Christmas in Abilene

Thursday Night
After having our own family Christmas in Argyle, we headed to Abilene. We got in town around 5:30 that evening. Michael was already in town and Joan and her family got there not long after we did. We all met up at Mom's house and Grandpa came over to visit with everyone. Mom made dinner and we had a fun time together.

Later that night we headed over to Grandmom's to see Grandmom and Dean & Faye and their family! Madison had everyone playing Memory with her. It's one of her new favorite things to do!

Cooper was super social and was in such a good mood. He enjoyed having everyone's attention. Definitely not my shy child. We stayed at Grandmom's until after 10 sometime and then went back to Mom's to get in bed.

Christmas Eve at Grandmom's House:
Mom worked til noon Christmas Eve so the rest of us didn't do much that morning. Michael and I went and got us La Popular for breakfast, Madison and I made a trip to Target and we all relaxed most of the day. That afternoon we got dressed and headed over to Grandmom's house. Our Uncle David came over for a few hours to visit. It was great to see him. We haven't seen him in many years. Later that evening, after church, we had appetizers, opened gifts and then the adults did a gift exchange. The kids got some great gifts and we made out with some great gifts from the gift exchange. Trent got a heater (which we've been wanting to buy for Madison's room) and I got a Scentsy candle! Here are some pictures from our evening together:

Madison has been wanting this double stroller for so long! She was so excited to get it.

My Uncle Shon thought it would be really funny to get everyone against me in our gift exchange. He had everyone (I'm not sure if it was everyone or just all the guys) say that they would all steal from me...no matter what gift I got and then they rigged it to where I'd be the first person. It worked a few times and then I picked a gift that froze with me so the fun ended quickly...by the 4th person or so. :)

Christmas Morning at Mom's:
We woke up Christmas morning and had our family Christmas with Mom. They got the kids so many great things. Madison's favorite thing was her new skates. Although when she opened them she said (loudly), "I wanted pink skates". The thing is...she didn't even ask for skates. She had told me once that she wanted a pair but no one else knew. Her favorite show is Fresh Beats. On one of the episodes the girl she likes is wearing pink skates. That's why she wanted pink. But after her nice comment she quickly put them on and 'skated' up and down the hallway. They didn't get to play long and then we had to clean up and get ready to go to Dad's. Here are some pictures from our Christmas morning at Mom's...

Aunt Kara was nice enough to help Madison skate! :)


Christmas Day with Dad:

After leaving Mom's house we headed over to Nanny & Papa's for Christmas lunch! We got there early to visit and relax. We ate lunch around two and then opened more presents! We love Nanny & Papa's house because they always decorate it up BIG time for Christmas!

This is my favorite picture of the day! I looked over to see Cooper standing on his tippy toes reaching into the m&m bowl! Love it!

Next stop (and final stop in Abilene) was Dad's house! AND LOOK AT ALL THAT SANTA LEFT!

Cooper immediately walked over to his shopping cart and started pushing it! The boy loves to push things. Even when they are not meant to be pushed.

Dad and Laurie also take after Nanny & Papa and decorate BIG time for Christmas. I'm slowly trying to collect my own stuff for our house! I always remember going to Nanny & Papa's house and thinking it looked like a house from the movies, Dad's is that way now and I want ours to be the same one day! After we opened presents, Laurie made LOTS of appetizers and her mom came over and so did Nanny & Papa! Madison played with her Dora Dollhouse (her favorite of the night) and Cooper pushed around his toys!

We had 4 great Christmases while we were here! We were all SPOILED by everyone! We appreciate all that you got for us and for our kids. We almost couldn't take it all home. Our truck was packed! We are blessed with many many people who love us. We are thankful we got to spend the holidays with you and can't wait to see you again!