Christmas Cookies

Since it was snowing outside, it seemed like the perfect time to bake some Christmas cookies. Usually we get out our Christmas cookie cutters, but since I have no idea where those are we just bought some store bought dough and decorated those. Christian didn't even miss the cookie cutters and he knew just what to do!

McKenna, on the other hand, did not understand what we were doing! So she just ate it!

"Mom could you please get out of the way! I'm trying to watch a show while I enjoy this yummy cookie!"

1st Snow

On Saturday morning Christian woke up, saw the snow beginning to fall and was outside in less than 10 minutes!

He was so excited!

Most of it has melted now, but he can still find enough to delight him for an hour or so!

Goodbyes & the trip home

There was time for one last 4 wheeler ride with daddy.

And one last expedition to explore the farm.

(Three generations!)
And then we had to go.

McKenna didn't mind saying goodbye, but Christian cried as we drove away from the farm. He's old enough to understand just how far away it is and he was sure sad about it.

But we have this little tradition that seems to make saying "goodbye" a little easier.
About an hour into our trip there is a Cracker Barrel and we meet the family there for lunch before we officially hit the road. Grammy always buys some fun little surprise for the kids in the Cracker Barrel store (don't they have the best stuff??) and that always makes the first hour in the car a little more pleasant too!

McKenna giving her Grammy hugs!

Grammy and Grampy with two of their sons and four of their grandkids!

And then Aunt Ang jumped in the picture!

The four year olds.

The siblings! They really look alike don't they?!

Grampy with grandson #1

Grampy with grandson #2.

And then we drove. We drove for 12 and a half hours. Whew! Christian is great in the car....McKenna - not so much!

Thankfully they looked like this for the last five hours of the trip. We got home at 3:30am. Ryan carried in everything from the car and wasn't even tired because he drank so much coffee. I went to sleep right away. Thankfully everyone slept until 9:30 the next morning, so I got a reasonable nights sleep. And just for the record; I've caught up on all our laundry :)
--
We miss you Illinois family. You're definitely talked about a lot around here. McKenna kept talking about "acey" ((Gracey)) today! We are so thankful for each of you and the time we got to spend together! That's for putting your lives on hold to spend time with us while we were there! We love you!

Pottery Painting

(Such Buddies)
We painted some pottery with Aunt Lindsey, Gracey and Zavier! McKenna fell asleep in the car, which was probably a good thing. So Daddy drove her around and I could just enjoy our time together without worrying about her.

Zavier was hilarious about getting paint on his hand. He DID NOT like it at all!

But he quickly recovered.

Gracey painted a fairy.

Christian painted a frog. That little froggy will be a fun keepsake of our time together.

Family! Lots and Lots of Family!

(Grampy Chat with his sister Aunt Robin)
In case you haven't noticed...Ryan has lots of family. Lots and lots of family. And whenever someone in the family has a get together, everyone shows up! It's fabulous!

This year we actually weren't the ones who traveled the farthest to be there! Ryan's cousin Ty was there all the way from Florida and he brought the star of the show....Hannah! Hannah is the newest member of our family and McKenna was just slightly obsessed with her!

We got to see Uncle Bob and Aunt Karen two days in a row! What a treat! But we missed riding on Uncle Bob's pony, Beauty, this year!

Aunt Angel and Aunt Sue

Uncle Bob, Grampy and Uncle Frank

Notice where the guys are hanging out!
Ryan with his cousins Ty and Zac.

Aunt Ang talking to Grandma Doran

Uncle Beez and Aunt Lindsey

Amy & Chris

Chrish and Brooklyn!!

Uncle Rod was hosting the party!

Grandma Suzanne (Aunt Sue to us) with her daughter Amy (in the green) and daughter-in-law Jenn and baby Hannah!

Whew...and believe it or not I did not even remotely get a picture of everyone. I always feel like I'm being really annoying making everyone pose for pictures. I really wanted to make each family line up on the couch for pictures, but Ryan absolutely told me I was not allowed to do that. So I hopped around all night taking candid shots of everyone instead. I know...annoying, but we don't get to see everyone all that often and I want to be able to point to a picture of a person when I'm talking about them to Christian. I want him to know his family and recognize their faces even though we don't see each other all the time. So that's why I ended up with almost 300 pictures. More to come....

Don't miss these THREE awesome Christmas activities this weekend!

3 Great FREE Projects for this Saturday (Lowes, Home Depot & Michaels)

Oh my word, I love this project! Isn't that gingerbread house the cutest?! You can make it at Lowes for FREE this Saturday. I just signed our family up! I would love to put that out as a decoration every year! Go HERE to sign up ahead of time. Spaces are limited.

You can make this little wagon for FREE at the kids workshop at Home Depot on Saturday from 9am - noon.

Michael's is hosting this free event on Saturday, December 5th from 10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Kids can even make all three crafts! Go here for all the details.

Thanksgiving Day 2009

Thanksgiving always starts out early for Grammy Mary Ellen! The kitchen is usually smelling pretty good by the time we wake up! Then Aunt Angel arrives and seems to know just how to jump in and help with the cooking!

Aunt Angel with Gracey & Ella.

The siblings! Ryan's the middle child. Angel is the oldest and Robert is the youngest.A rare picture of Ryan and I.

Uncle Bob and Aunt Karen joined us for Thanksgiving dinner.

Aunt Ang and Uncle Beez

Aunt Lindsey and Aunt Angel with cousins Gracey and Ella.

Probably my favorite thing about our week in Illinois was watching these two play together. They love each other and have the best time together. And Gracey doesn't put up with Christian's moodiness for one second (I love that :) I heard her tell him at one point that Santa wasn't going to bring him many presents if he kept being so fussy!

Cousins Emma and Ella

Gracey, Christian and Zavier

Aunt Ang brought her laptop to show Grampy how high speed internet works.

Love this picture of Uncle Ryan and Gracey!

Just the girls! (Taken by Christian)

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! It was actually rather relaxing (other than chasing McKenna around to make sure she wasn't getting into trouble). Grammy and Grampy work so hard to make our visits so fun and easy! Grammy is completely organized and has everything planned out. She had actually found one of Christian's gloves that he left there last year and remembered to give it to me, even with everything else going on! So anyway, it was a great day. We missed seeing Bill and Becky and their families, but we still had a wonderful day.