Christmas with the Squiers

Joy!  Pure joy, for Miss Cameron as we entered the Squiers house last night.  

They had two doggies that she just fell in love with...

but Jazzy was her favorite!
She followed this dog around all night long and told our friends that she was "just so adorable."

This makes the third year in a row that Julie and Larry have hosted our family before Christmas.  They cooked everyone delicious pasta with meatballs and then all the kids got ready to exchange gifts.

First gifts of the season--so much excitement!

The youngest got to go first--"help me, Bubba."

Four very happy kids!  Jackson got a framed autographed photo of Jamie Benn, the Captain of the Dallas Stars.  Not just any photo, though.  It's the one of him and Cole banging on the glass, while sitting front row at the Stars playoff game last year.  They were banging on the glass because Jamie Benn had just scored the go-ahead goal.  It doesn't get much cooler than that!  Cole got a new basketball and Nike Elite socks, Cami got four mini-puzzles and Lila got headbands and the new Carrie Underwood CD.  They were all so thankful.  

After gifts, it was time for some cookie decorating.
This girl loved doing the sprinkles herself this year.

The big kids decorated three cookies each--J's artistic side came out a little and he did pretty well!

I'm so glad our boys became friends in pre-school.  

By the end of the night, Cami was begging to spend the night with them!
She's got extreme love for puppy dogs.

She begged me to go home and get her jammies so that she could spend the night.  She even talked Larry into holding her up like a princess so that she could watch Elf better!  I'm pretty sure she was ready to rule the roost.  We had to let her down easy and tell her that she could not have a sleepover at age 2.  I'm surprised she didn't ask if we could just bring Jazzy home with us!

Only three more days until Christmas now!  We can hardly wait.

Happy Birthday, Memaw!

We decided to go big for Memaw's 65th birthday this year.  

Dinner at Mi Cocina, followed by cake and presents.

The fun didn't stop there, though.

A few minutes later, we were in the Original Party Wagon and ready to look at Christmas lights in the Deerfield neighborhood!

Jared got to sit next to the birthday girl:)

Cami, Lila, Andrew, Maria and I all sat across from her.

Tristan, our trusty horse, led us through the busy streets of this Plano neighborhood.

We sang along to the Christmas Carols that were playing in our wagon and looked at all of the beautifully decorated homes.

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer and Frosty the Snowman were big hits!

We got to see the Dancing Santas, too, and didn't even have to wait in the long line of cars!  Our driver simply said, "Tristan, zip," and he trotted right around all of the cars.  

I've always wanted to take a carriage ride and we finally did it!  Happy Birthday, Memaw!
I hope you had a wonderful night with the ones who love you most.  I think we may have just created a new Hays family tradition.

Santa Claus Came to Town!

 One of my favorite nights of the year!  Santa Party time!

At noon on Saturday, it was 75 degrees, but by 6:00, it was down to only 30. Brrr! 

Guess the Big Guy had to have a big north wind to help him get here.

Boom Pa made a special delivery earlier that day, and the dancing Santa was in the house!

Very soon, our house started filling up with friends.
Many kids worked hard writing their letters to Santa.

Cameron even wrote one!  She's asking for a little trampoline and a black and white puppy dog.

By 6:30 it was time to go look for Santa.  It was freezing!

Santa arrived in a red Corvette this year--good thing, because it was way too cold to run all the way down the street to meet a firetruck:)

"Welcome Santa!"

Lila led him into our house and showed him just where to sit.

All of the kids had questions for him this year.
They were really engaged and listening intently to his every word.
Probably my favorite part of the party--the wonder in their eyes is just priceless.  We had seen him on TV a few days before with the Dallas Cowboys.  Jackson asked him what it was like meeting them.  He said, "well, it was great--Ron Leary sat on my lap and he's pretty heavy!"  Maddie asked him how many miles it is from here to the North Pole.  He said, "I'm not really sure how many miles, but it only took me two hours to get here on my sleigh." Cami just kept saying, "I would like a black and white puppy dog!"

This year Cami wasn't even scared of him!
She talked his ear off from the very beginning.  So cute--I could hardly stand it.

The Long Family was the first to sit on his lap.
This made Chloe's 7th year and Carter's 5th year of meeting Santa, so they're old friends:)

As other kids had their turn with Santa, Sami and Cami waited very patiently.
Their tutu dresses were so precious!

Lauren and Lila were also waiting nearby for their turn. 

Madison finally got to talk to Santa and asked him for an American Girl Doll.

Gigi and Boom assured Santa that she had been a good girl this year, so hopefully he will bring her that special doll.

Jenny and her sweet family got to see him...

and then it was Riley and Samantha's turn!

Jackson and his crew were really good this year--such a relief!  Ethan, Cole, Corbin, Gavin, Jackson and Brock all loved saying hey to St. Nick.

We had a group of Bees in the house, too!  Love these girls.

It was a fantastic night with so many of our friends and our sweet families.
The Fab Four Hays girls in our Christmas best!

All 11 of us with Santa.

Jackson asked Santa for two Xbox games--Madden and FIFA 2017, and a ping pong table--as in, a big one!  I gotta say, I'm a little concerned about where that might go if he actually brings it!

Lila asked for a desk and a chair and an American Girl Doll.

This was as close to Santa as Cameron got!  She talked to him from a few feet away, but was adamant about not wanting to sit on his lap.  We had made such progress from last year, that I didn't want to push it.  And she might be just a tad bit strong-willed.  Case in point--where are your shoes, Cami?  "I don't want to put them on."  Instead of have a wrestling match in front of 115 of our closest friends, I just let it go!

For a time, she really thought she was the fourth Pointer Sister!

The Rachavongs chatted with Santa (adorable!)...

and the Emersons did, too.  I'm pretty sure that April asked for Santa to bring her a baby girl on Monday.  If so, it worked!  Baby Vivian Wren was born yesterday morning!

We are thankful for our new friends, The Kings...

and old friends, The Brooks.

It's amazing how quickly an hour flies by!
It was time for Santa to get back to the North Pole.
All the kids waved goodbye and he was out the door.

I got one last hug, though, before he headed out.

We loved hanging with all of our best friends.

We had our old baseball peeps...

precious babies...

and even one sleeping kid!

We had live music that was originally supposed to play outside, but since it was so frigid, they moved indoors.  Everyone loved them, but Cameron was their biggest fan!

It was a magical night for us all.
These four kiddos are sure hoping Santa Claus is good to them again this year!