Christmas

On Tuesday, December 21 we packed up the car in a way that made the Beverly Hillbillies look neat and organized and headed west to Abilene. We made the trip in great time, even with 3 stops! We stopped once for breakfast, once to nurse Brock, and once for lunch. The kids were great travelers and we were thankful for a nice, warm day as opposed to last year's crazy snow storm!



When we arrived in Abilene the kids went in Mom and Dad's backyard to play while we waited for Dad to get home from work. When he came home the kids helped Papa feed the birds and fill up the bird feeders.



Jeff, Ami, Kiran, Ellery, and Olivia drove in and the whole family was together for Christmas. We all stayed at Mom and Dad's house. It was wild, but so so fun!



These kids played hard and I finally got them in a picture together as they were watching a Christmas show on tv.



Ami got some good snuggle time with little Brock.



Little Livvy is such a sweet girl! She's grown so much since we saw her this summer.



Mom's school didn't let out until Wednesday the 23rd, so we got to go up to her school and meet her class and visit with her friends. When she got home in the afternoon she was ready for time with the littlest grandbabies!



Mom and Dad took all the big kids to Mom's school to play on the playground and in her classroom. Keri, Brock, and I did a little Christmas shopping with Brock while they played.



We opened presents over the course of 3 days so the kids didn't get too overwhelmed! On Christmas Eve we opened presents from Cookie and Papa and cousins. Aren't these sweeties so cute? Doak, 3 Addie, 5 1/2 Brock, 1 month Kiran, 5 1/2 Ellery, 3 1/2 Olivia 10 months old



Mom and Dad got all the older kids fleece robes-they were a big hit! Also on Christmas Eve we had a cookie decorating contest, a delicious Christmas dinner, and went to FBC's Christmas Eve service.



On Christmas morning our little family of five exchanged gifts. Addie was so excited about her camera. She proceeded to take about 50 pictures that morning!



Doak's toy was this awesome car carrier-he loves it!



We give our kids 3 gifts at Christmas-one toy, one book, one outfit. We had this jersey made for Doak and he felt like one of Daddy's football boys! Our last name is even on the back of the jersey!

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After lunch on Christmas we reloaded the car and drove to Amy's house for Christmas with Keri's side of the family. I didn't get many pictures because the present opening was a little crazy!



Doak, 3 Camryn, 7 Addie, 5 1/2 Brock, 1 month Makynna 5 1/2



Papaw, Keri, and Chad observing the gift opening frenzy from the safety of the couch!



The gift opening went so fast! My thank you notes will have to be pretty generic this year because I have no clue what is from whom!



We spent 2 nights in Azle and enjoyed time with Amy, Bryan, Camryn, and Makynna as well as Jack and Dianna. Nanna and Pop Pop also gave us a date night-yipee! So Bryan, Amy, Keri, Brock and I went to see How Do You Know. Brock enjoyed his first movie and we loved the time out together!

We thoroughly enjoyed time with all our family and are so blessed!

**I hate that I only have a few pictures from our time with Keri's family! To be honest I didn't take many pictures at my parents' house either, but my camera was out so Jeff and Ami or Mom would pick it up and use it. Keeping up with all the kiddos and nursing Brock kept me so busy that I didn't have many chances to take advantage of photo opps!**