Christmas tree farm

After our photo session we drove about 15 miles to a local Christmas tree farm.  The kids were so excited and I was too!  This was our first experience with cutting our own tree and the kids first time to have a real tree.




Doak and Addie enjoyed the complimentary hot chocolate while we waited for our hayride out to the trees.  They seemed to like it even though it was a steamy 80 degrees that day!




Brock held the pvc pipe that we used to measure the trees before picking one to take home.




Finally it was our turn on the hay ride!




We looked at quite a few trees before the kids decided on this one. 





this one!




Time for Keri to step in and do the dirty work!





With a little supervision by the kids of course!



Enjoying spending the whole day with our family together!




After we picked out our tree we rode the hayride back to the front of the farm and the kids played some old fashioned games, like this water pump duck race.  Oh they loved it!





This was such a fun experience and one we hope to do again next year!

Christmas card photo shoot

When I started thinking about Christmas cards I knew I wanted to include a photo on our card. We haven't found a photographer in Houston that comes close to replacing Chera so we had no recent family pictures. I asked my sweet friend Lorissa to be our photographer. We met at a pond in her neighborhood, I brought my nice camera, she brought a tripod and the rest was good luck!  She did a great job capturing our family. Here are some of my favorites.









 








 











final shot for the Christmas card

Nutcracker girls night

This November while sitting in the doctor's office waiting room Addie saw a poster advertising a local performance of The Nutcracker Ballet. We decided to make a girls night of it! Addie has read the story of the Nutcracker and has seen a movie about it, but this was her first time to see a live performance. We both enjoyed it so much! We're hoping to make it a new tradition.

Christmas 2011 Part 4: Christmas in my hometown

Last stop on the Christmas 2011 tour was Abilene. We got to town the night of the 27th and were glad to have some time to spend with Cookie and Papa.



Because my parents know how to really live it up they decided to buy a new toilet for themselves for Christmas. Oh no, that's not quite right. They had to buy a new toilet because one broke and they didn't think one toilet would be sufficient for the 13 people that would be there for Christmas! Either way, we decided to take a picture with the plumbing truck and old toilet for memory's sake!



Jeff, Ami, and crew arrived the afternoon of the 28th. The kids picked up right where they left off in November and were so happy to see each other again! All the Brown girls were dressed in hot pink and black and Addie was too-it made the perfect photo op for the youngest (Hallie) and oldest granddaughter.



Brock and Livvy played together quite a bit this visit.



Addie and Ellery took time out to read a new book.



Doak just loves babies and was often found next to Hallie, giving her a gentle kiss or talking to her.



Kiran and Doak worked and played hard with Legos.



That night we ate an easy sandwich dinner so we could get the kids bathed and ready for present opening.



We lined the kids up by age and started out with stockings.



I found some of Jeff's old jams (aka homemade 1980's shorts) and put them in his stocking. We all laughed about the jams and then Jeff tried them on..............I'll spare you that picture but just picture biker shorts! Wow! Jeff will do anything for a laugh!



Ami and sweet Hallie watched from the couch



Then we moved to the living room for gifts. Papa passed out while the kids waited as patiently as they could.







Cookie, Papa, and sleepy Hallie



the girls: Hallie 4 months, Addie 6.5, Ellery 4.5, Olivia almost 2



Kiran and Doak were happy to have a friend to play boy games with-nerf guns, legos, star wars, etc



And a little break for mobigo time



Sweet Hallie was precious and we loved spending time with all our family in Abilene.



After some good hugs from Cookie it was time to head home on the 30th. I'm sad to say that four stops and one week away from home was a little overwhelming and I wasn't full of holiday cheer during the whole visit. But I'm still thankful for time with family and hope next year to be better prepared so I can enjoy every second!

Christmas 2011 Part 3: Christmas in the Country

December 27th took us out to the country to visit Keri's dad and Ms. Kathy. Keri's dad recently finished building a house/cabin out on his land and it was the perfect place to get together to celebrate Christmas.



Grandad and Ms. Kathy were so generous and the kids received some great gifts!



Brock loved sitting with Ms. Kathy!



The kids turned into explorers, using their new digital cameras to take photographs around Grandad's farm.



Grandad got all the kids camo shirts. I love this picture!



We had a fun, non-traditional meal: a shrimp boil! The guys were waiting for water to boil!



Brock was in heaven. He crawled all over Grandad's porch and was so happy to be outside.



I love spending time with Amy



The kids (especially Brock) got so dirty playing outside. But isn't that what childhood is all about!?



We ended the day perfectly with a ride on Grandad's tractor. We're so glad we could spend Christmas with Grandad and Kathy and we're so thankful that Delbert has come back to Texas for good!