Walker's First Longhorn Game

The Longhorns came to Houston!  The perfect scenario to take Walker to his first Longhorn game.  They played in the Texas Bowl against Arkansas.  We got there early and ate a little McDonalds in the parking lot.

(Walker thought that was very cool!)

Then it was time to head inside.  Walker enjoyed taking it all in.  And, he thought it was fun to celebrate Daddy's birthday with all the other Longhorns.

(yes, even mommy wore burnt orange.  It's amazing what you will do for love.  Especially on his birthday!)

Sadly, the Longhorns didn't really show up to play.  And, W got a little tired.

He started with just chilling in his seat….

But, then he got realllllllly sleepy.

We left at halftime. Considering how the second half went, we made an excellent choice.  Still, wonderful memories made while cheering for the Longhorns!

And, I have to include this, because it's too funny.  Everly spent the night with Bunny and RayRay. Bunny sent me a text that they couldn't find Gabby anywhere.  Finally, they found this…..

Evs was sound asleep and had no idea that Gabs was in there with her.  So sweet!  

I love that we did some special one on one time with Everly and Walker during this break.  And, a bonus… I think they enjoy getting alone time with Bunny and RayRay, too!

So, since Clark's birthday didn't really go as hoped… no Longhorn win….. Everly insisted on giving Daddy a party.  Today, we got balloons and a cake and the kids made handmade cards.  I think Clark liked this party much better!

Everly's First (of many, I hope!) Show

Clark and I took Everly to see the Rockettes!!!  She's enjoying dance this year, so we thought this would be the perfect first show for her.

She got a bit bored at times, but overall she loved it.  Especially the tap dancing and high kicking!!!!

Not sure how we didn't end up with a picture of all three of us!

It was a great afternoon.  And, I think it's always very special to get some one on one time with each babe.  Making memories!

It's a Farm Christmas

The marathon of Christmas continues!!!!  After the kids played with all their new toys from Santa for a couple of hours, we headed to the farm…. for MORE presents!  Wow.  These kids are spoiled.

Here's everyone before they started opening!

Walker and Everly's Christmas was brought to you by Ninja Turtles and Frozen!  Love that my babes are so "into" things that it doesn't matter what it is.  If it's a turtle or Elsa, they are happy!

They loved playing at the farm for two days…. especially legos!

And, everyone enjoyed watching Aunt Wendy paint Anna's nails.

Everly was a huge help in the kitchen!  She loved helping making this very special jello!

(It was a huge hit and almost all of it was gone!!)

The puppies are very annoying at the farm.  They bark too much and try to run off…. but, I had to include this picture, because Elsa is too cute.

 And, before it was time to hit the road, we had to get pictures with Nanna and Bubba with the grands!
 Nanna got lots of new decorations for the farm.  It all looked fabulous.

It was another wonderful Christmas at the farm!

Christmas Morning

For some reason, I'm not a very good picture taker on Christmas morning.  I guess it's too much excitement.  But, here at the few pictures I got.  Walker woke up first and was VERY excited to wake up his sister.  She was still sleep walking at this point:

They both quickly found all kinds of fun things that Santa left for them!

I think Everly was most excited about her new Elsa dress!

They both loved everything and continued to play for hours!

This stamping set is a HUGE hit.

I'm sure I've said it before, but Christmas is so much more fun with kids!!!!!!  So much excitement and magic.  I'm already looking forward to next year.

Christmas Eve Dinner

So, after we opened presents, we took a few more pictures.  (Have I mention how cute the babes are?)  Bunny and RayRay are pretty cute, too:

And, a family photo… including the pups.  (5 out of 6 looking at the camera isn't bad):

Then it was time for our fancy dinner.  This Christmas Eve marked the first time for the kids to eat at the dining room table.

They were fantastic!!!

Clark cooked delicious steak and lobster and we continued our tradition of toasting.  The kids loved getting in on it:

And, I'm sure he won't be happy that I'm going to publish this, but Clark gave the best toast ever.  And, I'm going to share it with you:

Merry Christmas, I'm glad you're all here,

To share time with us in this wonderful time of year.

It is special to have you and share this night,

What great memories, and the presents are alright.

Time goes to fast and we don't slow down enough,

We talk about it often, but doing it is tough.

Walker and Everly are growing very tall,

They are wonderful kids, in winter, spring and fall.

I'm looking very forward to seeing them grow,

There are still so many things I still need to show.

Our family is special, we feel very blessed,

We couldn't ask for more, you are all the best.

Here's the future, in particular, next year,

And, to many more Christmases with all of us here.

 When we first got married, I think Clark hated the toasting tradition, but boy…. he has upped his game and always impresses.  Love that he can pull these awesome toasts off with very little prep time.

After our lovely dinner, it was time to feed the reindeer!!!!

Santa's team had plenty to eat at our house!!!!  These babes were prepared!!!   After that was done, it was time to get pjs on and go fast asleep, because I'm pretty sure Santa was waiting to stop at our house.  So fun to have all this Christmas excitement at our house!

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

Christmas Eve is absolutely my favorite day of the year.  Always has been.  I LOVE going to the candlelight service at church (and, always loved doing that at FBC GP) and I love opening presents and having a lovely dinner.  

So, here comes the boatload of pictures.

Beautiful babes at church:

Getting our candles ready:

It was a beautiful service, good music and a wonderful message.  And, you can't beat seeing all those amazing candles!

Then it was back to home to open presents…. but, I have to include these pictures first…. (I know I'm biased, but I think these two are pretty precious)

Then it was time to open presents… they were both so adorable and loved every single thing they opened.

Walker was so excited about his turtle hoodie!

So fun! And, more to come!!

One Starry Night

Our church has always had a very cool event right before Christmas called One Starry Night.  We have never been able to go because we've always had family in town.  This year it worked out for us!!!  Ryder was still in town…. he didn't love it, but Walker and Everly did.  First stop… a pony ride for Everly:

Then we had to sign the roll in Bethlehem and pay our taxes.  Then I made them take a picture!

There were lots of fun crafts for the little ones.  And, we saw roman soldiers as we made our way to the nativity. Then we had cool interaction with Mary and Joseph and saw baby Jesus and the angel.  I'm glad we finally got to attend such a special event that Crossroads puts so much time and effort into!

When we got home, I let all three kids open one present.  Ryder and Walker were happy with their TCU Big 12 Champions tshirts.  Then Everly opened her gift.  This was her reaction:

She was NOT happy with her brand new Uggs.  Needless to say, they will be returned. Sweet Ryder tried to help:

She did finally get in a good mood…. a little backyard football helps.