New Year's Eve

It was a quiet NYE here.  Lane worked the day shift, and I took the kids to the dam to see the floodgates roaring after the area flooding.  It was a scary amount of water!  It was cool to see, but I actually didn't like being that close to it.  

That night Lane and I (and Bogart) ate popcorn and watched TV by the fire.

And the kids had fun staying up later than usual and having a sleepover in Rhett's room.  They took these cute selfies to document the last day of 2015!  

Happy New Year!

After Christmas in Flippin

We stayed in Flippin for a couple of days after Christmas.  The kids loved getting to spend more time with their cousins.  Back in October, my Dad and Rhett started a construction project in the field near the house.  Dad continued to work on it throughout the fall, and he had this awesome treehouse completed for the kids by Christmas. (He can build anything!) It sits perfectly between the five trunks of a huge sycamore tree.  It is so cool!  I know it will be even more fun when the leaves are out and the weather is warm.  It has a ladder leading up to a hatch door that latches, which I think is Rhett's favorite part.  

Great view from inside!

Dad and Jeryn working on the carved wooden sign for the treehouse.  They're calling it the Pentagon.

Crosby spent some time target shooting with his new BB gun, and he also tried out my cousin's race car!  He was pretty happy doing both!

One night we worked a jigsaw puzzle.  This brought back fond memories because Dad and I used to do this every Christmas break when I was in high school and college.  It was so fun to sit around the table again, and the kids even helped some, too.  Once we start a puzzle, we don't want to leave the table.  We talked my sister and Mario into going to pick up pizza so that we didn't have to take a break.  We did the whole thing in one night.  I loved it!

This is what they usually look like on the way back home...totally exhausted!  They always play so hard at Mo & Grandad's house.  It was a wonderful Christmas break.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning was fun!  The kids agreed to let us wait until 7:00 to start...and they agreed to that so easily that Lane and I regretted not suggesting at least 7:30, maybe 8:00!  :) We could hear them at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for us to turn on the lights and get the camera ready.  

Ready, Set, Go!

I guess Rhett was hidden behind Alexee in the only photo I took on the stairs, but I think it's cute that Bogart is running up with them.  :)

They always open Santa gifts by the fireplace first.  

Santa brought new sleds, an emoji pillow, Shopkins, a Nerf bow, portable speaker, clothes...

Then they looked under the Christmas tree for gifts from us.

Sweet Smiles!

Then Lane and I made our usual Christmas morning breakfast while the kids played.  We had pancakes, bacon, honey baked ham, scrambled eggs and fruit.  

Christmas afternoon we packed up to go to Flippin.  As soon as my sister's family arrived we opened gifts, then Dad's side of the family comes over for dinner on Christmas night.  

Crosby had been wishing for a Red Ryder BB gun like Rhett's...I think he was excited!  I love his expressions in these pictures!

Mom, Grandmother, Granddad and Jaiden opening gifts.

A & C have both outgrown their bicycles, so they received bigger ones for Christmas!  Crosby loved his neon yellow one, and Alexee's is so cute with the basket on the front.  It even matched her outfit. Fun times!

Garner family photo, Christmas Day 2015

(Rhett 11.5, Crosby 6.5 and Alexee 8.5)

Mo & Grandad with the kids

I think there were 48 people there that night!  It's always good to see everyone.

with my cousin and my sister

Above (bottom left):   The three pregnant girls, in order of due dates (boy/March, boy/June, ?/July).  We are excited about having new babies to hold very soon!  

It was a wonderful Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve...
We had lunch at Cantina Laredo, and Crosby asked to have his picture made by this giant reindeer.

That afternoon we baked for Santa.  We made red velvet cookies and chocolate chip cookies from the mix that Alexee made for us in her class.

Before bed, the kids took turns reading the Christmas story.  So sweet.  

They were excited to get to sleep!

December Fun

Quick recap of December, leading up to Christmas:

Alexee started playing basketball!  (Crosby is playing, too, but his games didn't start until the first weekend of January.)  The girls' team played in a local tournament, which Alexee really enjoyed.

Christmas card photos

We were late getting our real tree up this year because of our Disney trip.  Lane and I went to Home Depot one day after we got back into town and bought a small tree.  They didn't have many left to choose from, but I thought it was cute.  :)

Rhett was a narrator in the drama club presentation of A Christmas Carol.  The kids all did great!

We made roll-out sugar cookies.  A lot of effort, but a fun holiday activity!

Lane made party mix.

I made peanut clusters for us and the neighbors.

We went to SDC one evening to drink hot chocolate and look at lights.  It was CHILLY!

We rode the train so we could hear the Christmas story.

Last day of school before Christmas break!  Everyone had PJ day!

I helped with C's class party.  We made reindeer hats and candy cane ornaments, had a donut-eating contest and played a snowball toss game.  

C made an ornament for us and brought it home from school in this cute bag.  

We had beautiful weather one day, so Alexee, Crosby and I went on a walk through the woods down to the lake.  

We had Christmas carolers stop by one evening--so fun!