Christmas 2016

Christmas break this year started off in Hot Springs with G and Bobo..a pretty awesome way to kick it all off!  We had lunch with G and then went back to her place for the afternoon of opening gifts and a little game of Clue.

Then we headed over to Bobo's place for a night full of food and a little dancing with the jolly red guy!

I think we have several action shots here where either Max or B are in motion so the blur is actually meant to be a child but when these two are together there is no stopping them!

The girls were excited to get their very one paddleboard for this summer!

and the teacher's boxes were a hit as well.

and then the next day we were off to Little Rock to meet up with the Fowler girls for a day together.  We actually spent the night with Lila and June but not til after a trip to the outlets and to see Santa.

and Uncle B couldn't help himself so we had to stop by the Bass Pro for a little fun too!

then it was on to the Enchanted forest for a drive through wonderland

I think we had a little too much fun in the back (we tried several times for eyes open but unfortunately never got one so this turned out even more awesome anyways!)

and the girls favorite part of the ride was standing out my sunroof as we drove through

but my favorite part of all was this house..i really don't have words to explain or describe so i took lots of pictures to do the work for me.  it was seriously the coolest place ever and the little couple that lives there starts in October putting this together.  They donate all that is given to them to charity!!  How cool is that..I mean i want to do this one day.  I love Christmas and lights and inflateables...Mitch better be prepared for an active retirement one day!!

The sweet man who did all this handy work.

It is a perfect mix of tacky and goreougous all at one time!

and then this in their garage they have converted it to a snow village metropolis!  I have never seen this many of these pieces before in my life.  I thought i had several but nothing compares to this collection.  And they were perfectly arranged just like a little city but it took up and entire two car garage!!  Amazing...

what a fun way to end the night, now on to some girl time with my favorites!

We all meet up at the Hillary Clinton Library for a reading like no other.  It really is awesome inside of there if you have never been i highly recommend it!  These cool tiles move as you step over them.

all the girls gathered up to listen to the How the Grinch Stole Christmas

by who other than Craig O'Neal!

Such a fun guy and a great sport...and one awesome storyteller as well!

then they had ice cream sundaes for everyone after.,, all smiles of course!

and then the girls were pulled into an interview with Craig for the news.  It was precious watching him ask them questions and their responses were a bit off the wall but none the less perfect!  I have the clip from the news that ran with all the girls in it however i have not yet mastered the art of adding video to this blog yet!

Little B all composed...

AB thinking over her answers long and hard...as we wait!

We even got to run into some pretty crazy folks while we were there...lots of clowns in this picture and not just the ones in costume!

Then we walked around downtown and explored some of the trails and parks on a beautiful afternoon.

We ended the day with a trolley ride from the Capitol Hotel.

Love all the ladies in my family dearly and it is so great to have the chance to hang out each year!

Oh but wait I forgot we made one more stop before the day was over to the Arkansas State Capital to see the Christmas decorations and to show the girls their great-grandfathers picture on the wall.

The search through the hallways took us a little longer than expected but we found my grandfather and the girls were so excited.

But We found him!!

A great day with some great gals...love all 3 gnerations of Fowler girls

That night we headed back home to help dad with a little surprise he had up his sleeve for some friends.  He borrowed a Santa suit and the whole family along with the Rhodes family hopped in the car to deliver egg nog to some of our favoirties!  We had a blast surprising people at their front doors as Mitch went into character asking whether they had been "nuaghty or nice" the kids giggled and sang Christmas carols.  It really was a lot of fun and plans are already underway for next year.

Santa and his "head" elf

Santa, Mrs. Claus and two of their favorite elves!!

The Rhodes...they may have been a tad more last minute in their costuming but don't worry we will fix that next year!

A few of the pictures that some friends caught of us that evening.

and then Christmas Eve morning we awoke to quite a surprise.  Ely had one last hurrah in store for us before he left..

but it was all in good fun.  he had waited and waited for the girls list to appear so I guess he had his reasons to be upset with us...but he did still seem to think the big guy would come!

So after cleaning up his mess I decided to pick up breakfast, the girls wanted to deliver to dad and on the way we stopped by his office to hang out with the horses.  AB has decided she wants one..good thing we had already turned in that list to Santa!!

That afternoon we spent some time before church with Nicki and Pop, the santa sacks were ready and we love that gift each year the mostest!

Then we headed to the church for our special candlelit Christmas service...which is always a highlight of the season for me, then over to the Puckett's house for the Bobo's Christmas dinner.  All the little girls ready for what was in store the next day!!

But one more thing before we could sleep, we must take care of Santa and not forget those reindeer too!  We put out the reindeer food and made sure Santa had his treats!

The girl's Santa lists

I mean really...what kid writes a not like this!!   She is an angel put here on earth...and the things she has in store for the future are surely to be amazing!!

These are not very good pictures of the trees this year..the girls did get to help more with their own treess considering we didn't have a party at the house this year but they turned out really cute.Here is B's tree...

AB's tree

our family tree in the den...filled with ornaments from travels and our grandparents.

and our " crazy" tree as AB says in the living room

The next morning the girls awoke to a note in their room from Ely...he had to return but made sure to let them know he would be back soon!

and what did they awake to find but all there items under the tree.

a bubble gum machine for Brit

Joy, joy watches for AB

A kitchen and Pink teddy Bear for Brit

and Santa evn foudn her the teddy bear necklace she had asked for...so cute!

Santa did a great job giving these girls what the ask for...I will miss mornings like this one day as they grow up so I have to capture it all here on this blog so i won't forget all these amazing memories of Christmas past.

My little elves still waking up...

and from mom and dad a few special treats but my favorite is the blog books they receive each Christmas from the year before.  Each girl gets her own set so one day..because I know they will fight over pictures they will have these perfectly wonderful memories to hold on to and pass down.  For all you bloggers out there and any that might actually take the time to read this...these are awesome a must for your kids!!

Then we packed up and i mean really packed up..because we were headed to Arkadelphia with my parents for the night and then onward to Florida the next day.  WE had lunch with my family

and then spent hours outside enjoying the beautiful warm Christmas day!

aunt Bettye's books are always a hit.

and speaking of hits..B was a fan of her new apron too!

and Nana as always has us prepared for emergencies..this Christmas was no different we will all have weather radios...what would we do without that Nana!

AB got a glass globe with a Nutcraker in it from Nana and Pop..to remember her first Nutcraker performance.

and speaking of performances Lila and B both got karaoke machines so the performing never stopped!

AB was most proud of her rings

and B her cross!

It was a wonderful holiday season filled with much love, laughter and maybe a few tears as we celebrated with family and friends.  May each of you be blessed to know our Jesus was born and blessed to live a life filled with reminders of God's love!  Merry Very Late Christmas from our family to yours!!