Christmas with the Brandons

On New Year's Eve we celebrated with my family. My parents had been in College Station with my sister and then came up Friday morning. Alicia, Eric, (Jack and Elly) and Becky all got there around 7 and we had an appetizer New Year's Eve party. We rang in the New Year and Dad's birthday!

Heather made this beautiful tiered serving dish from Mimi's old china. It looked perfect with truffles made by Alicia.


Our spread...We then celebrated Christmas the next morning and had JuJu's famous cinnamon rolls. Everyone loved their gifts and we were all very thankful. We started opening presents around 10 I think and finished after noon. I am so glad it worked out that we could all be together.





The kids playing with their new toys. Star Wars General Grievous with Elizabeth American Girl and Rabbit Calico Critters all playing together. I love their imaginations.


It is a tradition for mom to make Bierocks (dough stuffed with meat, cabbage, onion-yum) for Dad's birthday. Caitlyn helped out. We had dinner that night and then played Settlers of Catan. Everyone left Sunday. It was so good to have everyone here.

Caitlyn got some new pajamas with a tutu so she was dancing with her daddy.



More great memories!

Christmas in Marshall

We spent Christmas in Marshall this year. Jeff's brother and sister were both there and the kids got to see all of their cousins. We went to downtown Marshall one night to see the lights (it is famous for its lights) and we went through Santa's workshop. They have a cute set up where the kids can make a train and decorate a cookie.










Caitlyn got to ride the bikes at Nana's this year. Thanks Dad! I am so disappointed though because I did not get a picture of Brandon riding one. This was his first time to be able to ride one since he learned how to ride a two-wheel bike. He loved it!

Most of the girls.

This year Madi took the lead and directed the cousins in a Christmas pageant. They were adorable. I think next time they might go for costumes and everything.




Claire maintained this state of excitement through most of the holiday season. I love her spirit!


Love this pic...Papa was able to come over for Christmas day. He enjoyed playing with the littlest girls and watching them push the buttons on the musical Christmas toys. We were glad he could be there.
We had a great time in Marshall for Christmas and look forward to the next time!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Borger this year and Becky, Alicia, and Eric all were able to be there. We did a lot of baking and the kids helped JuJu with cinnamon rolls-her specialty!

The guys did a lot of hunting and Jeff got a deer this year. He and Eric have been trading off who (hopefully) gets the deer each year. The kids enjoyed watching the cleaning process.



While the guys did their hunting, the girls did crafts!



All the leaves seemed to drop the second night we were there. We raked piles and piles and piles. Yes-there are trees in Borger!



We also had the privilege of getting a wild hog from Dad's lease. The guys went out and got it and we roasted it over the open Mexican fire pit outside. It was so tasty.

The kids love to ride the tractor with Dab.

Another great year of memories!

Fall Fun

I told you that it would probably be Halloween before another update. Oh well-so it goes. We did a few fun things this fall so I will just put them all together. We started out in October going to the State Fair. We saw several shows and did some rides and made it to the Ferris Wheel. The kids had a lot of fun. I was surprised to see how many pictures I actually got of all 3 of the kids.

The second weekend in October my parents came down to go to my cousin's wedding. These are just some shots of that. It was really a beautiful night in the park.

The kids went to the Pumpkin Patch with Ms. Cindy on a Tuesday while I was at work. I hated to miss them there but they got some good pictures. I am glad they got to go.

Halloween Day-we had church in the park that morning and this was when we got home.

Halloween night we went to a neighbor's house and had some chili. Then we took Caitlyn around our neighborhood. She could have and wanted to keep going but Jeff took her on home and I took the other two with neighbors to a few more streets. They had a great time.

Brandon's lightsaber was a hit-a built in flashlight for his costume.

Sweet little bunny

Her favorite princess of the day. She had several costumes that she could have chosen for Halloween from dress up clothes. She had first said Snow White and then she had decided to be Tinkerbell. When she woke up from her nap, I asked her what she wanted and she chose Snow White and never thought twice after that. I think she makes a good one.

So Fall has been fun. I love fall and the weather and the fun activities. I always say it is my favorite time of year and each fall it is confirmed again.