CHRISTMAS 2013

The kids were very into Christmas this year.  I was, of course, all about taking pictures, and since Santa brought me a new camera and lens EARLY, I needed lots of practice!  Payton had her Christmas Program on the last day of school, for 2013.  The kids sung 3 songs, and looked adorable.

Sweet P with her teachers

Who hasn't heard of the story of Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph...and Payton and Griffin?

Our extended Christmas began in Radford, VA, at Nana and Granddude's house, the weekend before Christmas.  We had family time, park time, reading time, opening presents time, and friends time.  We always enjoy our visits with them, and the kids LOVE playing in their yard, getting dirty and finding new adventures.  We appreciated them babysitting for us, so we could go out for a bit.  The kids and grandparents made sugar cookies, which was a hit!  SO.MUCH.FUN!

Callie was with us, and she always loves finding "treats" left by the deer.  EW!  Back in October, Callie chipped a small fragment of bone off of one of of her right front ankle.  The vet prescribed some pain meds (Carprofen), and told us to limit activity for a month, and that the bone piece would eventually grind itself away.  Fast forward...Callie was running and playing a LOT, so she irritated that leg.  Through some miscommunication, Brian inadvertently gave her some ibuprofen, throughout the weekend.  Dogs are NOT to have ibuprofen, so we both found out in a bad way (can cause kidney damage).  From Sunday afternoon ALL through the night, she was puking, just about every hour.  Poor thing.  Brian took her to the vet Monday morning, and thankfully, she's okay.  They ran an IV on her for 24 hours to flush her system, and fed her bland food.  Our friend, Rich, was keeping her for us in Raleigh, and was to pick her up Monday afternoon (but she was at the vet).  SO, poor Brian had to drive to Raleigh on Christmas Eve to drop her off.  What a start to Christmas!  I sent her off with a TON of presents to open, so she'd feel at home.  She LOVES opening presents.  She's did well, and they enjoyed having her...but we missed her on Christmas morning :(  We've had more bloodwork done, and everything, thankfully, came back perfect.  Whew.

Christmas Eve, after Brian got back, and the kids got up from naps, we headed to an early church service, at Sardis, where Granby was singing, then off to dinner at Brio.  Our neighbor, Mandi, joined us, as her family lives near Pittsburgh, and she had to stay here to work.  The Jungs had us over for dessert, drinks, and White Elephant present opening.  THE KIDS BEHAVED ALL DAY AND EVENING!  We were there until 10:30!!  Once back at home, and after getting the kids down, Santa began his work.  We had some neighbors over, and Santa didn't get in bed until 2am!!  Ouch.  

Jack Jung (host) and Dad

Mandi and Me

Check out G's big boy shoes... ADORABLE!

Lucian and Shana

Payton is 3 3/4 and Griffin is almost 2 1/2.  This matters because this was THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!  The kids were REALLY into it this year, each morning running around the house, trying to find Elfie, our Elf on the Shelf.  Waking up Christmas morning was actually nice...we have a clock in Payton's room that turns green at 8am. She isn't allowed to come out of her room until then.  Griffin slept until about 8:30am, and we had a little family time watching cartoons before heading to see what Santa had left.  Daddy got the video camera set up, and then it happened.  The moment we've all been waiting for.  I think the pictures say it all....this Christmas will be a hard one to top!

Meet "Caroline."  Payton's American Girl doll.

BEST.PRESENT.EVER.  He plays with this train table ALL the time.

Clothes.  This girl loves them!

Her very own pair of snowboard boots!!

Even Baby Taylor got a new outfit!

Christmas afternoon Granby, Grumps, and Uncle JP came over.  We watched "Christmas Vacation," while I took everything off of the tree.  It was dead, making a terrible mess, and the last thing I wanted to do after we get back from the mountains was to deal with that.  So, it felt great to get the tree out of the house and somewhat back to normal. We opened presents and ate chili....the kids were overwhelmed, to say the least!  But very grateful and happy. 

And sticking with tradition, we met friends and family at the Lake Wylie Bowl and Bounce Christmas night.  Unfortunately, Ben and Jan weren't there because Jan is at the hospital WORKING HARD on recovering from a recent lung surgery.  They were definitely missed.  (Have I mentioned lately that CANCER SUCKS????)  Grumps, Granby, and Uncle JP joined us, along with Uncle Jon, Aunt Miss, Wes, Sam, Amy, Whitt, and Caroline.  Some of our neighbors and Missy's neighbors came, and I had a surprise visit from my Boston buddy, Matt, and his daughter, Gracie.  (Matt is the reason I'm a Pats fan!)  The kids bounced for a while, then we ALL bowled.  The kids were really into it this year.  We had a blast, and once again, stayed out way too late.

Can't you just feel the love?  lol

That's better :)

Smile :)

Matty...the man responsible for making me a Pats fan!

He bowled all by his self, and loved it!

Even "Caroline" got to bowl!

Payton and Caroline are already acting like teenagers, you know, just hangin' at the bowling alley.

Photobomber...

Whitt in action.

Dreaming...

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!  Stay tuned for the next blog...our snowboarding experience.  Griffin "liked" it and Payton still LOVES it :)  xo