Saturday, December 31, 2011

Christmas Morning

We had Christmas morning to ourselves and enjoyed it very much. So much, in fact, that I didn't get many photos!

Here is a small snipit of our morning...

My morning girl ready to get opening!

And my little man still trying to wake up!

He soon was just as excited as his sister!

"What in the world????"

A new crown for our princess! (the two she has are broken and will now be thrown out!)

A boy and a football.. it's a beautiful thing!

He open packages SO slow.. just like daddy!

Lovin' the slinky!

Trying out the new Nalgene bottle!

She has wanted this dress-up Minnie toy FOREVER! Its a bit young for her.. but she loves it nonetheless!

Reading books with Mr. Robert, our friend who we had over for dinner!

For the first time ever, I cooked Christmas dinner by myself!! Ham, bread, broccoli, jello and dessert (no potato dish.. neither of my kids are big potato eaters!). It turned out great and it was fun to entertain, even if it was just one person!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Morris Christmas 2011

We spent Christmas Eve with Doug's family in Dallas, but this year we did it a bit different as are SO glad we did!

We decided to head down the day before and spend some quality time with our dear friends the Gilberts down in Dallas/Falls City instead of doing our usual super quick visit with them in between family stuff on Christmas Eve. Doug and John have known each other for years and we never seem to see them enough.. so we decided to change that this year! Sadly, we had SO much fun that I forgot to take a lot of pictures... sigh.

We stopped first and Bill and Darlene's, John's parents. They are like parents to us, too.. and we care for them very much. We had a great couple of hours catching up and hanging out in "Crazy" Bill's big shop. They kids loved his old cars!



We then headed out to Falls City to John and Laura's place. We enjoyed time with them and their kids Nathan (14) and Shelby (9). They are such a fun family and John never ceased to make me laugh!

Nathan was REALLY into Thomas trains when he was little, and they have kept all of his train things. He decided he was ready to part with them and they gave them to OUR kids for a Christmas gift! Do you know how awesome that is? Oh my.. my kids LOVE it! Such an amazing and thoughtful gift. I told Nathan that I would keep all of the trains and give them back to him if he ever wants it.

Just some of the train loot. Amazing stuff.. train table, too!

We stayed at a hotel in Dallas. Again... no photos.. ugh! The kids had a blast and actually slept pretty good. We woke up on Christmas Eve, grabs some Starbucks and headed to Grandma and Granddads!

Have I mentioned that I became and aunt a few weeks ago? My sister-in-law and her husband are in the process of adopting a sweet baby girl. She was born 4 weeks early, so not all the paperwork and legal stuff is finished, but for all intents and purposes... she is THEIRS! Lillian Esther is such a sweet baby and was well doted on by all the family!

Tiny sweet baby!

Evelyn loving on her new cousin!

Stocking time!


His two favorite things.. a tractor and a tape measure!

For the past three years, after breakfast and stockings we have walked/drove up to the senior center in Dallas to sing carols. It is a way our family can serve and share Christmas cheer and a special time for all of us!


Waiting to go in (Cinderella came along, too!)

Don and Mary catching up.

Singing...


After singing we usually go around and visit with the residents. They are so sweet and loved all the kids!

Matthew making the rounds...


My brother-in-law's Grandmother lives at the center. She got to meet Lillian, her great granddaughter, for the first time. A special moment!

Great Grandma Brandt!

Evelyn and her oldest cousin Ben (almost 13...sigh) walking home. He's pretty awesome!

The required reading of the Christmas story by Granddad. LOVE the expressions on the big boys' faces... they just want to open gifts! Hilarious!

After opening gifts, we all hung out and ate and chatted. The big boys started to play with Matthew and oh, my did he ever love that. He thinks his big cousins are SO cool. I appreciated them for making my sweet boy feel special!




We left early evening and headed for home, all of us tired buy happy from such a great time. As I put Evelyn to bed when we got home, she realized that Christmas was the next morning.

"Mom.. I don't know if it can be better than today!"

Well, said, sweetie. Well said. A great day indeed!!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Tierney Christmas 2011

This year the Christmas celebrations started with the Tierney/Harms/Bower/Morris/Jeub Christmas. My sister and family came over from Idaho for 5 days. They stayed with us and it was such a great time! Lots of crazy kids, laughter, food, chatting, presents, and just amazing time together!

I'll just let the pictures do most of the talking! Warning.. LOTS of pictures ahead!

The Fisher Price Nativity is a big hit at our house. This year Matthew was WAY into it, and put his own twist on it .. with a Nativity train!

My niece Abby is an early riser. The minute she heard us awake in the morning, she would head on upstairs to join us. She was great with her cousins, and read to them a lot. They think she is pretty cool!

Aunt "Shell" (I think that is what he calls her.. I can't quite make it out!) reading to her nephew!

All decked out in Christmas gear and ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa Doug's!!

Coloring with Aunt Michelle

Abby and my mom cooking up some amazing grub!

Geez.. I love that face!

Really I do!

I love this face, too... its just that my nephew Curtis does NOT like to have his picture taken!

My Christmas girl...

Shell and Chris.. they are so much fun!

Abbers and her favorite aunt.. haha!

Grandpa Doug trying to get some pictures

The kids solving the world's problems over good food! (Look at Cole's face.. so serious! HaHa!)

The beautiful tree.. with all the loot underneath!

I think Regan was excited about this horse!

And Evelyn was pretty excited about her Cinderella barbie, too!

"DIGGER!!!!"




Cool hat from Aunt Shell and cool tractor from Mr. Chris!

Taking a break from the crowd and playing with Grandma's legos!

Uncle Chris and Abby

A sweet moment...

Story time with Grandma!

Doug and Evelyn went upstairs to watch the bigger kids play the Wii.. so Matthew got some quality time with the other big boys boys.. he was laughing SO hard and had so much fun rough housing with them!



Winding down watching some football with Chris.

The next morning.. the proverbial "let's see how to put this toy together" moment!

They did it!

Doug did a "science experiment" with Curtis and Abby. It didn't work they way they had hoped.. but they had fun trying!

The scientists.. all in safety gear, of course!




The night before Shell, Chris and the kids left we had Chris, Lo and the kids over before we met mom and Doug for dinner.

Matching ballerina cousins!

The whole family, minus mom and I. Sorry I couldn't fit you in, momma!!

Such a fun time with my wonderful family during such a special time of year!