Gifts With Mamaw

Since we stay at home in Wolfforth on Christmas Eve, we miss Mamaw's Christmas Eve gathering. It stinks trying to split time between our families, but the girls enjoy having Santa come to their house, so we have to make sacrifices. When we come to White Deer, we exchange gifts with Mamaw and visit with her for awhile. It is nice because we have her all to ourselves! Thank you to our Diggs family members (Tammy & Frank, Dad & Sherry) who left gifts for us! We love all of them!

Loving on Mamaw.
Having fun tearing into presents.

Cool "I Spy" books. Thanks Tammy! We love "I Spy"!

A "White" Deer Christmas

The Mitchell's (my mother's family) are a huge group. We no longer fit in typical homes, so we had to rent the WD Community Center to hold all of us! We had fun playing games and eating...lots of eating. The girls enjoyed playing with their cousins and testing out new toys.

The youngest of our brood, little Brenner.

And the craziest (Karson) was our entertainment. His dancing is hysterical!

Riley Kay and Alyx.

Alyx and Alee playing in the back. Brenner's roller coaster was fun for all of the kiddos.

The men, supervising the steaks. Thanks for the delicious steak, Uncle Jim!

Kaycia gettin' her guns up in her new Tech Snuggie. Wreck em'!

Miss Merrit!

Playing Twister with the cousins!

Gift time!
Sydni Ryen

Layci captured the look I always give Donnie...

Don't you love how she accessorized her loud dress? I do!

Kienan and Sydni playing in the back of the Community Center. I've climbed that wall MANY times!

Freckles just like Mommy's! Nana used to call them "angel kisses", which may be true in her case, but I was more like Makenzi in attitude when I was little.

Mak (her bangs were unleashed) and Alee, playing with their baby dolls.

The Doodle.

Kienan and Syd...they get along great!

Makki was singing for all of us.

Makenzi is in her pj's after an "accident" in the back. Her accident being that she didn't want to take the time to go to the potty to tee-tee. She "forgot ta' go", in her words.

A girl after my own heart. No, I didn't force her to ask for these, but I sure was stoked!

Headlock hugs are the best.

Granny Mar made everyone robes. Where's mine, Granny? If they had Twilight fleece, I would SOOOOO want a Twilight Snuggie. Get on that, Marla! We could be rich!

All of Granny Mar's brood. We are a fertile family, to say the least.

Christmas Morning - 2009

Being a parent on Christmas morning is so much fun, to say the least. Especially when your kiddos are at the age when ANY toy or gift totally impresses them and brings a huge smile to their faces. This Christmas, not only did the girls seem to grasp the concept of Christmas, but they also acknowledged that December 25th isn't all about presents. On Christmas Eve, I read them the story of Jesus's birth and was so pleased at how many questions they had for me. I love that they are beginning to understand the "reason for the season" and hope they never lose sight of that.

We were also excited that Granny and Pop were able to share Christmas morning with us. We had a yummy breakfast, played in the snow, and then opened all of our toys to make a colossal mess that I'm still trying to undo! A white Christmas morning at home was so relaxing and enjoyable this year.

Sydni was pumped to see the cub she had been asking for...it was really the only toy she requested!
They couldn't contain their smiles and giggles as they opened gifts. So much fun!

Sydni picked out this dress weeks ago in the Kohl's department store and I told her that maybe Santa would bring it. I wasn't very "into" the velour, sparkly fabric, but she LOVED IT! She had to try it on as soon as she opened it, of course.

Cupcakes (for Jesus's birthday), breakfast burritos, and fruit were on the menu for Christmas breakfast. Mommy didn't screw anything up, either! It's a Christmas Miracle!!!

Makenzi had five or six cupcakes...no lie!

We love having Pop and Granny over for Christmas morning.

Mak all bundled up to play in the snow. We don't have much snow gear, so I knew it wouldn't last long! Wet pants, here we come!

Aunt McCaleb stopped by and had to play outside with the girls. Jumping on a snow-covered trampoline wasn't a very good idea.

Makki in the fort, having a ball in all of this white stuff.

Santa Claus is Com-ing, To Town!

Santa had only a few requests from our girls...
Makenzi asked for a "Velma" doll, which Santa brought along with all of the gang.

Sydni wanted a "Fur Real Tiger Cub", which Santa brought, along with a Nintendo DS she didn't even know she wanted until she received it! We must have been "nice" instead of "naughty" this year, because Santa sure was generous Christmas morning!

Feeding Santa's Reindeer

After making our first batch of reindeer food last year (google the recipe...it's so easy), we have made feeding Santa's reindeer a sort of tradition around our house at Christmas time! The girls enjoyed tossing out the food on the white snow because the glitter was so obvious and bright.

"Santa sure will see this!" Sydni shouted as she was tossing out the stuff.

The snow might have posed travel issues later on in our holiday plans, but it was so pretty and perfect for our 2009 Christmas Eve and day. Santa was able to find our home...thank goodness for Reindeer food!

Mak was singing "Deck the Halls" while we were sprinkling the food, but it didn't quite sound like the traditional carol you might know.

They had to stomp around, even though it was FREEZING! Mak has to press it into the snow so it won't blow away.

Can you see the glitter from the sky, Santa?

Shobert Christmas!

The fourth stop on our Christmas tour was at the home of Donnie Shobert, our Donnie's granddad. He and Barbara hosted a Christmas Eve tree, and the girls were able to fine-tune their Christmas gift-opening skills. We enjoyed seeing our aunts, uncles, cousins and had lots of fun playing with all of our gifts. Mommy and Daddy also scored great gift cards in our gift card exchange game! Yea for Cinemark movie money! Here are a few shots from our fun night:

Sydni and Granny (I know, I need to remove red eye, but my computer is very slow this evening!) waiting for gifts.
Pop and Makki - she loves to pester him!

Papa Donnie and Neenaw Barbara opening their gifts.

Aunt Tara, Uncle Bubba, Clint and Cole gave the girls the CUTEST Madame Alexander dolls. They sleep with them every night!

Showing their new dolls to Aunt Donna.

Getting cozy by the fire with Aunt Donna and cousin Whitney.

It took an act of congress to get the girls to pose with Clint. I'm not sure why, but he makes them so shy!

Cole, Syd, and Clint, being silly! They think those boys are rock stars, or something!

Sydni loves how Aunt Donna will be goofy with her. Here they are testing out the 3-D glasses that turn the Christmas lights into jingle bells and smiley faces.

They love cousin Whitney and they REALLY love her puppy Tucker.