Christmas 2015

We spent a quiet Christmas at home this year.  All 3 kids are "aware" of Santa so we had several fun weeks of anticipation.  We would call Santa (Jill) and tell him our wish list and our elf sat on our mantel to watch our manners.   KK printed out several letters from Santa and his crew - we would find them randomly on the mantel next to our elf.  While we were in Cabo (Wes and I snuck away for 3 nights mid December) KK took the kids to see Santa at the Johnson Center.  They have a private Santa room so kids can get acclimated and best of all, NO LINE!!!!   Reese asked for a pink bike, Drake asked for cars and easy going Stella was just excited to talk about toys!!  Of course, I waited until the night before to assemble Reese's bike, and I totally screwed it up.  (Note to self:  Ball bearings are important - if one falls out, you can't just shove it anywhere and expect the wheel to turn.)  So I had to concoct a story for Reese.  Here goes...





Stella quickly found her favorite toys, both from Nana - an aquarium and a farm set with stickers.

Reese got a cash register that she loves to play with.  Here she is checking out Wes, dressed up in her Elsa gear from last year.

Drake scored another car track that he LOVES.

Pictures:

Our tree - not sure if you can tell, but all the ornaments are on the top 1/3 of the tree because Stella turns into a cat and bats them off the tree if she can reach them.

Jill and Byron joined us for a few days - we enjoyed the Trail of Lights (a one mile Christmas light display in Zilker Park) and we hiked Mt. Bonnell with Reese and Drake (Stella was at school).

Random -  we didn't have snow, but we did have a wicked hail storm one evening.  A blanket of white covered our deck in just a few minutes.

Now that KK has moved to Savannah to join Rayce, we moved Reese into her room.  It will still serve as a guest room for company but Reese is in heaven having her own space.  We finally ditched the toddler bed Drake was sleeping in and moved him to where Reese was sleeping.  Here is his new room!!

 We moved the couch from our master bedroom up here.  This room doubles as our playroom so it's nice to have a comfortable spot to sit while I watch the kids play.

Notice the new shelf for our stuffed animal collection?  Super excited to have them off the floor, yet still displayed in all their cuteness.

I finally found some room for our childhood desks.  Makes me so happy to see our little ones using them.  Ah, memories!!!

Happy New Year to our family and friends!!!!  We were in bed and asleep by 10:00 pm and are spending the day playing in front of the fireplace.  Perfection!!!!