2016 Christmas

Christmas 2016 was great and we loved getting to spend it with all of our family. We are so blessed that we live close to all of our family and can see them at the holidays. I put all of our Christmas celebrations in one post so pull up a chair and Enjoy!

Christmas #1

The Sunday before Christmas Sunday, we headed to my brother's house to celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family. Greg and Melody built a beautiful new home this year so it was fun to get celebrate there. I love my sweet grandmother and she always speaks each Christmas about how much she loves Jesus and all of us. She prays for us all each day and I'm so thankful for her!

This is really how crazy my family is :) We all have a good time when we are together.

My grandmother, mom and aunts. Love these ladies!

I'm so glad we were able to get this family picture with Mamaw. Definitely one I will treasure always!

And I always love the 4 generation picture. It is so special to me!

All of the cousin's kids. Crazy to see how much our family's grown!

Everyone needed to be nearby to help Mamaw with her presents

The kids each drew a name and gave pajamas as a gift. Mallory got some new Elsa pajamas which she loved!

Eva also got Elsa pajamas so these two were both pretty happy

Christmas #2

Friday night - Christmas Eve Eve, we headed to my parents to celebrate Christmas with my family. These cousins were happy to see each other again and we excited that Christmas Eve morning was coming soon for presents!

Games were played and somehow I ended doing my old cheers and...

Ryan trying to do the toe-touch :)

Jensen did a great job cheering too - ha!

Our friends Cooper and Jill came over and I finally got to meet their newest baby girl - Caroline! 

Mallory was so happy to see her friend Kinsley again! 

Christmas Eve morning we woke up ready to celebrate

Love this picture and these kids so much!

Before we opened presents, the girls read us The Christmas story. They each took turns and I was so proud of Mallory and Eva because they both got to contribute this year! It was such a great moment!

And then, the presents began. These two love their new mermaid blankets.

She was excited for all of the jewelry she got too :)

Brian's thrilled about his new Longhorn doormat

Watch out - Jensen is now on patrol with his new Cozy Coupe!

And these two were excited about their new bikes!

I really love this tradition we have staying at my parents each year and celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve morning with Mom, Dad, Greg, Ryan and our families!

Christmas #3

Christmas Eve night, we celebrated with our favorite Estes family. These Estes Cousins were happy Christmas was here!

Auntie and Mallory. Auntie got Mallory a great book to practice her name, numbers, etc.. on and it was personalized. So great! 

Brian, Rob and their mother

Cade is finally taller than the boys :)

Just putting this here for when we need to see who was taller in 2016 - as you can tell, this was a topic of conversation so a back-to-back shot was needed :)

Christmas #4

We got home Christmas Eve night and put our reindeer food and set out the cookies and Coke for Santa

Mallory requested the Oreos and Coke for Santa and Santa was very happy she chose that :) My friend, Janet, writes notes from Santa to kids and she wrote one for Mallory that we read together once we got it in the mail. She put the letter out so Santa would know she got the letter.

All Mallory had asked for from Santa was a Rock Guitar. She watches My Little Pony and they have a band so she was wanting to get one to play like them. He was able to come through and it was waiting for her Christmas morning!

Coming in to see what Santa brought

The guitar was a hit! Before we opened the other gifts, we read The Christmas Story again and Mallory read it this year! I'm so glad she's the one leading it and understanding what it is all about!

We prayed and then continued opening the other presents

After Mallory opened her presents, she was right beside Brian and I to help us open ours

It was a great morning and before we got ready for church, we took our annual Christmas morning picture - my favorite!

Since Christmas was on Sunday this year, we headed to church to celebrate with our church family! I'm so glad my parents were able to join us!

The last time Christmas was on a Sunday was Mallory's first Christmas in 2011. I remember it just like it was yesterday and now here we are 5 years later. Time flies!

Christmas #5

After church, we headed over to Brian's Aunt and Uncle's house to celebrate Christmas with his family. 

Uncle Jim with Mallory and Emmaline

These two love their Grammy so much!

All standing still for a quick picture!

Yep, Gran (Brian's grandmother) got her calendar! I know she always looks forward to it and I love that it brings such a big smile to her face!

Present time!

The only other thing Mallory wanted for Christmas was a jewelry box and Grammy got her one with name on it!

Gran got Mallory a scarf and Mallory has not wanted to take it off since :)

Gran, Jim and Pop

What do you get when make Gran one of her favorite presents? Your own chocolate pie!! I won the jackpot! I love her chocolate pie so Merry Christmas to me!

And there you go! We loved celebrating Christmas with all of our family and enjoy our own little family time on Christmas morning! We are so blessed!