Christmas 2016

We made the 15ish hour drive home to Georgia/Florida two days before Christmas, and surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I had imagined.  Kyndall did amazingly well and spent her time watching movies, playing on her ipad, coloring and eating her snacks.  I'm so thankful that she's always been such a good traveler.

It was really late when we got there but Kyndall was excited to decorate the Christmas tree that Nonie had waiting for her

The next morning Kyndall and Nonie made Christmas crafts together and she made this beautiful headband which she insisted on wearing to dinner later that night....

That same afternoon Nonie and Poppie told Kyndall they had a very special surprise for her.....

She was SO excited and spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the mini horses who were visiting for the day.  Maybe someday she'll talk the Grandparents into actually getting one of her own!  Ha!

Flash only weighed 60 pounds!

It will be hard to ever top the Christmas pony surprise!

Later that evening we braved the stores so that she could spend some cash that Poppie gave her.  On the way in she decided to do this with it.  Totally unprompted and totally from her sweet little heart.  I've never met a more generous child in my entire life.  (Prior to this she tried to buy her own dinner at the restaurant.)  Seeing her kind and selfless nature in action makes this Mama's heart so happy.

Christmas Eve arrived which meant some last minute gift wrapping before we left Thomasville and headed to Tallahassee to spend a few hours with my family.

Candy Cane even found her way to Nonie and Poppie's house

Nonie and Poppie's tree was already full and Santa hadn't even made his arrival yet

Ready for the Christmas Eve service in Tallahassee

Nonie and Poppie don't go with us to this but they wanted a picture too

The dogs don't go either but they also wanted a picture

I've been going to the Christmas Eve candlelight service at Morningside Baptist Church since I was Kyndall's age.  It's one of my very favorite Christmas traditions and I love that we've kept it going all these years.  

This picture that I snapped of Kyndall during the service reminded me of a favorite scripture which says "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Sticking with our tradition, after the church service we all went back to my parents' house for Christmas Eve dinner and gifts.

 

My parents got Kyndall her very first sewing machine which turned out to be one of the best gifts she's ever received!

Her first gun was also an exciting gift

The BEST surprise of the entire night came when Michael unknowingly opened a gift that would shock us all....including himself!

Yep, that's right....Kelly is pregnant and she used this gift to announce the news to the whole family...including her own husband!  There's an awesome video floating around on Facebook that captures all of our reactions and it still makes me laugh every time I see it.  Michael was speechless and shocked, I was screaming with excitement, Kyndall is yelling "It better be a girl!" and I think everyone else was still trying to figure out what just happened!  It was great surprise and we are SO happy for Kelly, Michael and Wyatt.  At the time of this announcement she made us keep it top secret until around February, when she was ready to share the news with everyone.  

It was on Christmas Eve three years ago when she and Michael announced their pregnancy with Wyatt.  I dug up a picture as a comparison....  

Now that we've had two major announcements made on Christmas Eve, I'm going to expect the same from here on out!

My parents had this hand made stool designed and built for Wyatt, complete with his name and his life verse

Kynall was really excited to get this super cool beaded curtain for her craft room

Each year my Mom gives all of us a special ornament for Christmas, representative of something significant that happened that year.  This year, she gave Kyndall this dolphin to commemorate her dolphin encounter during our summer vacation.

Once all the gifts were opened the three of us said goodbye to my family and drove back to Thomasville where we would set out cookies and milk and prepare for Santa's big arrival

This year we also sprinkled some reindeer food around the back door

We also tracked Santa so we could see exactly where he was...

Once we tucked Kyndall into bed I sat and for a while and just enjoyed the peacefulness, admiring the beautiful tree and reflecting on the events of the day.  Soon, the gifts would all be opened, the decorations would come down and Christmas would be over.  I wanted to soak it up before it was gone.

Last year we discovered that we can actually catch Santa in the act if we use this special app that I have on my phone.  Kyndall couldn't wait to see these pictures when she woke up the next morning.

Up bright and early the next morning to see what Santa had delivered....

Kyndall made Cameron and Huckabee a card and attached a bag of their favorite treats.  She wanted them to have Christmas gifts too.

Kyndall's school had a"holiday store" where the kids could bring money and shop for their family members in the days leading up to Christmas.  They even helped the kids gift wrap the items so we wouldn't be able to peek at them.  Kyndall had been SO SO excited about the things she picked out for me and Matthew.  Several times she tried to give them to us prior to Christmas morning but I made her wait.  

She was very proud of what she chose for us and we were very proud of her generous heart.

It was the year for Pokemon and she couldn't be happier with all of her Pikachu things

Once the gifts are opened, Matthew's Mom always fixes us a yummy breakfast before we have to dash off to the next location.  I call it the Christmas Day shuffle.  

Dressed in our matching "Smokies Strong" t-shirts that I bought to support the victims of the wildfires in our beloved Gatlinburg

Next stop....Lunch at Grandma's house in Two Egg....

My Dad is NOT  right!

Wyatt wore his new shirt as a way to announce the big news to the rest of the family.  As you can see, he was pretty impartial to it!  

A few weeks before Christmas all of the Grandchildren put our heads together and decided to surprise Grandma with something she could really use this year--A new electric lift chair.  The one she had long ago quit working and she has such a hard time getting up and down.  We tricked her by sending her to the back of the house on a hunt for some headache medicine for someone and while she was gone the guys quickly removed her old chair and brought in this new one.  When she came back into the room nobody said a word but waited to see if she noticed, which she did....

She was so surprised!  When we told her it was from all of her Gandchildren she became overwhelmed with emotion and started to cry.  Then, we all cried too!

Grandma sitting in her new chair with her Great-Grands except baby Jackson who was asleep.  It's crazy to think that by this upcoming Christmas she'll be adding two more baby boys to her lap!

Bowen is due next week and Easton is due in August!

Here's the video I took of Grandma walking in to find her surprise

Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion that that was definitely the case when just a few moments after our touching surprise, Grandma opened this next gift from my crazy cousin Carrie....

It was a roll of toilet paper with Hilary Clinton's face printed on it.  If you know my Grandma at all, you know her sincere dislike for this woman!

Next up was our yearly game of Dirty Santa.  This always proves to be the highlight of our family gathering as there is plotting and scheming and stealing as well as secret alliances made between spouses in order to ensure everyone ends up with the gift they've set their eye on.  There is no mercy and the players are ruthless, even stealing from the elderly without a second thought!  We love it!

Don't be fooled by Sydney's innocent beauty.....She's secretly devising a plan in her mind at this very moment....

Look at Justin plotting his take back...

Sadly, I did not end up with this.  Soon after this picture was taken it was stolen by a cold hearted cousin.

Also stolen soon after this picture was taken....

Michael wishes it was stolen...

After the lively game of Dirty Santa, it was time to try out the new Christmas gifts.  Matthew was anxious to sight in his new riffle and the cotton field behind Grandma's house is the perfect place to do that.

Not a fan of the noise

Then it was Kyndall's turn to try out her new gun.  I was a nervous Mama but to my surprise she was a pretty good shot and nobody lost an eye

We start them young...

Typical of our family....

All smiles after hitting her target!

Cheerleader, dancer, artist and sharp shooter.  I love my well rounded girl!

With Christmas 2016 officially in the books we drove back to Thomasville late that night and ended our day with a midnight game of Hungry Hungry Hippos with Nonie and Poppie....Which also happens to be the LOUDEST game ever created.

We spent another two days with Matthew's parents before packing up and moving on to Tallahassee for the remainder of our trip.  Wyatt and Kyndall were so happy to be reunited upon our return!

Over the next few days Kyndall and I packed in as much fun as we could while Matthew spent his days with my Dad at the hunting camp.

We had lunch with Grammy and Wyatt at Chick-Fil-A, followed by play time at Giggles...

We enjoyed the Florida "winter" by spending lots of time outside....

Kyndall tried out her new Easy Bake Oven....

Grammy treated us to a day at Fun Station....

There was LOTS of sewing going on....

There were nights of playing the "Pie Face"game with G-Daddy who is the only one in the family willing to play with her over and over....

I was finally able to meet sweet Annabelle, the precious newborn baby girl belonging to one of my childhood best friends.  After two handsome boys, Betsy finally got her girl and I was more than happy to welcome her to the monogram club!

After a busy couple of days, this little Pikachu was worn out!

Do you think she needs a few more pieces of Pokemon paraphernalia??

On New Year's Eve myself, Kyndall, my Mom, Kelly and Wyatt took a short road trip to my parents' home town of Marianna so that we could visit the Florida Caverns.  I used to go with my Grandparents all the time when I was little but it's been years since I went into the caves and I wanted Kyndall to experience it as well.  

A little SnapChat fun to pass the time on the car ride over....

Checking out the displays in the visitors center while waiting for our tour of the caves, Wyatt might have had second thoughts about going in!

Kyndall has been fascinated with bats for some reason lately so she was very excited to learn she might actually see one during the tour.  At the same time, I was secretly hoping we would not see one of these flying rodents!

Down into the caves we go.....

I love this picture of Wyatt checking out the ceiling of the cave

You are forbidden from touching anything inside the caves because the oils from your skin will stunt the growth of the stones, but there's one "sacrificial" column that visitors are allowed to touch....

The "wedding cake" is my favorite attraction 

We had a great time and Kyndall LOVED exploring the caves.  I'm thankful to report that we did not encounter any flying creatures on our tour.  

Kelly's 30th birthday would be January 13th and our family was leaving on January 1st, so we spent the remainder of our New Year's Eve celebrating the birthday girl a few weeks early.  Kyndall and I had gone to the party store a few days prior where she went crazy picking out all kinds of decorations for the party....

We spent the rest of the night ringing in the new year and soaking up our last few hours with the family.  The next morning we made the 15 hour drive back to Dallas.

As always, our time seemed too short but nobody can say we wasted any of it!  Every minute of our Christmas break was filled with fun and we made lots of sweet memories with our family and friends.