Christmas Round One.....The Maupins!

We made our annual trek to Kansas for the holidays with the first stop....Grandma and Grandpa Maupins! We had wonderful weather and Brooke and Grandpa set out on an exploration walk.

Every year, Gpa puts out this snowman family on their back porch!

Christmas morning......I think it was about 6:30 a.m. and the kids were waiting anxiously at the top of the stairs. The adults were getting their coffee and cameras.....necessities!

Brooke ran downstairs and saw this pretty little table that Santa left for her and on top of it was the ballet boots and ballet dress that she wanted!! I love her face!

Immediately and every day since.....she wears her ballet dress and what she calls "ballet boots" Sad to say that those ballet boots didn't last long, so she just wears her real ballet shoes. Even better!

She got a My Little Pony from Uncle Josh and she cuddled up with Gma to show her.

The boys were both super excited to get new bats!! Brooke got a little ride on bicycle that she hasn't quite figured out yet....still working on that one, but she was more impressed that it was pink!

One of the things that the kids LOVE is Gma and Gpas yard! Everyday, for HOURS, the boys were out there playing football or doing something in the yard. That's one of the things we wish we had here. The boys go out in our yard, hit the ball once, and it goes over the fence.....bye, bye, ball....

Jason was teaching them some strategy I'm sure!

Christmas afternoon.....too much excitement for Brooke!! She actually just curled up and fell asleep on the couch! A very RARE moment of daytime stillness for her.

The kiddos with Grandma and Grandpa!

Uncle Josh with the kids....they love him and think he is crazy (in a good way!) He is :)

Other activities include.....a little exercise....

Reading the German dictionary....

The last day that we were at Jason's parents house, Drew got to go to the KU Basketball camp. He wasn't old enough to go last year, so he was ready this year. He loves meeting all the players (a lot he had met in HAwaii and they remembered him!) He had a great time!

On the court at Allen Field House! Future Jayhawk!

Hilarious pose....Brooke waiting for her ball after bowling....Jason and I went out for the afternoon and the kids went bowling with Larry and Kathy.

These things are sooo cool for little ones to help them bowl! I hear the kids had a great time and ended up at an old time soda fountain afterwards. We had a great time with the Maupins and made many great memories!

Christmas Season Festivities.....

We started off the holiday season by going to the Bass Pro Shop to see Santa. This was a great year because Brooke was really into everything about Christmas and was super excited to sit on Santa's lap!!

This Santa doesn't say much....he's just a really good listener. Brooke told him that she wanted "ballet boots." The boys told him they wanted Madden 12 and Legos.....

This is the only decent picture I got at Brooke's school performance. I got there like 30 minutes beforehand and the place was packed!! This was so sweet though....Brooke's little class were angels and they shook those bells as hard as they could and wiggled around a little. Not much singing.....it was soooooo cute! I loved it! She is standing by her bestie, Emery. They walked in holding hands!!!

.Finally, we were so excited to see Drew's performance in his first piano recital! He had only been taking lessons for 2 months and he played Jingle Bells and Mexican Jumping Bean. I'm was so proud of him getting up there in front of all the parents and kids and playing. He did great and we were so proud of him!

Princess Brooke

Brooke is in a MAJOR princess phase right now, so we were not surprised when she requested a princess cake. If you don't know, this is Belle.....

My mom has been waiting for the day to make this cake!!! She just knew she would have a granddaughter somehow....it was beautiful and tasted great. Most of all, Brooke LOVED it! 

3 Generations! 

Auntie A jumping in to pose with the birthday girl

All the girls wore princess dresses and waited for the arrival of Princess Belle...

She's here!!! The girls were instantly mesmerized by her and she did a wonderful job entertaining everyone for an hour! 

Brooke called her by her name and the girls only wanted her to help them put their crowns on.....the moms were no longer existent!

Belle did face painting or hand painting and Brooke chose a rainbow...of course, she added glitter to get the full princess effect!

Sitting on Belle's lap was almost like sitting on Santa's lap.....Brooke was so overwhelmed with awe that she just couldn't look at the camera or hear what people were saying to her! 

Heres' the group....and yes, we had 3 boys in attendance and they were the brave knights! 

Digging in to the cake and ice cream!

This was Brooke's fist real bday party because she was sick last year, so we canceled and the year before, we kept in simple. It was so fun and just the beginning of many more to come! 

Skating Celebration!

We had a whirlwind weekend of birthday celebrations a few weeks ago! First off.....Drew turning 8!!!
We had Gma, Gpa, Nana, Papa, Auntie A, and Cooper all here to help celebrate. Here are the two breakfast chefs who brought their waffle maker and made us belgian waffles every morning!!

Drew wanted to have a skating party which sounded really fun! Gotta tighten up those laces to get ready to roll!

A little silly game before the cake....who can keep the ice cream balanced on their head the longest? If you lose, you have to stand up and do the chicken dance. Once the kids heard that, quite a few ice creams slid off heads....it seems there are a few clowns in the group!

Jackson brought Will....they are concentrating, but Jackson managed a smile.

Nana was on Cooper duty so Auntie A could skate....Drew would stop in every once and a while to check in on Coops.

Of my three kids, my sister was there when Drew was born and stayed with me in the hospital one night. We even had a scare with him where Amanda had to grab the emergency cord because we thought he was choking. Look at him now.....we love him so much!

My mom would stand with Cooper sitting on the wall and he would just watch all the kids skate by and loved it!

Brooke wanted to get out there and try to skate so we got one of these walker things....they are awesome! The only problem is her skates were so heavy, she could barely keep them upright! I was sweating trying to get her around the rink just one time!

Drew wanted an ice cream cake...yum!

Partial family pic.....

We are so proud of Drew and cannot believe he is 8! He makes us laugh constantly and charms the socks off anyone he meets. What a special boy God created!
Happy Birthday Drew!

Thanksgiving on the high sea!

My dad surprised the boys and took them out on the ocean for some fishing on Thanksgiving morning. It was one they will never forget and I got to tag along!

Jackson caught the first one of the day....here he his fighting for it!

And what did he catch?? I can't remember, but it was beautiful!

Drew had some luck...

Both the boys with their twin fish!

And here are all of them. The fish were so unlike the ones we catch in Florida. They were so much prettier and the colors were amazing!

For Thanksgiving dinner, we headed to the waterfront and ate a traditional turkey dinner. It was all the same foods, you're just eating it with the ocean breezes in your hair!

Some Thanksgiving family shots.....

Nana and Papa with the grands....

The next day, we ran into A LOT of the basketball players that were there for the tournament. Drew had his program and his pen ready to get some autographs!

Don't know who this is, but Drew does...

Here, Drew spotted the whole Tennessee team. He makes his moves slowly and plans his attack while following them for a bit.

Success!!! The whole team signs his program and get a kick out of him being a KU fan! He loved it!