them each a personalized blanket and book.  They loved them too!

On Sunday, Nate requested that we go BACK to see Star Wars before he has to go back to work.  

We had a fantastic week.  Thankfully, Nate just has to work three days and

 then we can continue our holiday fun!

Christmas in Dallas

Granny and Papa John!

 I had to make her wait until Christmas Day to open presents!

 Star Wars!

 No stop to Dallas is complete with out a trip to Dave and Busters!

 Nate and I found a playground and took the boys to run around.  

 Granny loved snuggling this little monster.

Sporting their new jammies!  We had a great time in Dallas!  

The theme for this whole trip was IT WAS TOO SHORT!  

I took all the photos from this whole trip on my phone.  Lesson learned: always use the camera!

Christmas in McDade

 Surprise, surprise!  The boys started their trip to Papa's with a ride on the mule!  Dad took them separately because Link is a horrible driver and scares Ethan!

 Ethan is a much better driver!

 This guy loves to pick on his Papa!  Papa taught the boys how to play hearts.  

They loved trying to beat him.  

 Josh bought the boys nerf guns so the fellas had a nerf war in the pasture.  

 We told them at least 10 times to not shoot near the pond.  They only had 5 bullets each.

Lincoln shot one in the pond and 10 seconds later shot another one.  Thankfully, it was windy.  Nate and I went to the other side of the pond and waited.  Nate retrieved them both.  

Gale's mom made TONS of cookies and brought them over to us.  Then Brenda, Gale's sister, brought crafts and Alexis over.  They made crafts and then played frisbee outside!

 The weather was amazing for our whole visit.    

We all loved spending time with Dad and Gale in the country!  

Christmas in Houston

We went to Texas for Christmas and our first stop was Houston.  We went to straight to dinner and had Mexican FOOD!  Yummy!

Sunday morning, we visited the church I went to when I lived in Pasadena.  

Judith took us on a tour.  WOW have things changed since 2001!

 We spent Sunday afternoon with Josh and the family!  The guys played video games all afternoon with Josh and then we surprised my little guys with the Star Wars movie.  We told them that we couldn't go until we got back to Montgomery.  They were SHOCKED when we pulled up to the movie theater!  It was a CRAZY fast trip to Houston, but we had a great visit with everyone!

Sixth Grade Party

I set up the party for Ethan's class this year.  His homeroom is first period, so we did breakfast foods!

 I thought we should do games, or some sort of activity, but his teacher assured me they would just want to visit with each other!

 Oh and play on the computer!

Both parties were a success!  

Third Grade Party

 I was able to go Lincoln's class Christmas party.  They had pizza, crafts, and cookies.

 They split the day between two classes.  The teachers split the party as well.  

The boys were all together and the girls were together.  

 The boys loved being together. They giggled and grossed all of the adults out the whole time.

His teacher told us that the class painted snowmen and reindeer.   His looked like a kindergartener did them.  He walked into the classroom and said, "Mine is OBVIOUSLY the best!"  

He loves making everyone laugh!

He also thought it was hilarious that his cookies looked so gross.

Christmas Parties!

 We had three parties for Nate's work this season.  I didn't get a picture from the first one.  

 I loved the kid's party at the college!  

 Santa brought every kid a gift picked especially for them!

Link made sure he told Santa everything he wanted for Christmas.

Zoo Lights

 Nate is out of town so the boys and I went to see the lights at the zoo.

 It was actually a little chilly so it actually felt like Christmas. 

 We took a train ride to see the lights around the zoo.

 I cracked up when we went by these presents.  Ethan got so excited and yelled, "MOM LOOK!!!  Those presents are in two point perspective."  I guess he is learning a lot in art.  

 After the train ride we found hot chocolate.  It was so hot that I had to put a ton of ice in each cup.  

 I hope you all have a Beary Christmas!

 from Ethan 

and Lincoln

Cell Fish

Link:  Mom, when you say selfish I picture a fish in jail.
Me:   Why do you think that Lincoln?
Link: Well, a jail cell and a fish.  Cell fish.  Is that what it is?
Me:   NO.  It's SELF ish.....
Link:  Oh....that makes more sense!