Great Wolf Lodge

The girls on Friday night after a very busy day of no naps, junk food and a lot of swimming.
Mimi, Papaw and the girls on Santa's chair.
Amber and Luke together...they just celebrated their one year anniversary. So a big Congrats to them! We were so glad you all could go.
The lodge is breathtaking when you walk in the doors. Everything is decorated with lights and it is gorgeous. I wished our home looked like this... it was magnificent. Every time we walked through the lobby I was awe struck. Kudos to whoever decorated the lodge, I was impressed. I think this may be a trip we take every Christmas. It was nice to spend the weekend with family, we had a great time... see you all on Christmas Eve.

Ashlyn with Papaw.
The Great Wolf came out after story time was over, but their were so many kids he did not make it around to Sophia... so she was kind of bummed. Then out of now where I was just taking pics of Sophia and Toby...and he just plopped down for a photo! She was so happy,( in case you cannot tell by the mega watt smile!) I thought that was really great and I wish I could tell them that they had made her night.
She listened so intently. Mimi and Papaw sat with her off and on and do not think she ever knew they got up. She just held her wolf and sat in amazement. At the end they had snow that came down from the ceiling that decipated before it hit the ground
We came in October and they had a different story, this story was especially for Christmas... it was wonderful. They had fake snow everywhere and every thing that stood had a lights on it.

Were back at Great Wolf with family. Sophia loves it here and would probable stay forever, it is a kids wonderland. Here is her on her first water slide of the trip.

Playing hoops with Papaw.
Do you think she is excited?
The girls with Mimi and Papaw before the fun began.

Christmas with friends

Ashlyn is so funny, she looks so bored. Everyone else was having a blast.
Sophia and Samantha are so cute, but especially cute when they get together. They both ran around the house in princess costumes with their crowns on inside out and with the "made in India" tag fully exposed on their foreheads.
Sophia loves games and I never think of getting them for her. Thank you to the Zaboronak's for the great gifts, we have played them several times. (And there is the tag hanging out.)
Can you see the tag hanging out?
Sophia and all the kids waiting to open presents. We have added two more babies to the gang, so this Christmas was especially crazy and wild, but so much fun. Merry Christmas to all of our friends! We love getting together and celebrating every Holiday together-not just Christmas. Here is to many more memories with one another.

Pictures with Santa

Sophia was so excited to see Santa. Every time we went to the mall, she would ask "Is today the day?" I was waiting to get them both dressed in Holiday wear. Ashlyn thought he was a cozy recliner and Sophia gave him her long list of Christmas wishes.

I have never done anything crafty before this year. I decided this is the perfect year for Sophia and I to start our yearly Gingerbread house tradition. Nothing ever goes as planned... the gingerbread house was a nightmare. I brought the type that you have to make the icing, never again. I had powdered sugar everywhere...on the walls, counter tops, and floor. Next year I am getting our good friend Brent who owns a bakery to make the house and leave it bare and we will just decorate it. Some may call this cheating, but I do not care, starting from scratch is a lot harder than it looks. I have resign myself to the fact that I do not have a crafty bone in my body, and I am finally okay with that.

Christmas Card Photo Shoot 2008

The pics are out of order for some reason. Ashlyn had enough of the photo shoot and ended it after about an hour of me screaming at Sophia to hold still, smile, look at the camera...whew, what a work out. At the end, I thought, am I seriously yelling at them about a Christmas card photo? And just decided to deal with whatever I had taken and did not put me or the girls through another shoot.
Great one of Ashlyn, but Sophia... not so much.
There are both looking at the camera except the facial expressions do not match.
This one would have been great, but Sophia's smile is scary. Not Christmas card material.
I thought this was it, but Sophia's head looks huge and Ashlyn's looks incredible small. I promise their heads are not unproportionate to their bodies.