Granny's Christmas Party

We were so glad that Mom's family was able to come down to celebrate Christmas with us.  Granny, Johnny Wayne, Nancy and Jason all came from Jefferson City while Deanna and Matt flew in from Washington state.  We had a great night together.  We all arrived at about the same time and enjoyed lots of fun traditions.  We start out with some sparkling grape juice, grapes, nuts, crackers and a pesto cheese ball.  Mom also had some chocolate covered cranberries - yum!  Once everyone is ready, we enjoy a delicious meal: pork with a cherry sauce, strawberry jello salad, rice with mushrooms and onions, marinated asparagus, cream corn, a spinach casserole and rolls.  It's all so delicious; my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

After dinner, the four little kids performed some Christmas carols, and they were led by Papa.  The girls really enjoyed this.

 After caroling, the kids opened their presents.  They loved the new books from Johnny Wayne and Nancy; new books are always a hit with our girls.  Each girl also received a book and a game from Granny.  Lily received Hisss and Mia received Uno Moo.  We have been having lots of fun with them over the last few days.

Mia giving Granny a big thank you hug. 

 Lily wanted to hug Granny and say thank you too.

 After the kids opened their presents, Molly read the Christmas story to us; she did a great job!

After this story, the adults played a white elephant game which was lots of fun.  This was such a fun evening.  I truly wish we could spend more time with this side of my family.  We always have a great time when we get together!

Botanical Gardens Visit

When we visited the Botanical Gardens last month, the girls loved it.  We decided to get an annual membership then because it is paid off if you go a second time during the year, and we knew we would go back.  Sure enough, we decided to go back to see their Holiday Lights.  It was really crowded, and we had very recently been to Callaway Gardens, so we weren't terribly impressed; it did have several neat sections to it.  I'm glad we went.

This was probably my favorite spot.  Right when you walk in, the whole area has beautiful red and white snowflakes strung everywhere; it looked really cool.

 I always love the Dale Chihuly fountain, but it looked gorgeous with all the beautiful lights strung around it.

 The walkway to their great tree was all lit up.

 Ryan and the girls by the tree.

 Two sweet girls by the tree.

 In their big open field, they had placed a lot of different size ornaments.  Then, the ornaments changed colors to dance to the music.  It was pretty neat to watch.

 There were lots of bugs lit up in the edible garden area.

 Flowers are always pretty with lights on them.

 A praying mantis Santa!

 Having fun in the garden.

Another fun evening out!

Meme's Christmas Party

We all look forward to Meme's Family Christmas party each year.  Meme, her three sons and all their families get together over at Jodi and Michael's house which is set up perfectly for our get-together.  While everyone arrives, we snack on delicious appetizers (a couple of different cheeseballs with crackers and hot sausages with mustard - yummy!).  Once everyone has arrived and caught up, we enjoy a fantastic dinner; fried chicken, ham, rolls, jello salad and about a dozen different vegetable side dishes.  Seriously, my family can cook! 

After this wonderful dinner, we head downstairs.  This year all the kids put on a little performance.  The big kids (in the back row of this picture) each read a little bit about Christmas then they sang a few songs.  Lily led everyone in Away in the Manger.  I am so proud of how far out of her shell she has come!

 Mia didn't want to sing because she had discovered a recorder.  So, Jodi (who was directing everyone) let her be the music maker of the group.  Before each kid started to read, Mia would toot the recorder.  While everyone else sang, she tooted right along.  She did a great job!

 Once the kids finished singing, everyone joined in for the 12 Days of Christmas.  Ryan, Randy, Georgia and I were assigned "Two turtle doves."  Our family gets a little silly at times, so we had fun instead singing about "Two durtle toves."  We also read the Bible story; Sophie read it this year and did a wonderful job.  Meme also speaks for a few minutes and teaches the kids about the wonder of Christmas; she was a kids' Sunday School teacher at Chattahoochee for over 50 years, so she has a good bit of experience in this area.  We say our prayer and remember how thankful we are for Jesus' birth.

After this, it's time for some present-opening.  The kids each get three gifts: one from Meme, one from Uncle Randy and one from a cousin who has drawn their name.  Mia was thrilled to receive an Abbey Cadabby doll from Russ.

 Lily loved her Pinkie Pie doll from Cooper.  She has been sleeping with her and playing with her a lot this week.  She loves My Little Pony.

 Mia was very excited about her grocery shopping kit that she received rom Uncle Randy, and here she is giving Meme a hug to say thank you for her new Rockin' Elmo guitar.

 Lily couldn't wait to play Princess Yahtzee Jr from Uncle Randy (she has really been getting into games recently).  She was also very excited to get this art spinner from Meme.  We did this one night at Chick-fil-a over the summer, and she loved it.

 The next day, the girls couldn't wait to try out the art spinner; we have been having lots of fun with this.

After the kids finish with their presents, they start playing and the adults play our white elephant game.  We have a lot of fun stealing from one another!  Once we finish up with all the presents, we eat a little dessert (even though we're still stuffed from dinner), say our goodbyes and head home.  This is always such a fun evening.  I love my family!

Breakfast with Santa

The girls, Ryan, Liz and I enjoyed a Saturday morning Breakfast with Santa last weekend.  The Georgian Club has an excellent buffet: pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, many bread and muffin choices and tons of delicious fruit.  Delicious!

Ryan and Mia ready for breakfast.

 Liz and Lily enjoying breakfast and a view; it was a beautiful day.

 My girls and me.

 After eating our breakfast, we went to meet Santa.  The girls did great with him.  When asked what they wanted, they settled on a rocking chair for Mia and a rocking horse for Lily.  Thankfully, Santa saw the look on my face and heard me mention that we already have a rocking horse, so he didn't promise these gifts.  In fact, he told them "there's still a lot of time before Christmas to change your mind" and sure enough, this hasn't been mentioned again.  We haven't received the pictures back yet (and we weren't allowed to use our own camera), but I'll try to remember to post it when we get it; it was a pretty cute picture.

After meeting Santa, we went to the crafts area up front.  The girls had fun decorating their huge slices of brownies.  Both put red icing on and then lots of different sprinkles and candies.

 After the brownie decorating, the girls colored a picture and then moved on to sticker decorating.  Lily showing off her scene.

 Mia was proud of her scene too.

What a fun morning!

Callaway Gardens

Last year we visited Callaway Gardens' "Fantasy in Lights" for the first time, and I have been looking forward to going back ever since.  Last year, it was so cold outside, and we had to bundle up really well.  This year though, it was very pleasant so we were all pretty comfortable as we drove around with the windows down.  What a great tradition we've started!

We arrived about 1.5 hours before the shows start.  This gives us plenty of time to enjoy the other activities.  We couldn't pass up face painting; the girls love it!

 They have lots of cute little shopping boutiques inside, and Santa is there too.  However, the girls didn't want to go see him.  Since I knew we were having breakfast with Santa at The Georgian Club the next morning, I didn't press them about that.  We then went outside and the girls played on the playground for a little bit, and then we had dinner outside on the picnic tables.  They have improved their menu from last year, and we couldn't resist trying a fried Snickers bar.  It wasn't bad, but you can't beat a good 'ole regular Snickers bars!  I finished everything off with a cup of hot chocolate; I love their hot chocolate!

After all that, it was time for the two outdoor shows to start.  We all gathered around ready to watch.

 First up was "The Night Before Christmas."  It was really neat to see different scenes light up as the narrator read the story.  The girls said they liked this a lot because of all the toys displayed.

 After that they read the Christmas story from Luke 2.  All these white lights displaying the nativity were beautiful.

 After both of those shows, we climbed back into our car and headed up for the drive through the forest.  We have driven in our car instead of riding on the trolley both years.  This is mainly because I want the girls in their car seats, but also we can go a little more slowly.  I let a couple of cars pass me so we could be at the end.  It didn't take very long before they had all driven away, and we were able to drive through the woods by ourselves.  It was great.  Ryan took lots of great pictures, but I narrowed them down to some our favorites.

The fairies and their flowers were a big hit.  Both girls thought this was Tinkerbell.

 Ready to enter the North Pole!

 We were welcomed into Santa's house by Mrs. Claus and her band of elves.

 Both girls loved the 12 Days of Christmas area best.  Here are 12 drummers drumming.

 All three adults loved the Winter Wonderland part the best.  It's amazing to drive through here and see all these twinkling white lights; they are everywhere!

I'm already looking forward to next year's visit!

Gymnastics Shows

Both girls had their mid-season gymnastics show this week at The Little Gym.  It was during their regular practice times, but all the parents were invited to come inside to watch and take pictures.  They were so excited to show off the skills they have been learning thus far!

Lily has been learning to use the springboard to come up into a handstand; this is the beginning of a front handspring.

 She loves being on the bars and spinning around.

 Ms. Maria helping Lily do a cartwheel on the low beam. 

 Mia's class getting warmed up and ready to go.

 Showing off different kinds of jumps in each hoop.

 Mia loves the uneven bars too.

 Learning to balance on the beam (with extender).  Ms. Maria also helped Mia do a forward somersault on the beam.

We are very proud of our girls, and all they are learning.  It is so much fun to watch their confidence grow as they practice and improve on their skills.  They love The Little Gym!

Lily's Christmas Program

This past Tuesday was Lily's Christmas program at her school.  Everyone from Pre-K to 8th grade participates.  It was absolutely adorable!  Here are the girls before we left; Mia was so excited to go and watch Lily!

 The other grades performed a few songs first, and then the Pre-K class came up on stage.  Here's Lily following Ben up the stairs.

 Their class performed "Ring the Bells" by themselves.  I think all the kids enjoying jingling their bells!  For my future reference, from left to right, the kids in Lily's class are McLendon, Avery, Garrett, Kelsey, Nate, Grey, Lauren, Lily, Ben and Jill.

 After their class' solo performance, the Kindergarten and First Grade classes joined them onstage to sing "Away in the Manger."

 They did all the motions as they sang - so cute!

 "asleep on the hay."

 "The stars in the sky looked down where He lay."

 Lily with her best friend (and absolutely adorable and sweet little girl), Jill.  Most people call her Jilly though, so it's fun to have Lily and Jilly together.  Two sweethearts!

What a fun evening!