Christmas, Christmas, and more Christmas!

We have had a full week of Christmas fun celebrating with Ty's family this year. He has a large family with lots of extensions which calls for much celebration this time of year. We spent a good deal of time last week in Marshall with Ty's dad and stepmom. It's always great to be outside at their ranch and just let the kids run and play. Ty set up his Quick Start tennis and played quite a bit with our brother-in-law, Jose. The kids took lots of rides on Pop's Rhino and saw the cows, played in the hay, went fishing, and played in the leaves.

The kids with Pops on the Rhino

Gracie girl

Jake caught his first fish (and then 5 more!)

Pops and Nonnie kept the kids one night and we had a nice dinner with Jason and Jolie, and then one day we all kept Elsie Jane for the day while they worked so that she could play with her cousins. She is so hilarious! She and Jake sat on the Rhino today and she said they were on a date to the Macaroni Grill. After lunch, they watched Finding Nemo and ate popcorn to end their "date." Never mind that she is just 4 and that they are cousins. Grace was enamored by her big cousin and followed her around constantly.

Miss Elsie Jane

Gracie with EJ

Aunt Casey and the girls

The four youngest grandkids

We also got to spend great quality time with Mark, Destin, and Nash. Grace and Nash were so precious together. They would fight and then quickly hug, kiss, and make up. It was so neat to see them so close developmentally and see the things they do similarly. Grace fell in love with her Uncle Mark and declared that he was her favorite person to play with.

in the hay

in the bath…

Cousin kisses

We also got to see Eric, Jill, and the boys and spend time with them. We're blessed with a wonderfully big family.

Matt and Zach

Casey, Destin, Nash, and Ty

Lots of family!

The night before Christmas...

Christmas day we headed over to Louisiana to spend the day with the Cochran's and celebrate Cochran Christmas. We had a nice dinner and then participated in the 5th Cochran Fear Factor. Ty's parents and Aunt and Uncle put it on for all of the cousins and their spouses. The first part was fun with competing in the XBox virtual river rafting game. Ty and I came in an impressive second place. Then we had a fishing event in which we didn't quite fare so well. I'm not the best fisherman :) The last event was the unfortunate part, the eating competition. Each couple had to feed each other sardines, twinkies, and a habanaro pepper without using our hands. It was utterly disgusting…Ty and I finished our plate and there is a video of it, but I'll refrain from posting it! Ty's cousin Klint and his wife Tonia won again for the third year. I'm pretty sure that we will all revolt in the future and this may be the end of Fear Factor. Or, we would gladly turn the tables and let the older adults play next time :) We all love the competition just not the food! It was great to spend time with Ty's cousins and their kids…it's fun to see how all of our families have expanded over the last few years.

Aunt Kaye and Grace

Kennedy and Jake watching Dora on Katie's iPhone

We came home late Christmas night and Mark and Destin came to Conroe for a few days so we had some added bonus time with them and Nash. We had Christmas with Jonesa and Al on Monday and enjoyed letting the kids play together more and then had a relaxing day at our house on Tuesday.

JoJo and the three grands

Family is indeed a blessing and this time of year it's wonderful to spend quality time with them as we count our blessings and think about the ultimate gift of Jesus. Merry Christmas to all!

Happy Birthday to me!

I had a wonderful birthday present this year--my parents came to visit! My dad said he realized we hadn't been together on my birthday in over ten years (minus three years ago when Jake had his first surgery on my birthday). They came in on my birthday and took us all out to dinner and then spent the weekend with us playing with the kids. Jake was so cute when Ty told him it was my birthday. He said, "No, it's Jesus' birthday, not Mommy's." We'd spent much of this month talking about Jesus' birth so he was confused that my birthday could be this month, too. I think being trumped by Jesus is pretty good, though. Ty bought me a scrumptious chocolate cake and I enjoyed every bit of my day :)

My sweet Jake and me--we celebrated my 34 years and his 3 year anniversary of his first surgery…we spent time looking at his surgery album and he actually loved the pictures of him with all of the wires. I explained more about his scar and showed him his surgeon and nurses. He loved seeing pictures of all of his grandparents there, too. Right now, he's really proud of his surgery and scar so hopefully he'll grow up with a healthy understanding of his heart condition.

Gigi and Poppy with the kids at Old Town Spring

A family photo in front of the Market Street Christmas tree

Gracie all ready for church on Sunday…thanks Gentry for the outfit…can't wait to pass it back to you and see Morgan wear it next Christmas :)

Dad and Ty teaching the kids to play tennis. Ty got the Quick Start tennis set for Christmas which has a smaller net and big foam balls to teach kids the fundamentals of tennis. Jake is actually pretty good at swinging the racquet. Dad started teaching me at three so I love that he was helping teach my kids now, too. Grace is still too young, but it's good to expose tennis to her at a young age :)

Grace all tired out and hanging out with Gigi. She was glued to my mom all weekend…she loves her Gigi!

Christmas programs

Jake starred in two Christmas programs this year….well, maybe not starred, but he did look awfully cute on stage both times. Our church had the kids act out the Christmas story a couple of Sundays ago and the 3 and 4 year olds were the barn animals for the performance. I help teach the 3 year olds and back in November the guy in charge of the music for the show came to Bible class to work on the songs with the kids. He had four songs for them to learn, and I kind of raised my eyebrows, and he said, "don't worry, I wrote all of the words out on cue cards!" Our friend Greg kindly reminded the man that 3 year olds don't read so that wouldn't help much :) He soon decided that they would just sing one verse of "Away in the Manger." At the rehearsal our children's minister, Von, wanted the pre-school kids to sing their song and then all kneel around the Baby Jesus in the manger while the rest of the performance went on for another 10 minutes. Well, they sang their verse and then proceeded to stand by the manger for awhile and then they got bored and decided to have a hay fight. Jake started dancing in the middle of the stage and his little friend Kylie started playing with the baby Jesus doll. After that rehearsal, Von soon decided that the kids would sing their song and then quickly exit the stage. That plan worked! The kids sang "Away in the Manger" with cute hand motions, got lots of applause, and then re-joined the audience. Everyone was happy, and Jake made such a cute little sheep!

He also performed at his pre-school, Woods Edge's Christmas program. His class sang "We Wish you a Merry Christmas," and he did a great job! I was proud of him for singing in both of the programs. I think he had fun, and he's been serenading us with both songs all month long.

He really did smile and have fun although you can't tell by this picture :)

JoJo came and gave him a big hug after his performance

An afternoon at the park

The beginnings of Christmas

Last year I made a big felt Advent Christmas Tree Calendar and had fun crafts, recipes, and activities for the kids to do everyday leading up to Christmas. Each day they pull an activity from an ornament on the tree that celebrates Christmas.

I hung it up again this year and Jake is old enough to appreciate it more this year. Last week we decorated the tree and made some cookies, and this weekend we went to a Christmas festival at Seven Acre Woods in Conroe. The kids got a picture made with Santa, visited the petting zoo, raced cars, and played a little putt-putt.

We also got out the kid's Little People Nativity Scene and have been talking about baby Jesus and his birth. Apparently, they understand the concept that Jesus is important because the baby Jesus figurine is the one they have been constantly fighting over all week. One afternoon I heard, "My baby Jesus! No, MY baby Jesus" over and over again! I found myself saying, "You can have Jesus for 5 minutes and then you have to trade." I think that might be missing the point of Jesus, though :)

All and all, it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Our first Santa picture of the season

At the Petting Zoo

Jonesa made this Christmas dress for Grace, and did such a great job! When I tried it on Grace, Grace said, "It's Cute!"

Ty was excited that Jake gets the concept of hitting the ball with the club now.

Grace is definitely becoming a Daddy's Little Girl :)

Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving week we were blessed to spend the week with my family in Oklahoma. We had a whirlwind week of fun: the boys took in a Thunder game, ate my mom's fabulous cooking Thanksgiving day, saw the new Harry Potter movie with my niece and sister-in-law, celebrated an early Christmas, had lunch with some high school friends I hadn't seen since Graduation Day 15 years ago, celebrated my niece, Gentry's birthday, built bears at Build-a-Bear with Gentry and Grace, watched OU beat OSU in an amazing football game, and saw the Yukon Park's Christmas lights….all in about three days!

It's so wonderful to see the kids interact and play together. All of the cousins had a great time with each other and the weather cooperated so they could spend much of their time in my parent's big backyard. Hendrix and Jake dressed up at Woody and Buzz together, and the girls played (and fought) dolls :) Disney and Ky were great to play with the little ones, and I'm convinced that my new niece Morgan is the world's greatest baby. She's such a little doll (really, she looks like a porcelain doll), and just watched the big kids and took it all in.

Our family is truly blessed…we had much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Buzz and Woody

Grace and Gentry wrestling…they really do love each other…they're SO funny together.

Playing dress-up after opening up some early Christmas gifts

Miss Morgan Jane

Morgan's first Thanksgiving

Jake in awe of my dad's storage shed…the kids think it's the greatest playhouse ever

Jake and Hendrix thought Morgan needed a few toys to play with…

Dad posing with his Sooner Nation flag…the flag must have been good luck because OU beat OSU in one of the greatest bedlam games of all time. Ty got to witness Mom and I watch a game together and see the madness ensue. We were both jumping and screaming…Ty saw where I got my extreme love of Sooner football :)

Ryan and Hendrix

Grace in her America's Next Top Model pose…it's her "I'm too cool and don't care" look :)

All four granddaughters

The seven grand kids

Happy Birthday Princess Gentry!

Grace built "Princess Bear" and Gentry built "Bella Bear"