Santa Claus is coming to...

KayKay and Tex's house!! We had a fabulous Santa come visit on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Not all our friends could be there:( but we had fun with the ones that were:) Here Santa is with Caitlyn, Baylor, Caroline and Christian. The girls were sharing what was on their list...they normally want nothing to do with him, but I think the more relaxed atmosphere helped
Emmy wasn't too sure about the man in red...even with Mommy nearby she still wanted to be as far as she could get
The Essners had a great time talking to Santa too (as long as Jay didn't know he was back there)
After some pictures Santa shared some Milk and Cookies with all the kids. My husband made the most wonderful homemade hot chocolate!!! We all had a sample of it with plenty of marshmallows:)

There are more fun pictures, but this is where I have to leave you and get my booty in gear this morning. So much to do and so little time

The magic of Wii

My dad bought a Wii video game system and it has sucked us all in!!! I don't have the picture proof of my mother, but she did play:) The favorite of the boys (and Baylor) was Guitar Hero (Mim's pretty good at it too), Christian LOVED Boxing and Mom and I like to bowl.
Baylor liked to play with the guitar...she thought she was so big to do something everyone else was
Christian did so well at the boxing game! He knocked out almost every competitor and had a blast doing it! He only had to push one button on each controller so he was able to do it ALL BY HIMSELF which made it even more fun. He and Tex had fun doing this together while the women and Travis went shopping on Black Friday...Jeff had to put in his last day at Vanderbilt and joined up with everyone later.

Thanksgiving part 3

After all that food everyone needs a good snuggle
These are two of my favorite pictures of Baylor from that day. She constantly seems in awe of what is going on around her and than can flash you that beautiful smile when you least expect it

Thanksgiving part 2

Pics of all the preparations including a shot of my hubby's oh so yummy pumpkin pie:)

Thanksgiving part 1

We had Thanksgiving at my parents house with Mim and Travis. Christian had fun watching all the cooks...we decided it was a good thing Mom and Dad have such a big kitchen or their could have been some outbursts:) My dad was in charge of the Turkey, Jeff made a pumpkin pie (so yummy) and mom made everything else. Jeff was able to try his hand out at using an electric knife which is now on his Christmas list:) It took all three of these lovely men to figure out how to get the turkey out of the pan it was in and on the platter mom wanted it on:)

It is hard to get a family picture when both kids are so active...this was the best we could do
Aren't they just the cutest?!?! This was the beginning of their first holiday season as a married couple:) They are so excited about decorating their house and doing all those 'firsts' together. Mim was nice enough to help me with some of my Christmas decorating...sorry I can't return the favor.

Time with Nana and Papa

Last weekend we went to Cock of the Walk and Opryland Hotel with Jeff's family. It has kinda become our tradition. Their jobs require them to work on Thanksgiving so it is easier to do something the weekend before. We all enjoy eating some yummy catfish and than seeing all the pretty lights. We also were celebrating Uncle Jeremy's 24th birthday...Happy Birthday to one of the best Uncles around:) If you have never been to Cock of the Walk they have this enormous rocking chair that you can sit in and take pictures. I'm sure if I tried hard enough I could find pics of myself at age 10 or so on this same chair:)
Nana caught this cute picture of us on the main stair case. The kids both loved all the lights and we enjoyed spending time with Nana, Papa and Uncle Jeremy.

Thanksgiving

Ours has been a whirlwind...Check in a couple of days for multiple posts to catch you up on all the family fun. We spent time with Jeff's parents the weekend before and mine this past one. Mim and Travis were here and the whole family had a great time playing the Wii at my parents house. Christian may have a future in boxing.

Check back soon...