The Countdown

After our Chapel Hill Christmas, the countdown was officially on until THE BIG DAY! It was kind of weird (in my opinion) being in a rental condo vs. a place that felt like home, but we made it work. And Christmas is Christmas when you're a kid and we're all so very blessed with good health and happiness!

Kingston's Christmas celebrations at school:

And then it was Christmas Eve! Testing out the cookies we baked for Santa. He/she likes them fresh, you know?

Tracking Santa online

Still at it

Christmas Eve dinner and dessert with Uncle Kevin, Aunt Stef, Landon, Papa and Lita...

Danny reading Landon his bedtime story

Looking tough with his new laser gun

Ready for bed, so Santa can finally come!!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Santa came! Now mommy and daddy can finally get some shut-eye!

Chapel Hill Christmas

As been the tradition for a couple years now, mid-December we headed to Chapel Hill to celebrate Christmas with my dad, Beth and Mac and see Ali, Colin and Dieter for the first of two get-togethers for the holiday season. Extra special this year was my Uncle Chris and Grandma joining us from Ohio and, of course, Maddie, who's a teacher in the triangle area now! Ali and Dieter did a great job hosting and feeding us all and Etta was just precious for her first Christmas!

Kids table

Hanging at the "ski chalet" 

Great Grandma with sweet Etta

All the boys + me walking

Maddie + King

Bond, James Bond

Love this little girl so much!

Under the Weather

Pre-Christmas Kingston came down with something that wiped him out. It's now early March and we're still battling little bugs here and there, especially between Crew and King. Jimmy and I have been catching some stuff too, but miraculously Danny has avoided it all.

Pitiful

A little Motrin does wonders

Sleeping on mommy at doctor's office

In healthier and happier times...

Best buds

Little learning on the side

Loves his mama

Red Room wrestling for Crew

Playing with the shop fan

Christmas Card Outtakes

Here was the pic we used for our 2018 Christmas card. It's from one of our favorite walks on the island. Funny thing was it was actually gloomy that day and started raining on us once we got to "the spot" I wanted to take the picture, but my photographer and graphic designer friend helped me out!

And here were the outtakes, obviously not touched up or anything. Cuteness overload!