Happy Birthday, Mom!

Before we left Atlanta, we got a chance to celebrate Mom's birthday.  But today is her actual birthday, so 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!

Pictures with the Oh-So-Adorable William

Soooo, I took a lot of pictures of William.  And so did everyone else.  So I just thought I would have one good post with William overload.  

So here you go.  Get ready for some cuteness!!

 

I know I'm probably biased, but he is seriously the cutest nephew on the planet.  Just the cutest ever!

And if that weren't enough, just look at his first picture with Santa!

 

Christmas!!

On Christmas Eve, we all went to the service with the family.  Before we left, we grabbed a picture of all of us in front of the giant Christmas tree in the lobby.  We had everyone with us this time, including Courtney's mom, Debbie.

 

After the Christmas Eve service, we all came back to the house and had a yummy dinner together.  

On Christmas morning, everyone gathered at Mom's house to celebrate Christmas and open presents.  

There were just so many great moments and smiling faces, that I thought collages might be the best way to go. 

Rebekah got some Dr. Who books and other Dr. Who fun stuff.  Lydia got fun stuff for her room and to wear. 

Courtney got a ton of scarves this year.  I think we've all found one of her favorite things!

The girls were ubber-excited to get Fun Looms for Christmas.  And Rebekah's was wrapped in a Tab box (with Tab still inside!!).

There aren't any great pics of David or me, since we were sitting next to each other, but David got a lantern for camping and I got some scrapbook stuff.  And we got some gift cards, and other fun things. 

Bekah got more Dr. Who stuff, and they both loved their "Money Machines."

Lydia made handmade gifts this year and enjoyed watching each one opened. 

And of course there were pictures and jewelry from Nepal. 

Jack and Courtney got lots of fun things for William (including Baby's First Christmas items) and the girls got new pajamas. 

 

When we were done and had cleaned up the mess, we grabbed a couple more family pics.  

Debbie took this one of our family (and we grabbed some of her with Jack, Courtney, and Williams in front of the tree).

And then we set the timer again and got this great picture of all of us together. 

Can't wait to frame it!

It has been a very merry Christmas!  And I hope yours was too!

Dinner with Jack & Courtney = Grandkid Portraits for Mom

We had dinner with Jack and Courtney tonight.  And we did a little scheming ahead of time.  

We coordinated outfits, set up a backdrop, and then grabbed some pictures of Rebekah, Lydia, and William together.  A perfect Christmas present for Mom: a photo of all of her grandkids together!!

 

Portrait photos caused a shadow for some reason, but the landscape ones turned out perfectly.

And could William look any cuter in his little tie?

After getting some good ones of the kids, we all posed together as well.  We set the time and smiled through the ten flashes of the camera.  This is the best one - with William looking straight at the camera (and not playing with Courtney's scarf, or looking somewhere else.  

And then we thought we'd have a little fun.  Maybe take a fun one as well.  The camera didn't focus as well, and you can see the edge of the backdrop, and William is crying...but this picture SO cracks me up.  I love it!!

We had a lot of fun.  Can't wait until we all get together again!

Christopher Family Christmas

Tonight we had our family Christmas, just the four of us.  We all did a pretty good job at keeping all the secrets this year...and I don't think either of the girls had any clue what they were getting from each other or from us.

We got Bekah several little things, like a Union Jack mustache necklace.  I mean, can you get a better combination than that?  Union Jack AND a mustache?? We did the same with Lydia.  She got a four DVD set of American Girl movies.  She was pretty pumped.

And David was stumped at what his big present would be, which surprised me.  I hid the big box because I thought he would figure it out.

But he was genuinely surprised.  I got him an old pith helmet.  He spotted one in an antique shop (which sold before I could nab it).  But then I found this one.  It's dated 6-11-1944 and has the owner's name on the inside. It was quite the hit!

I got some yummy chocolate from Rebekah.  (This was her own, personal chocolate that she thought I would enjoy more. How sweet!)

Lydia got Bekah an emergency bow tie.  She was SO stoked!!

And this one was funny.  You see, in our family, the box doesn't count.  Almost always.  When you open a present, someone says, "The box doesn't count."

And when Lydia opened this present, this statement had already been made a number of times.  So when she unwrapped the present, she very dramatically said, "Oh look!  I got a CD player!"

And this was her face when David and I said, "The box counts."  Ha ha!  She was so stoked!!

The girls got David some stuff for his Go Pro camera.  He got a 64 MB memory card and some suction mounts. And the girls got me a REALLY warm, soft, fuzzy jacket. 

I also got David a little Guinness pocketknife.  It has a knife on one side and a bottle opener on the other.  It's a collector's piece from the 1970's.  This gift I KNEW would be a surprise!

And then, David pulled a dirty trick on me.  He wrapped up a ring box and made me think he got me a ring.  Turns out there was a note for me to look in a piece of luggage we brought back from Nepal.  Inside was a new blender/food processor/juicer that I had asked for!  Yea!!  A switcheroo, but a good one!!

Lydia also got Bekah a mustache lollipop.

And Bekah got Lydia an Orbeez lamp and pack of Duck Dynasty playing cards.

This was another gift in which "the box doesn't count."  There were warm fuzzy socks inside.

We got Bekah The Lord of the Rings series - all in one book.  She loves HUGE books (because she hates when they end), so she should love this one!  And I think this series will be right up her alley. 

We got Lydia a "What Does the Fox Say" t-shirt, and some Teen Beach Movie shirts.

This was another one that David acted surprised over, but I thought he would totally guess. 

This is a first edition copy of the Stanley's account of when he went into Africa in search of the missing missionary, David Livingstone.  David has read the book, but when he saw this original copy in a shop in Franklin, he was so excited. 

It took FOREVER for Bekah to finally get to her big gift: Dr. Who stuff!  We got her some posters, a magnet, a Tardis nightlight, a Tardis blanket, a Dalek shirt, some Dr. Who socks, and probably some other stuff that I can't remember right now.  Just a grab bag of Dr. Who stuff.  She FREAKED when she opened it! Ha!

We got Lydia a zebra Beanie Boo that she'd been in search of for weeks. 

And Bekah was equally stoked over her Dr. Who Sonic Screwdriver.  And apparently we got the right one, too (for the 11th doctor - her favorite doctor - Matt Smith - not the 10th doctor - David Tennant - who is also cool, but not as cool as Matt Smith - because bow ties are cool.)  Yeah...

And what's a sonic screwdriver?  I don't know.  But see that girl?  Happy!!

And Lydia finished up her gifts by opening her Duck Dynasty hat.

Oh, and that ring box?  It did come with an actual ring...but my sneaky husband wrapped it under a fake bottom of a gift bag.  Yes!  A FAKE bottom of a gift bag.  So I got a blender AND a ring for Christmas!!  Wow!

So we had a great night and everyone went to bed with smiles on their faces.  =)  Can't wait to celebrate Christmas with my family.  December has been such a whirlwind!  Where has the time gone!?