Christmas Eve

Boys all dressed & dapper before Christmas Eve service

After the service with our sweet boys.

The boys opening one gift on Christmas Eve-- their Christmas pj's. 

Setting out cookies for Santa.

"Feeding" the reindeer.  :)

We had a fun Christmas Eve with just the 4 of us this year.  We all got dressed up that evening & went to Christmas Eve candlelight service at church.  It was our first time to ever do this as a family.  Such a neat time.  The boys went to the children's nursery and Rodney & I got to worship with Christmas songs and listen to our pastor speak.  I was so overwhelmed and got really emotional singing O Holy Night in the service.  That is my absolute favorite Christmas song and I just felt overcome with emotion thinking of Christ's birth & what He did for us on the cross so we wouldn't have to suffer.  His love for us is amazing and incredible.  I am constantly in AWE of our precious Savior and how he became man, walked on the earth with His people, and then died on a cross for our sins. 

This is the TRUE reason for our celebration of Christmas & I just want instill all of these precious gifts in our boys.  We have talked a lot this month about this being Jesus' birthday and this is the REAL reason we celebrate Christmas.

We had a fun night of worshipping the Lord and eating as a family afterwards.  It was so sweet to do this as a family of 4 for the first time.  When we got home, the boys got to open one gift (a new tradition we started this year) and it was their Christmas pajamas.  Reid was thrilled to open a present & even more excited that he had cows all over his new pj's! He set out cookies for Santa & then we let each of them spread out some "reindeer food" on the front lawn.  It was a great way to start off our Christmas celebration!  

Too much to post about Christmas day... stay tuned for more fun pics!

Christmas Day sneak peak

We had a very fun Christmas Eve & Day this past weekend.  The boys were SO much fun and this was a really neat year for Reid since he seemed to really "get" Christmas and all the traditions behind it.  Riley Roo could have cared less about all the presents, but was just enjoying tearing the paper & carrying around all the boxes.  :)  We had a ball!  Stay tuned... more pics to come!

Christmas with Nana & Grandpa

Maybe Reid will grow up to be a doctor just like Daddy!

Love Reid trying to take the blood pressure of his foot!

Mommy & Daddy before a night out!

Rodney & his sweet parents

 Last Sunday Rodney's parents came over to celebrate Christmas with the boys.  They are going to San Antonio to see Rod's sister, so this was a fun time to celebrate!  Reid got a cute little doctor set, and some clothes.  Riley got some cute books and some clothes for next summer.  It was so fun to watch them open presents.  Riley had fun just tearing the paper and trying to put everything in his mouth!

Nana & Grandpa stayed for a while & babysat so we could go out to dinner with some friends that night. 

Merry Christmas Bill & Millie!  Thank you for the sweet presents for the boys!

Riding the Polar Express 2011

Reid has not been all that interested in watching movies, until we showed him the Polar Express.  I thought he would be scared of it, since there are a few parts that may seem frightening to kids, but Reid has latched onto this movie & has loved it like I have never seen him like any other video.  We took Reid to ride the Polar express train in Grapevine 2 years ago, but he didn't seem all that into it.  I knew after him being obsessed seeing this movie, it was a must do on our list of Christmas activities this month! It was a HUGE hit and we will definitely be repeating it again next year!

Such a cute little Christmas activity for the kids!

Waiting anxiously and impatiently to get on the train!

The cute little variety show they put on before we go on the train. 

Reid's reaction after his ticket was punched by the conductor.  Priceless!

Love that they encourage the kids to wear their pajamas just like they did in the movie.  SOOO stinkin' cute!

This is the bell that Santa hands out to every kid on the train.  Reid has been wearing this every.single.day since we left the train ride.  I think he would sleep in it if we would let him!

Riley-Roo did quite well on the train ride.  MUCH better than we thought.  He had a few moments at the beginning, but with a few snacks and a water bottle to keep him entertained, we managed to make it through the whole 20 minute ride with him!

Merry Christmas!  Can't wait to ride the train again next year!  I do think this will be the highlight of Reid's Christmas season!  He's still asking me if we can use the whole punch to punch his ticket again.... :)  Love the little things that kids get excited about. 

Sittin' with Santa 2011

We took the boys to see Santa on Sunday after church and after waiting in line for almost 2 hours, it was totally worth it!  Reid has seen Santa a couple of times before this visit, but he still seemed thrilled!  He told Santa he wanted a garbage truck and some trashcans.  Riley was a champ and sat perfectly still the whole time we took pictures.   AMAZING for our little 17 month old who can barely sit still for 2 seconds unless he is eating!  Thank you, Santa for an experience that was worth the wait.  You are the best Santa I've seen yet! 

Gingerbread house and a few Christmas crafts

Reid had fun helping Daddy make a gingerbread house Sunday night. 

This is what Riley did while Reid worked away.... :)

And the finished product!  A much better rendition than the one I helped with last year.  GO Daddy!  

We've been working on a few craft projects this week...  A popsicle stick reindeer.

And "Frosty Fingers" hand print ornaments.  We had a lot of fun doing this one...Well, easier said than done though with a 17 month old!  What was I thinking?  Oh well.  It finally worked (after 5-6 tries with Riley and lots of smudged fingers) and we'll have it next year to see how much the boys have grown!  LOVE having their little hand prints on things to remember how small they were!

Parachuting Santa & his Elves

 We found out about this really cool event close to where we live and I knew it was a "must do" on our list of holiday activities!  Santa & his elves parachute out of an airplane and land in a big grassy area surrounded by tons of spectators!  It was AMAZING!!! 

We found Reid's sweet friend Abby & her family waiting to see the parachuting Santa too!  What a fun surprise for Reid!

One of the elves coming in for his landing.

Looking up to see who is coming next....Love the anticipation on his face!

Here comes Santa Clause, here comes Santa Clause, right out from the sky!

What a great night this was for us!  This was by far one of the neatest things we've done during the holidays so far!  Reid was super excited to see Santa the whole time, but couldn't figure out why he was jumping out of an airplane!?  Guess we'll have to come up with an answer for that one next year! We all went out for a yummy Mexican dinner at Mi Cocina to top off the night.  Yumm!!  What could be better on a cold night?! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and will definitely be repeating this activity next year!