Holidays Around the House

As soon as we got home from New Zealand, I rushed around doing some crafting for Christmas. I wanted to get our decorations up ASAP. I'm very pleased with how they turned out. Example 1-sign on the mantle. So basically I used Liquid Nails to glue 6 30" boards together. Then I sanded them. Next I put vinyl lettering on, followed by stain. I then removed the vinyl letting the natural grain show through.

 Love the look of greenery. I bought 5 fresh cut wreaths & put candles in the middle.

 Love this sign! Got an engineer print from Staples, backed it on some burlap & trimmed it with ribbon.

 

One morning I made the kids snowman donuts for breakfast.

 

Pawpaw stopped by for a visit. We were so happy to see him. Perry met him for the first time.

 Christmas eve we had reindeer root beer.

 

I just had to throw this last picture in here. They are so cute!

Marionette Show

Lane's mom & Hunter took Elliot & her cousin Susie to a marionette show. Elliot has never seen anything like it before. She was mesmerized. The play was "The Little Drummer Boy". She said her favorite character was the sheep.

North Pole Express

Lane's mom told us about the North Pole Express in Grapevine & we all got tickets. It was pretty fun. We had a short train ride and a little show afterwards. Elliot ate it up.

3 Christmases

We had a wonderful Christmas with our family this year. Lane's mom & Rich, Aly & Asher came over the day before Christmas Eve. It was a great evening. We made avocado bruchetta & onion dip for appetizers. And tomatillo chicken on cilantro lime rice for dinner. Then topped it off with Reese's peanut buttercup cheesecake. I'm telling you, Pinterest never lets you down.

 After dinner, Aly told a cute nativity story.

 Kiddos modeling their aprons. These 2 boys are so cute together!

 After presents, we walked around the block & looked at Christmas lights.

 Mimi, Peepaw & grandkids.

 Family shot.

Christmas Eve. Santa has come!

 Christmas Day 7am. Davis is still snoozing. Lane just got home from a night shift.

 Checking out their Santa gifts.

 Plastic packaging is way better than the actual present.

 Christmas at my parents. I only have 2 pictures. Just know that there was a wonderful breakfast followed by lots of presents.

Christmas night with Lane's dad & Brenda, Aly, Chris, Asher & Hunter. This is the only picture I got. Lots of food was had. Aly & Chris put on their annual concert that we love.

Great Wolf Lodge

I bought a Groupon a while back for the Great Wolf Lodge and we were finally able to go on the 16th. Elliot has been talking about it for 2 months. She was particularly excited about sleeping in a bunk bed. I have to say this place was awesome. I would have enjoyed it even without kids. Lane's sister Aly & her boy Asher were able to meet up with us as well.

 The Lobby was all decorated for Christmas. It "snows" 4 times a day, so we made sure to be there for one of them.

 Poor Elliot. She came down with a fever about this time.

 Davis & Asher tore it up jumping on the bed.

 On her bunk bed.

 Their bed was inside this tent. We stayed in the Kids Camp Suite.