Christmas in Greenville

The day after Christmas, we packed up and went to my parent's house in Greenville, SC for a couple of days. We had a wonderful time visiting with my parents as well as my brother Jay and his girlfriend Stephanie. They drove all the way from Crested Butte, Colorado along with his dog Righteous. We exchanged lots of presents with each other, ate delicious food and spent a lot of time together. It is always so much fun when Jay is there. We really enjoyed getting to know Stephanie better this time as well. Caleb always calls her "sweet" Stephanie. We all agree with him! Jay and Steph ~ thanks for traveling all this way to see us. We love you!

The family

Caleb with Mimi and Grampy

Caleb got a new cowboy shirt and cowboy boots from Mimi and Grampy!

Kathryn watching everyone open presents.

Kathryn with her uncle Jay

Kathryn with Stephanie and Righteous

Standing outside watching Caleb play in the leaves!

Caleb with Uncle Jay and Righteous

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas!

We woke up bright and early on Christmas morning. Caleb was very excited to go downstairs and see what Santa had brought him. He was very overwhelmed when he went into the den and saw the tree. Santa had brought him a new train track with 2 new trains, a red scooter, a new North Carolina hat, some blocks, books, bath toys, a puzzle and a new remote control truck. Not to mention the stocking full of candya and toys. Caleb didn't know what to do with himself. He stood in front of the tree and with a surprised look on his face. He kept doing a little squeel with his voice. It was hilarious! All he wanted to do was run to the tree and knock down the tower of blocks that Santa had built. After he knocked down the blocks he ran into the kitchen. We asked him what he was doing and he just said that he needed to run in the kitchen for a minute! After a few minutes he was ready to open some presents. We had so much fun watching his reaction! He loved all of his gifts.

Waiting patiently on the stairs to go see what Santa had brought!

Daddy had to get the video camera ready!

Playing with his new remote control truck that does wheelies!

Check out Caleb's new scooter!

Kathryn eating Caleb's new train.

Looking at his new book

Kathryn loving the new toy that Caleb gave her

Sweet Christmas baby

After we spent Christmas morning as a family we headed over to Russ' parents house to spend the day with them. Everybody opened a lot more presents over there (Santa came there too!) and Caleb racked it up with new toys. Papa cooked a delicious beef tenderloin and we were really spoiled with gifts and good food!

Caleb's big gift from Nana and Papa ~ a race track with cars that race around and crash into each other. He LOVED it!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

We had a great time spending Christmas Eve with Russ' family this year. His parents, his brother Greg and his brother Brad with his wife Anna and thier little boy Roane come over to spend the day with us. We let the children open up some presents and we enjoyed just spending some good time with the family. We managed to get all 3 children down for their naps at the same time so we were even able to play some games without Caleb constantly wanting a turn! We went to our church's Christmas Eve service at 5:30 and then came back to our house to eat our traditional Christmas Eve Meal ~ Wolfman Pizza! We had to get the kids in bed quickly after that to get ready for Santa to come!

Caleb opening up one of his fun presents - a Little People Fun Park!

Caleb and Roane riding in Roane's new "Beep Beep"

All 3 cousins - it's the best picture I could get of them 3!

Caleb and Papa

Our 2 little reindeers

Sweet Kathryn after the Christmas Eve Service

Christmas in Kingston

Sorry it has taken me so long to update my blog. We have been extremely busy around our house getting ready for Christmas. I don't know where the time has gone! We have enjoyed the holiday season so far and it has been so much fun seeing it through the eyes of a 2 year old! Caleb LOVES everything about Christmas this year. He is very excited about Santa Clause coming in a couple of days! He has been asking for a car and a present. We will have to see if Santa will bring him those! Yes, we do Santa Clause with Caleb, but we also do stress the importance of the real meaning of Christmas. He can tell you the entire Christmas story - Mary and Joseph, Bethleham, Wiseman, Shepards, Angels singing "Glory to God in the Highest" and of course, baby Jesus born in a manger. His favorite song is "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem." Don't ask me why, but he loves it!

We went to Tennessee last weekend to do 3 seperate Christmas's with our families. Yes, they all live in the small little town of Kingston. Russ and I figured this out on our first date and the rest is history! My grandparent's live in Kingston, as well as Russ' grandmother (dad's mom). His grandfather (mom's dad) lives a litte ways up the mountain in Wartburg. When we go to Kingston, we always go back and forth between the families. We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone, but it was exhausting! We drove the 5 hours on Friday night and arrived at my grandparents house around 11:00. After visiting with my grandparents and parents, we settled in after midnight. All 4 of us slept in the same room, so that was a joy! Caleb slept between Russ and I, so needless to say, none of us slept very well. We woke up early (thanks to Caleb, our little alarm clock) and enjoyed a nice breakfast with my family. My aunts, uncles and cousins all came around 10:30 and we celebrated our Christmas with them until 1:30. Then we said our goodbye's and rushed out the door to Grandma Rose's house (Russ' grandmother). We spent time with family, ate a big dinner around 5:00 and then celebrated Christmas with them that evening. We left around 9:00 to go back to my grandparent's house to sleep. Thankfully, Nana and Papa took Caleb to sleep with them, so Russ and I were able to get a good night's sleep. We woke up early Sunday morning and went back over to Grandma Rose's to eat a big breakfast. At noon we packed everyone up, said goodbye to Grandma Rose and went over to Aunt Carol Anne's house (Russ' aunt). We ate lunch and celebrated Christmas with Russ' mom's side of the family. This was a lot of fun because there is a house full of children. There were children, toys, presents and wrapping paper everywhere! We said our goodbye's around 4:30 and went back to my grandparent's house to see my aunt and cousin who couldn't make it on Saturday. We left Kingston around 6:30 and got back in Charlotte around 11:00. Caleb had a great time, got lots and lots of presents, and was absolutely exhausted! He slept the ENTIRE way home and then slept the ENTIRE night that night. He must have really needed that sleep. Believe me, that is not like Caleb! We were glad to be back home and we spent the next day trying to find places to put all of the new toys. We felt like Christmas was over because Caleb and Kathryn got so many gifts. It is hard to believe they are going to get more. Stay tuned...

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree...

We bundled up the kids last night and went to pick out our christmas tree. After much critiquing of the trees, we finally found the perfect one. We loaded it on to the top of the car and drove home. We decorated the tree this afternoon and Caleb had a blast. He got very good at putting the ornaments on the tree. However, there are a lot on the bottom branches of the tree because that was the only place he could reach! He is fascinated with the tree in the room now and everytime he comes in, has has to flip the switch to see the lights turn off and on. He is really getting Christmas this year and it is so fun!

Picking out our Christmas Tree:

Decorating Our Tree:

Showing Off Our Tree:

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year and we enjoyed spending it with lots of family. Russ and I feel incredibly blessed with our precious children and our wonderful families. We always enjoy being together with our families and thanking the Lord for all of our blessings.

We celebrated last Saturday with Russ' family here in Charlotte. We spent the day with them and enjoyed good food and lots of laughs. However, we did miss having Brad, Anna and Roane there with us! Next year will be our year to celebrate with them.

On Wednesday afternoon we left for Greenville, SC to go to my parent's house. We left for Atlanta on Thursday morning to celebrate Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's house. We always have so much fun getting together with my mother's side of the family. There was a group of 20 of us including some of my cousin's that I haven't seen in a long time. We had a great spread of yummy food with lots of desserts. We even had Turduckin for the first time. Yes, that is a turkey, duck and chicken all in 1! It was very good, and very different! Caleb and Kathryn did wonderfully and were such a joy for everyone to be around. I was so proud of them! We left Atlanta around 8:00 pm and drove back to Greenville. It was a long day, but very fun!

Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving celebrations. We hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving as well!

An Afternoon at the Park

I took Caleb and Kathryn to the park this afternoon to enjoy the weather. It was absolutely beautiful outside, we even got hot! We wanted to take advantage of this weather before the cold comes again tomorrow. Caleb enjoyed going down all the sliding boards and running around. He loved having Kathryn go down the slide with him too. She didn't quite know what to think! Caleb also loved getting to walk Tuxedo (or sweet dog) all the way back home. He looked like such a big boy walking him. Here are some pictures:

Check out my hair - it is all sticking up!

Just walking the dog!

Verse of the Day

Chuck E Cheese!

Russ called me this afternoon with the idea of taking Caleb to Chuck E Cheese for dinner. We thought about it for a minute and then decided that we definitely needed to go because Caleb is now at the age where he loves things like that. He had only been with Nana and Papa 1 time about a year ago, so Russ and I got very excited about taking him tonight. We met our friends Jared, Elizabeth and Jack there for an evening of pizza, games, rides and lots of fun! Now one of the last times I was at Chuck E Cheese's it was called "Showbiz" pizza and Billy Bob was the main attraction. I know that really shows my age! Since then the name has changed and the main character is a big mouse! I was impressed that Chuck E Cheese is still going strong! There were tons of people, games, rides, pizza, etc. for everyone to enjoy. I thought the pizza actually tasted good and the place was kept much cleaner than I expected! Caleb loved to ride the little rides. His favorite was the monster truck in the picture to the left. He loves to watch the beginning of the Monster Truck show on tv in the mornings, so he was so excited to see this ride. He enjoyed riding on it with Jack! We had so much fun with our friends and really had a great evening. We will definitely be taking Caleb back when he we need something to do on a Friday night to get some of his energy out!

Caleb and Jack having fun on the rides and games!

Trick or Treat!

Caleb had a great time trick or treating this year. He loved getting dressed up in his monkey costume, carrying his candy corn trick or treat bag, and getting all kinds of candy. Actually, mainly just M & M's. He must have at least 10 bags of them. They are his favorite! Kathryn didn't go out trick or treating, but she wore her pig costume even though she didn't like it!

We started out the evening eating a quick dinner and then out the door he went. Caleb got all dressed and then went trick or treating around our neighborhood with Daddy and Mimi. After getting lots of candy, we loaded up our monkey and piggy and headed over to Nana and Papa's house. We spent some time with them, plus Uncle Greg, Uncle Brad, Aunt Anna and cousin Roane. Roane was also dressed as a cute monkey. We played and got pictures at Nana and Papa's and then we loaded up the car again to go over to Ron and Patti's house (some friends of the family) to trick or treat again. We got back home around 9:00 and needless to say, Caleb was wired! We finally got him to bed around 10. When he woke up this morning he wanted to go trick or treating again! He'll just have to wait for next year!

Mimi with her sweet monkey and piggy

"Trick or Treat!"

2 monkeys and a piggy

Nana and her piggy

Papa and his 2 monkeys!