Christmas Eve at Mamaw & Papaw's

On Christmas Eve, we went to Mamaw & Papaw's house with the rest of the family. There were about 30 of us total. Rachel & Dustin didn't get to be there b/c his family was in town. It was a blast! For some reason, it wasn't near as loud as normal and it was far more organized.

Here is Joshua sitting patiently waiting to open presents.

Papaw reading the first 22 verses from the 2nd chapter of Luke....The Christmas Story.

Uncle Sam was the one who did most of the work on the addition to the room. The whole group never would have fit without it. They did a really good job. So, Aunt Sharon & Uncle Sam got to open the first present.

Here is Joshua on one of his turns to open. He loved opening presents.

Here is Joshua just chillin with Uncle Rob and Daddy. See how patiently he is waiting for Daddy to open his train?

We had a picture taken of all four great-grandkids for Mamaw & Papaw.

Joshua opens another present.

...and another...this one is jammies! From Sandie, Steve & kids.

...and another...this one was a Thomas the Tank Engine shirt. Thanks Sami!

Look at how packed it is!! This is with the addition! The addition added another 50% to the room...imagine how packed it was before.

Katie assists Mamaw with a bow.

Joshua decided in the middle of all the chaos that Pappy needed a good wrestle. Pappy laid down to take a picture and Joshua jumped on top of him.

Here is Joshua's reaction when things got a little too loud.

Joshua opens a gift from Mamaw & Papaw. Train engineer bibs and a hat!

We had to demo the hat.

He unwrapped the package and the box was taped shut. Before Papaw could get his knife, Joshua had daddy's and was trying to do it himself. He is so big! What other 17 month old do you know that knows how to use a pocket knife??? The knife was closed of course.

Here he is pulling the bibs out.

After most people have left, here is Joshua hanging out with Aunt Canyou.

He was a very good baby that night. That is a whole lot of chaos for a little boy to deal with. He did just peachy.

Jesse's side Christmas (Mom's)

Yesterday was the Christmas held at our house with Jesse's Mom's side of the family. Fred, Hollie, Carter, Calla & Bobbie all came over to celebrate with us. We had a HUGE ham (that was really yummy if I do say so myself), green bean casserole, broccoli salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, fresh fruit and lots of desserts! Talk about stuffed!!! We had lunch, exchanged presents and then just hung out for a long while.

Fred, Bobbie, Hollie, Calla & Carter.

Joshua got this really cute fleece shirt from his Nana. It has Thomas the Tank Engine all over it.

Joshua & Calla both got learning place mats for the table.

Calla isn't sure what to do...I am pretty sure that is Carter's hand getting ready to show her.

Hollie passed on a gag gift to me, I will be passing it on to some lucky person in the next few days. It is a pair of slippers made out of maxi pads.

Jesse got a wooden frame with a really cute picture of Joshua in it.

And, Jesse's mom made this for us. It is a wooden shelf with three picture slots. I think this was my favorite gift of the day.

Well, maybe this was my favorite gift of the day. I made a scrapbook for Fred of his Ordination Service at their church.

Here is Hollie checking it out.

Ok, and this might be my favorite gift of the day. We had two mugs made for Jesse's mom. One has pictures of Grandma on it and the other has Grandpa.

This is her trying not to cry...

So much love...there are those kissing cousins again...

Ok, kisses for everyone!

And more hugs.

It was a really good day. We had good food, good times and FUN games. We played the games PIT and MAD GAB. They are so much fun. For those of you who have never played PIT, you need to get it! It is my favorite!!!

Joshua & Noah open some presents

I like this having presents spread out over several days. When Joshua first started opening gifts this year, he wasn't quite sure how to go about it. Now, he sees gift wrap and he's going for it. Hopefully that means that he is going to get it on Christmas morning.

Joshua looked at it and then went to unwrapping.

He quickly needed a little help though.

YES! WE LOVE LITTLE PEOPLE!!! IT'S THE FARM!!!

Then, it was Noah's turn.

Noah got food to go with his Kitchen that he doesn't know he is getting yet.
He also got a Noah's ark puzzle and some animals.

After opening, we had to open the boxes and let them play.

My turn...A FOOTBATH!!

Cynetta's turn...Season two of FRIENDS and a cake decorating kit.

PLAY PLAY PLAY!!! Notice all the paper everwhere because we didn't pick it up right away.

It was a fun afternoon for the boys. They played so good together! There was no hitting or rough-housing. It was just toy time. We are very grateful for friends like Joel, Cynetta & Noah!

Some presents at Mamaw & Papaw's House

Rachel & Dustin won't be at Mamaw's house for Christmas. So, they came early to give gifts and spend some time there. We just happened to stop in while they were there. So, Joshua got to open his gifts while they were there to see him and we got to see Isaac & Audrey open theirs. It was nice. There was no chaos. Everything was orderly. The kids watched each other open gifts and then took their turns. I WISH it was going to be like that on Monday!!! There is way too much chaos when we are there!

This is Joshua opening his first gift...

...it was a hooded towel. He wraps completely up in it.

Isaac got a pogo stick from Mamaw & Papaw.
Here is Bama teaching him how to use it.

Joshua also got some bath toys from Dustin, Rachel & kids.

Audrey got a really cute set of overalls.

Isaac also got a bath set.

Audrey got a teddy bear to cuddle with.

It was lots of fun. The guys were mostly working on finishing the room but we hardly ever get to spend time with Dustin, Rachel and the kids. It was a nice little get together.

All Caught Up

I'm all caught up again. It has been a very hectic few days at our house. Friday night was a Christmas party. We spent all day Saturday driving to my graduation and spending time there and then driving back. Sunday was spending time with Great-Grandpa and then with Grammy, Pappy and Aunt Canyou. Then, last night we went to see Uncle Rob play ball. It was a fun and exciting weekend but the house is trashed now. We have only had time to come in and throw stuff down and leave again. I now have to catch up before the family Christmas get-together here. I hope you enjoy what I posted today. Cynetta, you are slacking!

Uncle Rob's Game

Last night, Rob's team played close enough for us to go watch. Joshua was in rare form. He didn't want to sit down and watch and when we told him that he couldn't run around, he pitched a fit. I have NO idea where he gets that! LOL! We tried to keep him still for the game but we were at a loss. The team won(The coach was very cranky for a winning night), and then Joshua could run and visit Uncle Rob. He was ecstatic once he figured out that Uncle Rob was on the court and he couldn't wait to see him.

Here is Uncle Rob taking a break.

Joshua needed a better look, so he got some glasses.

They are Grammy's reading glasses. He was so funny putting them on!

Here are a few shots of Uncle Rob playing ball.