The Bobo's: Christmas Break 2017

Oh its Chrismtas time...my favorite time of the year. For so many reason but mostly because it is centered around Crhist and time with those we love the most. I love the faces on Christmas morning but what I love even more are pictures like this one of the girls with their great grandparents and their faces as we light the candles during our Christmas eve service. I treasure these memories we are making and so this post means the world to me. I know that in years to come as things change so will our Christmas morning activities but I will cherish those in the making for now...

As always Nicki and Pop came through in a big way with the Santa sacks this year. We love nothing more than some toilet paper, paper towels and detergent at the house. It is the gift that keeps on giving throughout the year.

That night we attended our Christmas Eve Candlelight service and then returned home to a house full of Bobos! We all ate dinner and then circled around for a few Christmas eve games. The kiddos were up first with their gift exchange.

All smiles as they all left with some of their favorites!

Then it was time for the claws to come out as we moved to the adults. These people are serious about these gifts!

The whole crew all crammed into my living room!

A little look at want Santa left for B the next morning...she asked for a bike without training wheels..woohoo! A luvabella doll, slimemaker, purse for makeup and a camera.

AB had a different kind of list...she wanted an ipad case personalized, some art supplies, a guitar and a TV!!

I think they were both a wee bit excited when they turned the corner that morning..see

Hoping we can make her the next big signing sensation...just going to take a few lessons to get there.

And she is already off...

For the first time this year the girls (excuse my scariness) went to the store and picked me out a few things. I love them from B a little vase that says i love you mom and a choker.

and from AB a necklace like I broke recently and some earrings. So proud that they really wanted to do this for me without any help...just nana to get them there.

just a little note from dad and the girls to me in my stocking...still haven't really bought those clothes but I really appreciate the note more than anything else..!

Dad got a new speaker for the lake this summer from us.

And Charlie...well she got a lot of bones!

That morning after Santa's presents had been thoroughly examined we started on what has become an annual scavenger hunt through the house for the girls gifts from us. They follow clues to the next item all leading up to one bigger gift at the end...last year it was Disney let's see where this goes.

A necklace for B

and ballet booties for AB with another note...

Which lead to a little just for fun gift I was given that has actually turned into quite the attraction an old school Nintendo loaded with all the games. I still have it after all these years.

Yep she eeked!!

and so did she!

Well we are still in planning mode on the trip...but we have plans to take the girls on a bigger trip this summer. And after all that it was time to load up and head to Nana and Pop's house for Christmas with my family.

The cousins were all together and so excited for their presents. Lindsey and Jacob go them their very own Vera Bradley purses.

Aunt Bettye and Uncle Art always comes through with some cool books for everyone.

Then after all the other family had left we had our little families gift exchange.

I had a little misunderstanding with Lila last time I was at her house and helping her mom redo her room I took her big tent down..well she didn't like that much so when I saw this tent that fit over the bed I knew she had to have it. A space saver and it even glows in the dark!

Little June loved her ballerina necklace from us..

And we got both girls their own dance bags. I think they were a hit!

AB got a crimping iron from nana. She had been wanting to try it out...we are still experimenting.

And rollers and a curling iron for B.

Nana even got AB a nutrcracker charm braclet..

It has a charm for every part she has been over the years in the ballet. A snowflake, a candy cane, a mouse and a ballerina.

And after all the presents were done we gathered around for an exciting game of Nintendo. I think uncle B wins, he still has it. The rest of us were just reliving our glory days when we could actually make it past the first level.

The next day we headed to Hot Springs for Christmas with the Bobos. We started at "g's" house.

The girls have really enjoyed wearing their Patagonia's this year to school so they were excited to get these!

But the grand prize presents for the day belong to these two...when G brought these out to give to them after many years of them on display in her home well we couldn't help but laugh! There were some pretty humorous comments that followed if you know my husband and Brandee. It is the gift that will keep on giving around our house when I need a good giggle.

We finished up with a battle of the duck blast game before we headed out.

That night we got together with Bobo and Sheshe.

And the girls were pretty excited to take home this little thing...no it was huge! They are going to have some fun on the lake for sure this summer.

WE finished up the day playing games outside and then it was back home for everyone to get started back to work. Well except for me and the girls...we were headed out on an adventure with my family

We headed to the Ozarks mountains for a little getaway. Bracy rented us a cabin next to the White River and it was sooo beautiful. We did a little downtown sightseeing the first night.

And then came back to a big fire and lots of board games with hot chocolate.

The view of the cliff and river out our back window..was so pretty even though it was absolutely freezing outside.

All the girls helped Uncle B with breakfast each morning. We had the full spread thanks to all of them.

That first afternoon was spent at the Blanchard Springs caverns. I went there with my parents as a kid but I don't think my memories do it justice. It was so much cooler as an adult. My kids were in awe of it all, AB was so excited because they had just been learning about stalactites and stalagmites in class so she took lots of pictures to take back to school.

B even tried out the crawling space to see if she could be an explorer one day...this one could probably do it. She is an adventure waiting to happen!

After the caverns even as cold as it was we wrapped up to take a little hike to the waterfalls. There is something so pretty about this area even in the winter when the leaves are all gone, it is just gorgeous.

We finished off the day with a few fishing poles...but I think it was a bit to cold for the fish to bite.

So thankful for time spent with family and new experiences. It was funny how on the way there the girls were joking about this place is crazy, in the middle of the mountains so rural and such...by the end of the trip they were wishing they could stay there. I am so excited to show them all the sites our beautiful state has to offer and sometimes just sometimes they can have fun without electronics or television...crazy I know!

And then it was back to the grind...literally. Since we were enjoying our time away for break we stayed in Hot Springs and met Mitch there upon our return. I couldn't make it back to run with Julie and Jennifer for our FINAL long run. This full marathon training is no joke. We had one last 20 mile run and the girls kept face timing me while I ran it out on the treadmill. Thankfully there is Netflix to keep me from losing my mind! This is just one of the lovely photos that we sent back and forth to each other. Next stop....marathon day!!!

That night the Tyree's came to town to spend the night with us. We headed out for dinner and Christmas lights downtown.

The girls even popped into a 4d adventure...those are sooo cool!

And then we finished off the break on New Year's eve back at Yellow Creek with the cousins. The girls love their time out at their cabin and with all the kiddos hanging out in the woods. We even celebrated with our own little fireworks show.