We like to get together with family as often as possible throughout the year, but holidays make it even more special. After some back and forth on dates a while back, we finally settled on having a get together with Thomas's sisters, their families and MaSha for last weekend in Greenville. Now that MaSha lives here too, we have places for everyone to sleep and no one has to end up on an air mattress in a living room!
Tara, Matt, Leece and Madison stayed at our house while Ashley, Zack, Taylor and Anna stayed at MaSha's house.
We had a low key evening/dinner with all (missing Ashley, Zack and girls because they couldn't come until Saturday) and then we officially started the weekend out with breakfast/brunch at our house on Saturday.
Saturday morning...
Ashley, Zack and the big girls made it just before lunch and we all got have a meal together and start catching up!
We (eventually) changed out of pajamas and even got a chance to get outside! The weather was fabulous. No, seriously. It was mid-70's in mid-December. Unbelievable. Needless to say, we scooped up the opportunity and got the bounce house inflated.
Bounce house time!
Once the kids got finished bouncing, they took over the yard and had a lot of fun playing!
Taylor and William started playing in the leaves and eventually the other kiddos joined in. I really couldn't even capture how sweet and picture perfect this scene was. The leaves would just float down on top of them and the lighting was so beautiful! I'm not very technically sound with the camera, so these shots don't even do it justice.
After playtime, we gathered all the kiddos in the dining room, made them wear their cute Christmas headbands and tried (and tried and tried) to get a decent picture of all of them! They're all so cute and funny, but it was basically impossible to get everyone to sit still, look forward and smile. No joke and no surprise there.
Here's the best of what I got:
Once we finally gave up on getting the PERFECT picture (haha), it was time to open presents!!!!
After we finished up opening presents, we had an appetizer dinner. Appetizer dinner consists of a lot of finger foods, dips and treats. We had Chick-Fil-A nuggets, artichoke dip, sausage & cream cheese dip, crab dip, cocktail wienies, sausage balls, veggies with ranch, cowboy caviar dip, cookies, Rice Krispies treats, and chocolate & peanut clusters....and I may be missing a few things! It was a tailgaters dream meal!
We also had a specialty cocktail for the evening - the Poinsettia.
After dinner, we let the kids hang out for a while and watch Frosty and Rudolph movies! Zack got a lot of kiddo time after dinner. I loved it!
The weekend came to a close with another brunch on Sunday, thanks to MaSha, who brought all the food!
Aunt Ashley came with some fun treats - light up ring lasers and glow sticks! The kids kept running into the 1/2 bath downstairs where there is no window and they would shut the door to see everything glow. It was so cute!
At some point, we got all the kids dressed and hung out just a little while longer before everyone had to hit the road to head home.
Sunday afternoon felt a little sad after everyone left and the weekend was over. The boys just LOVE being around their cousins and had a blast playing with them. Everyone was happy with their gifts and quality time with family is always the best. Everyone had safe travels home and we will get to see everyone again during the holidays...and we always have next year to look forward to!
Tara, Matt, Leece and Madison stayed at our house while Ashley, Zack, Taylor and Anna stayed at MaSha's house.
We had a low key evening/dinner with all (missing Ashley, Zack and girls because they couldn't come until Saturday) and then we officially started the weekend out with breakfast/brunch at our house on Saturday.
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| Hnaging out with MaSha on Friday night |
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| Cousin bonding - Stokes and Madison |
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| Sharing a ride through the kitchen (Stokes and Leece) |
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| Ryan and Da-da |
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| Probably watching some cartoons |
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| MaSha with her youngest grandbaby, Madison |
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| William wanted to hang out too, and was so sweet with Madison! |
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| Stokes and Leece being entertained (and entertaining!) |
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| William LOVES babies. Here he is giving Madison a kiss. |
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| Just hanging out! |
Ashley, Zack and the big girls made it just before lunch and we all got have a meal together and start catching up!
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| Taylor and Santa's helper, William |
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| Ashley and Madison |
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| How darn cute!?!?!?!?! |
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| I love this sweet baby, Madison! |
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| Taylor is such a wonderful big cousin! Here she is reading to Ryan. |
We (eventually) changed out of pajamas and even got a chance to get outside! The weather was fabulous. No, seriously. It was mid-70's in mid-December. Unbelievable. Needless to say, we scooped up the opportunity and got the bounce house inflated.
Bounce house time!
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| Stokes kept climbing out and going on the other side of the mesh! |
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| Lots of love for Ryan! |
Taylor and William started playing in the leaves and eventually the other kiddos joined in. I really couldn't even capture how sweet and picture perfect this scene was. The leaves would just float down on top of them and the lighting was so beautiful! I'm not very technically sound with the camera, so these shots don't even do it justice.
 |
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| Da-da and Ryan |
After playtime, we gathered all the kiddos in the dining room, made them wear their cute Christmas headbands and tried (and tried and tried) to get a decent picture of all of them! They're all so cute and funny, but it was basically impossible to get everyone to sit still, look forward and smile. No joke and no surprise there.
Here's the best of what I got:
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| L to R: Stokes, William, Ryan, Madison, Taylor, Anna & Leece |
Once we finally gave up on getting the PERFECT picture (haha), it was time to open presents!!!!
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| Taylor holding Madison |
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| Silly girl! |
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| This one is heavy! |
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| New pjs! |
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| doll beds - yay!!! |
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| starting to unwrap |
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| new book bags! |
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| What could this be?!?! |
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| a play teepee! |
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| Ryan wearing his new book bag |
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| Anna liked her new doll outfit & Ryan wanted to check it out, too. |
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| Sweet sisters! Anna and Taylor |
After we finished up opening presents, we had an appetizer dinner. Appetizer dinner consists of a lot of finger foods, dips and treats. We had Chick-Fil-A nuggets, artichoke dip, sausage & cream cheese dip, crab dip, cocktail wienies, sausage balls, veggies with ranch, cowboy caviar dip, cookies, Rice Krispies treats, and chocolate & peanut clusters....and I may be missing a few things! It was a tailgaters dream meal!
We also had a specialty cocktail for the evening - the Poinsettia.
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| Our fabulous bartender, Thomas, presenting the first poinsettia cocktail! |
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| Yum! |
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| Me, MaSha, Ashley, Madison and Tara: CHEERS! |
After dinner, we let the kids hang out for a while and watch Frosty and Rudolph movies! Zack got a lot of kiddo time after dinner. I loved it!
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| Zack with Leece and Madison |
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| How many people can fit on the couch? |
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| Uncle Zack and Ryan |
The weekend came to a close with another brunch on Sunday, thanks to MaSha, who brought all the food!
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| Breakfast time |
Aunt Ashley came with some fun treats - light up ring lasers and glow sticks! The kids kept running into the 1/2 bath downstairs where there is no window and they would shut the door to see everything glow. It was so cute!
At some point, we got all the kids dressed and hung out just a little while longer before everyone had to hit the road to head home.
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| Anna, Ryan, Leece, Taylor, MaSha and Madison |
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| Kids hanging out |
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| Aunt Ashley and Madison |
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| Uncle Matt with Leece and Stokes |
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| Da-da and William |
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| Aunt Tara and Ryan |
Sunday afternoon felt a little sad after everyone left and the weekend was over. The boys just LOVE being around their cousins and had a blast playing with them. Everyone was happy with their gifts and quality time with family is always the best. Everyone had safe travels home and we will get to see everyone again during the holidays...and we always have next year to look forward to!
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