Wonderful Christmas!

I am going to put a quick update on here from Birmingham. We are having such a wonderful trip and are so fortunate to get to stay for two whole weeks. We have so much fun when we are here and are going to need a vacation from our vacation. We have visited with all of our family and have been to Montgomery to see my grandfather and Tennessee to see Matt's grandmother. The kids are enjoying visiting with everyone but I feel like I have lost all sense of normalcy in the discipline realm. It is difficult to keep control when you have all four grandparents in the same city and they want the kids to have everything they want when they want it. On that note, we are so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents and aunts and uncles who love our kids and want the very best for them. God is good. I am going to post some pictures of our travels and will post some more when we get home. Steve has the good pictures of us at their house and they will be in the next round of pictures. We miss you Ashton! We wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Mason had an exhausting Christmas morning

We went down to see Pappa and Helen the day before Christmas

Gigi and Daddy Mac with their two grandsons and their matching first Christmas pajamas

Nelson and Baxter with their camera faces

It was so much fun to see Brenda, Rachel and Jimmy. We wish that we could see them more often.

Jan and Kert stopped in Birmingham on their way through. We were so excited to see them and have them meet Mason.

I know that we are late getting you our updates from Thanksgiving. We went to Flagstaff, AZ with three other families and it has taken us a while to get things settled. We had so much fun in Flagstaff. It snowed on Thanksgiving day and we had a wonderful dinner. On Friday we went to the Grand Canyon and hiked for a few hours. It was Matt, Emma Kate and Mason's first trip to the Grand Canyon. What a beautiful place and an amazing God to create such beauty. We spent the rest of the holiday sitting around the fire with our friends playing games. On our way home we stopped by Sedona, AZ (picture above). I am going to include some pictures of our wonderful trip.

This week we have been busy decorating the house for Christmas, going to playgroups, and enjoying the delightful weather (high of 75-78 most days). Next week we are going to Albuquerque, NM with Matt. It should be a lot of fun and a place that neither of us have been. We hope that everyone is having a wonderful start to December and we look forward to seeing some of you soon over Christmas!

All the guys

They are such good friends and play really well together

This was their absolute favorite thing to do. Michael would push Emma Kate in the baby stroller and she was completely content to go wherever he would push her.

All of us at the Grand Canyon

All the ladies (and Mason)

Picture taken from the balcony at the house

Emma Kate found Michael's snow boots and spent several minutes putting them on all by herself

This was their first time in snow. Emma Kate was unsure why this is so much fun

Mason enjoying the cabin

This is what we woke up to on Thanksgiving morning

A long run!

Two weekends ago a friend of mine, Crystal, and I did a half marathon which I really didn't train for. With having a 19 month old and a 10 week old I don't have tons of time to run. The night before the race I was awake until 10:30 nursing and then up nursing at 1:15 and 4:00. Then up at 5:00 to head to the race. The race was just another day for the kids and I am so happy that Matt was able to handle the kids and get them to the course by mile 9. I had a wonderful time and accomplished my goals. I hope to do another soon but I am ready to train for the next one. Which brings me to the good news of Mason is on some acid reflux medicine and is in general a happier baby. He is also starting to sleep at night for stretches of 6 and 7 hours. It is wonderful! You don't realize how not getting sleep affects you until you actually realize how good you feel after a decent night sleep.

We are looking forward to traveling to Flagstaff, AZ for Thanksgiving. They are predicting snow for Thanksgiving day and we are very excited. We hope that everyone has a blessed week and remembers all that they are thankful for.

Cousin Baxter!

We had such a wonderful visit with Warren, Abbey and Baxter. The week FLEW by and the kids had so much fun. Every morning when I would go into Emma Kate's room to get her our of bed she would look past me and say "Where's Abbey?, Where's Baxter?" She is absolutely in love with Abbey and Baxter. She also warmed up to Warren throughout the week. Enough good words could not be said about how well behaved Baxter is. He is adorable and so happy all the time. We went to the San Diego Zoo one day and had a blast with all the walking. Abbey and I also worked on sewing projects and just keeping up with kids. We miss them so much and wish we lived closer together. Maybe someday. We are thinking and praying for Sarah as she will be competing in the Miss Samford pageant tomorrow. We are so proud of her and know she will do well. Enjoy all the pictures!

Mason is chillin' at the zoo

We were all little tired but had so much fun

We had a close encounter with a very curious giraffe.

Emma Kate did not like the idea of staying behind with the bears (hahaha)

Baxter enjoyed his first time swimming!

We know they will hate this picture when they are older!

Playgroup, Trick or Treating and Fall Festival

We have had a fun filled few days of dressing up and eating candy. Emma Kate was a ladybug this year and actually liked dressing up (I didn't think that she would enjoy the costume because I had tried it on her before and she started to cry every time I took it out of the closet). Mason went as a bumble bee and he was perfect. He buzzed (snoozed) the entire time he was in his costume. On Wednesday we carved our pumpkin and Matt did a wonderful job. We didn't get a picture of the finished pumpkin but it looked great! On Thursday we went to playgroup and all the kids wore their costumes and had a candy/cookie exchange. There were lots of cute costumes and all the kids behaved very well. Friday was a lot of fun and we started the night by going to a few friends houses on the street to see them and their costumes. Then we went to church for a fall festival. They had the inflatable jumpers, cotton candy, snow cones and a christian atmosphere. We went with our friends Kris, Ali and Michael. Michael was the cutest and most believable cowboy (he had a cowboy swagger). I also wanted to state that Mason keeps rolling over. I know that it sounds too early but he has done it 4 times now. He is 8 weeks old and I am sure that each time it is a fluke but he keeps doing it. Hopefully we will get it on video soon!
She wasn't so sure about the inside of the pumpkinHere are all the kids lined up.
Yoda (Matt),Bunny (Kylie), Chicken (Allison), Bumble Bee (Mason), Princess (Anna), Ladybug (Emma Kate), Cowboy (Michael), Dragon (Ben), Fighter Pilot (Brian)
Before candy

She spent most of the night like this. This was her first taste of sugar and she LOVES it! Needless to say she won't be having more for a long time.

Cowboy Michael!!!

Ashton is tough in his biker jacket

The bee is awake!