Christmas Day Take Two!

Around lunch time on Christmas my Uncle Don, Aunt Trudy, and cousin Duncan showed up to celebrate with all of us too. Can you tell from the picture that the girls were excited? What you cannot see from the picture is after opening gifts from Santa and Nana and Papa, Campbell realized she did not get one of the three main things on her list. There was a little crying involved after that. Little did she know that the gift was coming later:-)



Once we had eaten a yummy lunch of chicken enchiladas and beef enchiladas along with several sides we were almost too full to move from the table. Of course the girls would not have let us get away with that. I did manage to get a quick photo of the girls with their Great Aunt Trudy before the festivities began again.






Here is a picture of the one thing Campbell really wanted...her Anika skaters as she called them. To the rest of us they are just roller skates:-) Great Papaw came through for her. I will always cherish the memory of her Great Uncle Don and Great Aunt Trudy helping her skate back and forth from the street to the driveway, the look of pure joy on her face, and her laughter ringing in our ears. What a wonderful gift!




Kaylee was excited to get some skates as well even though you cannot tell from the picture. She is full of determination while having Duncan help her.The laughter from her lips was also music to my ears whenever Duncan would help her roll down the slope in the driveway. There were a few times that I thought she was going to take both of them out. Those were the funniest for her and us too:-) I am so glad we all got to make such great memories together.











The men and Kaylee spent the rest of the day doing this...
































I think I know what the men in my life need for their next gift.





While the rest of the family played Wii my Mom, Aunt, and I went to see Marley and Me along with what seemed like all of Waco. I highly recommend the movie but take a box of tissue with you especially if you are a dog lover. We had such a wonderful time with our family and left very blessed. Thank you to all of you for making this year so memorable and magical for Kaylee and Campbell. We are so loved and we love each of you so much!

Merry Christmas 2008!

A Time for Friends

Today we had the special treat of getting to break bread with some sweet friends of ours; Cody, Niki, and Aniston. They were on their way to spend Christmas in a town nearby with their families and decided to make time for us. We are so glad that they did! The girls had so much fun playing with Aniston and the adults had fun catching up on our lives too. It felt as if time had stood still for a moment and we were back in Sachse and they had just come over for dinner like old times. Then our girls would walk in the room and the reality of just how much time has passed would hit us. I was there when Aniston was born and now she is almost 6 years old. Really has it been that long? It is nice to know that even though time keeps moving our friendship remains. Thanks for coming by Whites, we hope you will come again soon and we can enjoy more time together sharing memories and making new ones.

Our Family Christmas

Today we decided to have a little early Christmas with the girls. Since we are not home on Christmas day and we want to open a few gifts under our tree each year we open our gifts to each other before we leave town. Kaylee and Campbell were so excited when we told them today would be the day. Being the great Dad that he is, Cary took the girls to the best donut place in town to get breakfast for all of us before the festivities began. After returning home Campbell decided that three donut holes were enough for her and she was ready to get the show on the road. However, she still had to wait on the rest of us.

We all had fun seeing what we had gotten from each other. The girls loved everything that they got especially the remote controlled puppies which are as close as they are getting to the real thing this year:-) When they each opened the sack with them in there Kaylee said, "Well I guess we kinda got a puppy." I thought that was too funny.





After Cary and I exchanged gifts to each other and from the girls Campbell was ready to open some more. Lucky for her there was one more present for each of them hiding somewhere. We had Campbell go in her room and there stood the one thing she had asked for the most. Of course after saying, "That is just what I wanted!" Followed by "Where are the rest of the Diamond Castle Princesses and the horse and carriage?" I told her we would have to wait on Santa and see what he had in mind. She seemed satisfied with my answer and quickly started playing. She was definitely all smiles.






Next up was Kaylee. We had her go in her room and there on her bed was a basketball. She was very excited! Cary proceeded to ask her where she was going to play basketball. She said, "Well you need a hoop, that is what I wanted." Cary then asked, "Hmmm where would you find a hoop?" Kaylee immediately exclaimed, "Outside!" then looked at us to see if there might be one somewhere. We told her to go look outside and see. As you can see from the picture she was not disappointed. The only sad part was that it was 20 degrees so she could only play for a few minutes. Hopefully one day soon the weather will cooperate so she can enjoy her new toy. She too was smiling from ear to ear.

I cannot wait for Christmas morning because they are both so animated this year and are really getting into the season. Their reaction definitely makes all the shopping worth it.

Christmas Lights Tour

One of our Christmas traditions is to go look at Christmas lights and we decided with not much time left before Christmas tonight would be the best night. So while Cary was doing some last minute Christmas shopping I got the girls cleaned up and in their pajamas so they could be comfortable while looking around town. I also knew there was a Santa at one of our stops and thought a picture with Santa in their pajamas would be cute. As you can see they were both very excited. I also fixed some hot chocolate in their thermal Christmas cups so that they would stay nice and warm. Once Cary arrived home we were off. We drove around our neighborhood first and saw a lot of "pretty lights" as Campbell kept calling them. They both kept telling each other to look out the other one's window so as not to miss a single decoration.

Next we were off to Christmas Lane which takes place at a State School here in town. They really go all out on the displays which different organizations and business in the community sponsor. The girls were beyond thrilled.





Kaylee and Cary liked the Santa on vacation the best.










Campbell and I loved the bride in front of the church. (I do not know how she will fit through the door being so much taller than the church.)






At the end of the road you can go inside a building they have all decorated with different animated scenes along with Santa. I could not believe that this is the year neither one of my girls were shy or put up any kind of struggle when it was time to sit on Santa's lap. Both of them even talked to him after the picture and gave him their list clearly and loud enough for him to hear. It was so wonderful! Now if I could only get them both to look at the camera. (I have no idea what Kaylee was looking at but out of the five pictures she is not looking at the camera once.)






I loved this picture!










Once we had seen everything Christmas Lane had to offer we went on to another neighborhood in town which never disappoints to look at their lights. After about 10 minutes of driving around that area this is what we saw in the back seat. It was before 9:00pm!





Followed about 15 minutes later by this...



I guess all the excitement of seeing Christmas lights and sitting with Santa just wore them out. When we got home they both crawled into their beds without a peep.

Yeah for the Christmas lights tradition!

Christmas Parties Galore!

Thursday was a very busy and exciting day around our house. Both girls had their school parties on the same day which made for one busy Mom trying to get to both of the parties which are about ten minutes away from each other which is not much, but when one party is from 10:30-11:30 and the other is from 11:30-12:30 it can be a little hectic. I am happy to say I made it to both and did not miss a thing:-)




Kaylee's Christmas Party was first on the list. When I entered her class they were all sitting in a circle passing a stuffed Santa bear around and when the music stopped that person got to pick a prize from the teacher out of the treasure chest and then start on cookie decorating and ornament making. I thought it was a very organized way of letting a few students at a time get started so as to not overwhelm the parents in charge of the party. Kaylee was so excited that I was there to watch her and meet some of her new friends she has made this year.


They also had a puzzle exchange and Kaylee was very pleased to get a penguin puzzle. After a quick good-bye to her teacher and a picture of all the students and their puzzles ( don't they look like a lively group?) we were off to Campbell's Christmas Party.






When we arrived at Campbell's school they were just getting back to the classroom after having some play time. The party table was all set up with Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets, chips, and fruit. A feast fit for some hungery three and four year olds. Campbell was very excited to have Kaylee and Mom there for her special day. For a few minutes she was a little clingy but once she saw the food it took priority.
This picture is Campbell eating with one of her best buddies "M".






Here is half of the class eating quietly.











Here Campbell is waiting patiently or at least trying while they have a puzzle exchange. She was pretty excited about her Cars puzzle...I think mainly because there were no Princess puzzles around.









Here is our attempt at a good picture of the three of us. I think they both turned out pretty good. (Thanks, Kristi) It was a very fun day for all of us and I am so thankful for these moments.

Some Christmas Decor

Well the stockings have been hung for a while now and the rest of the inside ready for Christmas too. I just wanted to share a few of our favorite decorations, some are additions for this year others we have had for a while. However, they are all special.

First there is the cute Santa on the mantle that I bought at Kohl's last year after Christmas for a steal of a deal. I just love all the different Santas one can find during the holidays.




My next favorite thing is the Hallmark church series of ornaments. I got the first one to commemorate Cary and my first Christmas together after we got married. The one here is number 11 in the series. I love to see the way they capture a different style of church each year and they are all so beautiful!










We have also started a tradition of buying the girls an ornament each year that reflects their personality or interest at the time.

This one is Kaylee's, it pretty much speaks for itself. When you open the locker it plays a tune from HSM3 and Kaylee loves it!












This is Campbell's ornament and is very appropriate since each morning she asks immediately after waking up if she can put on her dress-up clothes and watch a Barbie movie. The Diamond Castle movie has been her favorite for several weeks now. However, today she did sit on Santa's lap at school and tell him she wanted skaters like Annika and a rainbow blanket like Annika. ( I think she is the Barbie in the Pegasus movie.) The skaters are on their way only they are roller skates instead of ice skates and I am a little unsure where the rainbow blanket came from but I am sure Santa will figure something out. Why is it every year they always come up with something random at the last minute?









Here is our very traditional tree in the den. Each ornament on it reminds me of a beautiful memory. I just love it!
















This is the tree that the girls get to claim and decorate all on their own with their special ornaments. It resides int he playroom for them to enjoy each day.















These last two pictures are of two Christmas decorations my Nannie made herself. She was not one to be overly crafty so imagine my surprise and delight when she made these for me to have each year. They meant a lot to me then, but even more to me now that she has been gone from this earth for a quite a while. Neither of my girls got to know their Great Nannie but each year we get to talk about how my Nannie made those decorations and delight in their beauty and the wonderful memories flow from me to them. The joy of the season!










I suppose I had better leave the computer now to continue making my list and checking it twice.

Christmas cards mailed...check
Teacher gifts delivered...check
Candy made...maybe this weekend??
Locate Santa to make sure he has a rainbow blanket.
Get pictures with Santa.

I am sure there are many more items to attend to but that is all I can handle right now. Hope you are all staying warm and enjoying the spirit of Christmas!

Christmas Light Parade 2008

Well it is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas at our house. We went to the annual Christmas light parade downtown last night. There were well over 100 entries this year. The girls had a blast as usual. It was the perfect night for a parade because the temperature was just right and the wind was not blowing very much. Kaylee was excited because she kept recognizing her friends from school and church riding on some of the floats. I think she was most thrilled to see Mrs. O her kindergarten teacher because she saw Kaylee and said "hi" to her. The smile on Kaylee's face was a mile long. Campbell on the other hand did not care whether she recognized anyone she was just waving, smiling, and saying "Merry Christmas" to everyone. I can totally see her riding on a float doing her princess wave one day. The parade is definitely one of my favorite yearly traditions with our family because of the smiles on my daughters' faces the whole time.







Kaylee waiting for the parade to begin and hoping that there will be some candy thrown from the floats.










One of the girls favorites because there were dogs pulling the wagons.











Another favorite because of the horses. Do you see an animal theme here?











In case you cannot tell what this is it is a huge HEB shopping cart with a hot rod under it. I thought this was hilarious!









This is of course a top pick because every one loves an adorable train!












The End of the parade.
Campbell wanted Cary to take a picture of her sleeping. If only she would go to sleep that quickly:-)


Hope you are all enjoying the holidays!!