Santa Claus came to town!

Somehow it was time for our annual Santa party again!  A really, really big thing to check off my list.  We were so thankful for a nice evening and thrilled that so many of our friends and family could make it on a Friday night.

Before Santa arrived, there were lots of children busy coloring pictures and writing their letters to him.  Then, before we knew it, Santa was here!

He hitched a ride on a firetruck again this year!  Welcome Santa!

He was an instant hit with most of the kids, but NOT Cameron. 
Look at the terrified expression on her sweet face!

My kids knew just what to do.  Jackson pointed out our house to him...

and then Lila escorted him down the street and into the party.  Love this.

Lila had lots of good face time with Santa this year...

and all the kids got to ask him questions, too. 
"Who is your favorite Reindeer?"  Donner
"Who is your favorite elf?"  Don't know.  They are all pretty mischievious.
"How do you deliver presents all over the world so quickly?"  Magic.

One little girl in red loved every single second of it.

Then it was time to sit on Santa's knee.  Lila Lou hopped right up there!  She asked him for an American Girl Doll named Grace, and a phone.  Oh my!

He asked if she'd been good this year and she said yes.  I'll vouch for that:)

 

A little while later Jackson had his turn.  He asked for an ipod and two games for this Xbox.

He also assured Santa that he'd been good--not that sure about his answer, but I guess there's still time!

 

We love Santa:)

 

Madison got her turn with Santa, too.  She asked for a big dollhouse and a phone.  Oh girl!

She told him that she's been good and is pretty sure she's on his Nice List.

It's always special to see little ones on Santa's knee for the first time. Kylie did great!

Erin and Cable's twins were so precious, too.  Not sure which one was a fan and which one was not!

We enjoyed having all the Hays family there,

as well as the Raines Family.  Shoeless Joe Jackson did us the honor of stopping by for a quick pic on his way out the door again.

Before Santa left, we tried one last time with Cami.  She had stopped crying and even gotten close to him in all the family photos.  Alas, she is still not a fan!

The 50 degree weather made it perfect for a fire and roasting s'mores.

Cooper was all about it...

 

and so were Maddie and Teaghan.

Look who I found outside! 

Santa, can you please help us with these wild and crazy boys?!

Before it was time for Santa to head back to the North Pole, Lila made sure he took all of the letters.

Then she took him to see Johnny the Elf.

We all thought it was so sweet of him to make a sign for everyone.

 

Santa approved, too.

Goodbye Santa Claus!

We can't wait to see you again next year.

It was a fun night with my best girls...

Jackson and his buddies played football long into the night...

Cami tried to sit by Nash, but he was a little bit intimidated by her cuteness...

so she had to move on to the big boys. 

She has the biggest crush on Brock.  Too funny!

We did it again--the Santa party was a huge success.

 

Lila's letter didn't get finished that night, but she got it done the next morning.  It reads:
"Dear Santa,
I hope you have a grate Christmas with your elf and rander. 
I can not wate for christmas. I will leve you som cookee and milk."

The wonder of Christmas lives on. 

Making our list--and checking it twice!

Santa has his list, and we have ours.  I'm happy to say, we are checking things off quite nicely this month. 

On December 1st we welcomed Johnny the Elf back from the North Pole! 
He's such a fun little addition to our house.  The kids wake up every morning and look all around the house trying to find his newest spot.  Sometimes he's in the tree or a stocking, and other times he's hanging from the chandelier or just reading a book. 

 

 

We got the house decorated, too, and had the cutest little elves helping hang ornaments on the tree.

Such concentration on getting it just right!

 

We put together and decorated our gingerbread house, too.  A huge hit with the kids!  We got off to a rocky start and the walls literally caved in, but we persevered and got it back on track.  There may have been one too many "helpers."  Thank goodness Lila and I were able to salvage it!   

Last night we went to see the Christmas lights at Deerfield in Plano.  The five dancing Santas are always a huge hit with our fam. 

 

Since the cars move so slowly, Cami got the ride shotgun in my lap and the big kids took turns with their heads out of the moon roof.  They loved it.  The magic of Christmas is here.  I love that!

Thanksgiving Day

We spent the day at Gigi and Boom's house.  We enjoyed a fabulous feast, followed by naps on the couch and then the Cowboys game.

 

This little girl was one happy camper!

All the usual suspects were there, like Meme and the not-so-thrilled-to-be-photographed Papaw.  Who knows?  I'm still thankful for both of them...

as well as for my dad, son...

and hubby, too.

Jackson, Cameron & Lila--you three are my most precious gifts.  You can be turkeys at times, but I treasure the fact that I get to watch you grow and learn every day.  All three of you amaze me. 
I have a forever thankful heart that I am your mama.

 

 

Happy Birthday Poppi!

When you turn 65, that calls for a celebration! 

We did it up right this year with dinner at Casa Milagro's on Saturday...

complete with good food and even better dessert!

 

For his actual birthday we went to the Zoo today. 
It was around 60 degrees and perfect for a day outside.

Let's do this!

First up, the monkeys.  This baby monkey stole Cami's heart!  He was so cute.

The orangutans were pretty sleepy...

but the rhinos were on the move.

So far so good!

Cameron liked the antelopes...sort of!

She kept asking to go back to see "more monkeys," so we did.  Hello Silverback gorilla:)

It really was one of those rare days.  They were all being so good.  Hallelujah!

All four kids got along great the whole day.  Let's go see some elephants.

Cameron just wants to climb like the big kids.

Big sister thought the elephants were cool--much unlike little sister, who declared "elephants--scared."

The rest of us thought the baby elephants were so neat.

We were at the zoo right after they were born and they are two years old now.  Guess that's right, because I was pregnant with Cami back then.  My how time flies!

We all loved watching the giraffes, ostriches and ducks.

This is my favorite spot in the zoo. So pretty!

The white tiger might have been the coolest animal we saw, though.

Cami kept calling it a "big kitty" and meowing at it.  Yes, baby girl. That is definitely a big kitty!

The tigers had a beautiful area to lounge about in...

and one even crossed the river to come see us.

We saw the lions, too.  No daddy lion this time, but we did see the two babies.

After that, we fed the birds...

 

which everyone enjoyed.

After all that, we ate lunch in the Wild West and then hopped on the carousel.

This kid was LOVING all of her firsts today--she got her own horse this time, too. 
Where did my baby girl go?

Hi Ladies!

We decided to take the train back to the entrance and bought tickets on the Yellow Rose Express.

The birthday boy and his bride enjoyed seeing the horse and longhorn...

and in a few minutes we were done.  We got to see the flamingos on our way out. 
They are really beautiful, but pretty darn stinky! 

Happy Birthday, Poppi!  65 looks good on you!