Holiday Happenings

This Christmas Post is Fully Loaded with photos, so I won't bore you with lots of words! :)

First, I wanted to show off one of my Christmas presents from Rick and Evelyn: a portrait lens for my Nikon. It rocks! I need more practice, but what fabulous results I've seen thus far:

Miss Blue Eyes

The Smirk

The bro The Other Half

The Father-in-Law, the world's best grill captain!

I figure I might get more use out of the new lens when Abby's a little older. It's only a manual focus, which can be difficult with a 19-month-old trying to sit still! OK, now on to the festivities.

We went to LV for a full week--and what a wonderful, relaxing trip it was. This year, Christmas was so fun with Abby. While she still doesn't really "get" Christmas, she enjoyed pulling on some tissue paper and playing with her new toys. Oh, and anytime she saw a picture of Santa, whether an ornament, on wrapping paper, in a book, she "ho-ho-hoed!!" It's funny, actually. This Christmas season, she has been FASCINATED with Santa. At our Kroger, they had a big Santa statue near the dairy section, and every time we went to the grocery store, and she saw Santa, she'd point and "ho-ho-ho." Well, we went there this morning, and she "ho-ho-hoed" at the spot where Santa USED to be, got this really confused expression on her face (when she realized she was ho-ho-hoing to nothing), and with her palms facing up, shoulders hunched asked, "Where'd he go?" Too funny.

Picture time.

The Three Tenners before Christmas Eve service. I just LOVE Christmas Eve service at our Methodist Church. The candlelight singing of "Silent Night" gets me every time.

BeBe (formerly known as Grammie. Abby has decided on a new name!!), Abby, and Pops (or as Abby would say, "Baaaaaaah".) Abby giving BeBe the "Big Hug." She only does it upon special request. Matt, me, Chris, and his favorite niece Abby. He is IN LOVE with that little girl!!
Abby on her new Pooh Trike. She would have slept on that thing if we would have let her!
Just me and Roo
Papa, Abby, and Pops. She could do no wrong around them this past week!

On Christmas morning, after waking up and opening gifts, we headed to Shreveport to visit Matt's family at his grandmother's house. Honey is looking beautiful as always. I hope I look that good when I'm her age! Those Bryant women have GREAT genes. We Craddock women only have good genes when it comes to being over-emotional and having a keen eye for grammatical errors. :(
Evelyn and RickThis was my mom's gift to Rick. It's the perfect gift because it combines his two favorite things: his love of grilling and his granddaughter! My crazy Grandma. She is the funniest 88-year-old I know!! While in Longview, we figured out her "Gangsta Name" would be Vanilla Loafer. She loved it! She looks like a Vanilla Loafer, doesn't she? ha! Abby on that Pooh Trike again.
While the guys played golf Friday, the gals went to KidStation. She got in free, so no complaints there! Here she is in the ball pit.
Abby's obsession with buses continues to grow. Santa brought her one for Christmas. As you can see by this picture, she obviously didn't understand what I meant when I said she "could ride on a bus one day".... Hmmm...
The little munchkin getting herself into precarious situations. Small space=magnet for toddler.
Here is Abby with my cousin Holly's twin girls, Sarah and Rachel. They had a good ol' time running around and opening up presents. This was the best picture I could get!
Mom, Dad, Uncle Scooter, Aunt Mollie, and Grandma in Tyler
The cousins: Chris, Matt, me, Holly, Clint, and John
Here is the lone picture I got of Emily and Jason. :( Check out the AWESOME A&M blanket we got for baby Clark. He's not allowed to spit up on it. Ever. However, if Revellie were to drool on it, it would mean classes were canceled for 24 hours. HA HA!

Just the two of us
So, that's our Christmas. We had a great time in LV. I hope you and your family had a blessed, relaxing holiday as well!