Christmas Eve

We had our friends over on Christmas Eve and the kids had a great time doing a nativity scene.  Mason loved the attention he was getting for his part.  The girls, of course, all fought over who would be Mary so we had them all alternate. ;)

Lights

It's always magical to watch a child experience Christmas for the first time.  Mason was at a perfect age.  He was mesmerized with the lights.  I can't decide which he loved better, the lights or destroying the tree decorations. 

We opened a Christmas book from our collection every night in the month of December and the kids looked forward to it every night.  It was fun to have Abby read a lot of the books this year.

Oh Little Town of Bethlem

"Oh Little Town of Bethlehem…"  Our neighboring city had a fun 'Bethlehem Day' at their town square and it was fun to experience a taste of life when the Savior was born.  The girls loved making clay coins, dancing to music and watching the nativity.

Gingerbread

My mom started the gingerbread tradition years ago and we hope to keep the tradition going.  The kids look forward to it every year.  We had a bunch of neighbors and friends over to make them and it ended with a sugar high.  (I have a feeling more frosting was inhaled than used for decoration.) 

Kate's Dance Recital

Kate had a pajama Christmas Dance Recital for her preschool in December.  She felt pretty cool to have so much attention and loved tapping her toes and fixing her shoes.  The favorite of the whole event was a cotton 'snowball' fight at the end because that's the best your going to get at 'snow' in Texas. ;)

Christmas Kids

Sunday best before Christmas.  Love these littles.

Back in December...

When I am in the kitchen, I love looking out our back window into the greenway behind our yard.  It's always so pretty as the sun reflects across the trail at sunset.  It is also nice to have something beautiful to view as things are falling apart in the house with kid fights and dinner burning in the evening hour. ;) There was one particular night, back in December, that the light was perfect as the sun began to set.  Since I have a over obsessive passion for photography, I ran for my camera.  Mason was right at my feet so I grabbed him as my subject.  His blue eyes melt me.  

Kate's Birthday

Kate turned four years old in December.  She wanted to to go the Thinkery with one of her best buddies to celebrate, so I gladly embraced the idea of using our free pass and took them for the day.  They had a great time exploring and we ended the day with cake, ice cream and presents.  We sure love our Kate-Kate.  She brings a lot of love and spice to our life.   

Lightroom

Annual Birthday Letter

Dear Kate,

What a year it has been!  You know how to live life to the fullest and you don't miss a beat.  Uncle Dude (my brother Dave) has given you the nick name of 'Honey Badger' because you seem to be invincible and have loads of determination.  You don't have many fears, though sometimes you get nightmares. You will come right up close to daddy's face in the wee hours of the morning, inch right up to his face, lightly tap his head and whisper, "I'm awake!!"  The result is daddy jolting out of bed yelling "Whaaaa the?!" wondering what just happened.  

Every day you like to choose what you will be wearing.  If the outfit is anything I like, you want something different.  You like to have the choice.  You have a strong sense of independence.
With this independence, you like your voice to be heard and you love to express your opinion on ALL matters.  Our dinner conversations can be very entertaining with you around, well, any conversation with you is fun. 

One of your favorite things to do is catch roly poly bugs outside.  You could spend hours finding these little bugs all around the yard.  We have caught you multiple time trying to sneak the roly poly's into the house so they can have a home in your room.  Unfortunately, your facial expression of guilt usually give away any opportunity for the roly poly be a home dweller.
You love to be social and have friends to play. Many a day I get asked who we are going to have over to play.  We are glad you like to have good friends over.  You have a kind heart and like to include everyone in your games and what you play.
Kate-Kate, you bring a whole lot of joy and fun to our house.  You are smart, thoughtful, kind and determined. We love you so much!  Happy Birthday to our little Honey Badger.  xo

Love,
Mom and Dad

Cousin Love

One of the best parts about being in Texas is living close to our Houston cousins.  We look forward to every chance we have with them.  The girls are always asking me when we are going to see them again because they savor the time. 

These pictures were from Thanksgiving when we drove through Houston.  It's always fun to learn about photography from my talented cousin, Lindsey.  We were playing with our cameras for these shots and the kids were having a good time in the leaves in Reed's backyard.  We love our family!  xo