Christmas Desserts

After church we came home so Andrew could take his nap. Then we headed over to my aunt and uncle's house for Christmas dinner. We usually go over around noon, but since everyone was at church, it got moved back a little. We enjoyed a delicious dinner- shrimp and crab cakes- not your average Christmas dinner.

Hunter requested that we make cupcakes instead of a cake for Jesus' birthday cake. Hunter wanted Jesus to eat a cupcake with him.

One hilarious moment of the evening was when Michael asked Granny if she wanted a shot of chocolate icing. She said Yes! and I happened to be standing in front of her with my camera. Oh, that was priceless.

Christmas morning

Certainly a highlight of the Christmas season for me was waking up at home on Christmas morning. This will be the last time we can do this for probably many years to come, so it was quite a treat. There is just something about waking up in the coziness of home, fire in the fireplace, sipping coffee, eating breakfast casserole and watching the boys open their stockings.

The boys opened stocking from Santa and then their gift from us. They also opened Mimi and Bapa's gifts.

Since Christmas was on a Sunday, we all got dressed and headed to church to celebrate our Savior's birth. Twas the Birthday of a King!

Christmas Eve with the Wilsons

And getting ready to go to bed on Christmas Eve!

On Christmas Eve, my parents, brother and grandmother came to our house to have dinner and open presents. We loved celebrating and spending the first (of many celebrations) with them. The boys loved their gifts, of course and were entertained by them the rest of the night.

Gingerbread train

Oh, doing a gingerbread train with a 2 and 4 year old...not only that, but boys who (like their daddy) love candy- the joys :) Hunter picked out the train instead of a house. I knew the candy would be quite inticing to the boys so I gave them a candy cane to distract them. Well, that worked for a few minutes, er- seconds, but they were still eating a bit too much candy. I guess that's part of the fun of the holidays- a sugar rush!

Merry Christmas

Happy 4th Birthday Hunter!

Oh, sweet Hunter. You bring so much joy and laughter in our life. Your conversations with us are so insightful. You have your dad's sense of direction and if you have been on a road once before you know it and you know where everything is located. You also have an incredible memory. Recently you have fallen in love with puzzles and choose to do them during your "room time" and before you go to bed. You need your alone time to recharge every afternoon. (Until about 2 months ago, you were taking a nap about once a week, but now you don't take one at all). Another thing you like is DVD cases. Yes, you like to watch Diego, Busytown Mysteries and Tom & Jerry, but you have to make sure the DVD is in the correct case. I love how you adore Andrew. Thank you for taking such great care of him. You love playing with Kai and you love playgrounds. I am honored to call you my son. Our prayer for you is that you would fall in love with and follow Christ with all your heart. Happy 4th Birthday Hunter William!

Baby Owen

The English family came to visit us two weeks ago. Evan and Nathan went to seminary together and we love getting to see them. Hunter and Andrew started calling Owen "Baby Owen" because we went to the beach with them when Owen was 3 months old. They still call him that- he's 18 months now. We went to the museum when they were here which was, of course, a huge hit. We loved having yall here!

Happy Birthday Mimi & Hunter

Surprise! Trick candles!

Mimi's birthday was the Friday after Thanksgiving. We celebrated her birthday with a special girls-only breakfast on Black Friday followed by some shopping. Friday night we had a little party for her and Hunter. We loved being in LR to celebrate your birthday Mimi!!

Woo pig sooie!

Arkansas and LSU play every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving for "The Boot". It was a huge game since Arkansas only had one loss and LSU was undefeated. It was a joyful game at the beginning, but ended up being pretty depressing. LSU will now go to the BCS bowl. At least we get to cheer for the Razorbacks in a bowl game.