Sissy Sleepover

Every year we have an annual sleepover at Sissy's house to get a little extra celebration time with Shane's brother and his family. It gives us some "chill" Christmas time with some of our favorites, because Christmas Day is so busy for everyone with so many places to be. So, we set aside a night before or possibly sometimes after the big day to just hang and open presents with Hubs' immediate family. 

These littles (plus Lainey of course) make it so special! 

 And this sweet senior girl too of course! Sidenote: come this fall Tatum will be your newest Wildcat + you better believe I made sure ALL of her Christmas presents from us included UK blue :) ... She'll be converted to a Cats fan before we know it and I couldn't be more proud! hehehehe!

 So thankful for another Christmas with Sissy! We had one heck of a scare and we are so thankful to have more time with her!

 Opening presents + holding presents is so much fun with cousins!

 And just when we thought Christmas was over ... Poppy had a big announcement (new Pilot goggles on of course!).

 Everybody close your eyes!

 Okay open them....do you think they're excited?!

 New bikes for everyone! Ohhhhmigoshhhhh~~~~

Brody and Emmie got a big wheel on steroids and Bennett got a shiny new balance bike!! The weather was unseasonably warm, which was perfect because we got to immediately head outside and let the littles take them for a spin! Oh what fun!!

 These boys are gonna be trouble one day :)

 And before we headed to bed, we made sure to let them play with some of their new toys.

Fancy nails Em!

 And we made over our newest all night of course.

 Rounded it out with a little Pie Face, because that seemed to be the thing to do in 2015.

 Uncle Shane was named victorious.

 And finished it up loving on our favorites.

 Merry Christmas to all ... and to all a GOODnight.

Cousin Christmas!

Our Christmas celebrations this year started off with A LOT of cousin love (and ALOT of pictures, so be prepared). All of our little favorites playing together in one house for 48 hours is the perfect start to the best holiday season! 

2015 was a big one in ways of blessings and scare for this family this year. It was a constant path of ups and downs, but by the grace of God we've all managed to come out smiling in 2016. We've got endless lists to be thankful fore ... starting with these eight great reasons below to be extra joyful for!

Pictured left to right (Julia, Maebyn, Truette (ahh I think!?) Lainey, Bennett, Salem, Larkyn (again, could be wrong) and Laura) 

 After a yummy pasta dinner, Santa aka Dad, arrived with a fitting sibling T-shirt ) to get the fun started.

 And the littles went to town ... talk about Chaos!

But in all honesty, after the dress-up armoire, the sticker books, puzzles + blocks were opened. We all focused on our favorite gifts - simply time with one another! The older I get the more I realize that really is all any of us really want. And it's so fun to make these memories together + watch our littles grow.

MaKenzie and I knocked it out of the park with our mom sweaters to one another this year, but here she gave me the most thoughtful gift of all. When we found out we were pregnant with Lainey - MaKenzie found out the gender via mailed letter from my docs office + kept it a secret for us. She kept the letter that was mailed to her and gave it to us for Christmas. Who knew such a small piece of paper could mean so much?! The love I have for that girl,well both girls :), is too much to handle sometimes. She's my person.

 And another great gift ... Uncle Dan! We are so grateful to have had another Christmas with him after such a scary heart attack only a few months ago. He is STRONG :)

 And Aunt Toby agrees! Love you Double D!

Another reason to be grateful, more time with my Grandma. She too gave us a scare this summer after our lake trip and we are so thankful she is on the mend! These are four great ones right here folks.

 And of course, we are grateful for our babies that joined us this year! Little miss Lainey Lou.

 And our precious poet Salem (ahem, only saying that as a nod to her attire).

And sweet Julia!

And all of my other people too!

 And before everyone headed home we had some yummy breakfast and took some pictures in our matching jammies .. because that's tradition and we're sticking to it!

 My heart could literally burst. Thank you baby Jesus. We love ya!

What's the over/under on if we'll have another little to celebrate at 2016 Cousin Christmas ... stay tuned to see :)