Happy 1st Birthday "Baby Dunc"

After Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, we headed to Dunan's birthday party. Can't believe this little guy is already 1!

 

He was so excited about his cake!

 

 

Someone else got a little excited about cake!



Presents!!! Poor thing...all the cousins were trying to take
them over!

 

All the cousins! :)

Breakfast with Santa

Saturday, we took the girls to have Breakfast with Santa at the Children's Hands on Museum.  There were actually several going on in town on the same day but we decided to try this one out this year.  The breakfast was great and they even had Ms. Claus, Frosty and a reindeer too.  They had a DJ and they kids and characters all got out on the dance floor and danced.  Anna Riley danced with all the characters.  AK was dancing in Daddy's lap...she is going to be my little dancer!! :) 

 

This was when she saw Santa and Ms. Claus come in!! haha



 

This was our second picture with Santa and I didn't expect AK to do well with this one either.  AR LOVES him this year so we had to have a picture.  Ms. Claus was the sweetest lady!  Ava Kate really did great with her but she lost it when she looked over and saw the Big Man sitting beside her! 

 

 

After we ate, talked to Santa and danced for a while we played in the museum for a little while.  Anna Riley loves CHOM and would stay there forever!



A cash register has been high on ARs
list this year...she loves playing store!

 

Anna Riley's Christmas Program

Sunday night, Anna Riley had her school Christmas Program at St. Mark.  She wasn't feeling 100% so she got a little upset while up there and sat with on of the little teachers for one of the songs and you could tell she was fighting back tears the whole time. She did good though and stayed up there until the end. 

 Granna, Paw Paw and Pop Pop came to watch.  We got Miss Katie to watch Ava Kate so that we could actually enjoy the program seeing that she doesn't so much sit in our lap anymore.  It was fun to see some of the friends she talks about all the time. 

 

The pictures are not the best...the sanctuary was PACKED so it was hard to get pictures over everyones heads! 

Her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Suzanne!

 

Cookie Decorating Party

 

On Saturday, we kicked off December and the holiday season with a cookie decorating party.  We invited a few of our friends over and had some yummy snacks and got busy decorating cookies.  I think the kids had a great time.  The weather was in the mid 70's so after we decorated cookies, we got to play outside for a little bit before everyone headed home.  It was a great way to get December started!

This is supposed to say Ava Kate...For some reason I can't
find the corrected one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Train ride to Santa

While in Fairhope for Thanksgiving, we rode a train to see Santa.  Ava Kate wasn't feeling too great so she was not the happiest camper and then seeing Santa really didn't help that much!  Anna Riley had a lot of fun though!  This year is a little hard to do all the fun things because AK is at the age she just wants to get down and go and AR really is getting into all the fun things!  I think next year they will both enjoy it!

 

 

Thanksgiving weekend

In the past, we have always had Thanksgiving lunch in Tuscaloosa or Berry and then headed to Fairhope for the rest of the weekend.  But this year we decided to just have Thanksgiving dinner in Fairhope.  We left Thursday morning around 8:30 and we were in Fairhope by lunch time.  Mom and I had made a few sides and Mom made dressing and we put it in the cooler to take down.  A guy that works with Riley smoked us a ham and turkey. 

 

The weather was PERFECT!!!  Thursday and Friday was just gorgeous...it turned cooler on Saturday but it was still nice!  We ate outside, let the kids play, rode the golfcart and just relaxed!  Mom and I went shopping on Friday morning for a little while.  We did not do the traditional Black Friday madness (or Black Thursday?! now).  We went to a few places on around 8 am and did get some good deals and it wasn't crowded at all and then came back to the house and enjoyed the rest of the day. 

 

I love having Riley's Dad and my parents down at the same time.  I love that they get along so well!  The girls love having all the attention!  Riley and I both only had one set of living grandparents so I hope ours girls cherish these trips! 

Riley and I even got to go on a date after the game on Saturday!  We went to Camilla Cafe. I had been on my girls trip but he had not been yet.  

 

 

Hollyhand Thanksgiving

We always do Thanksgiving with Riley's family a few days early so we did it on the Sunday night before Thanksgiving.  My sisters-in-law and myself hosted a baby shower that afternoon so we decided to have dinner catered at Mr. Doug's house.  What a great decision! 

The grandkids always enjoy playing together.  Anna Riley follows Brilyn and Ainslee around everywhere.  Ainslee couldn't even go to the bathroom by herself bless her heart!  Ava Kate wasn't feeling good so she cried the majority of the time we were there. 

 

Trying to get a picture of the grandkids is never easy!

Sweet cousins

"Baby Dunc" as AR calls him

These two play together good too when AK is being mean
to sweet Duncan!

The little drama queen!

Riley's brother Brian, Leigh, Ainslee and Brilyn

Poor Duncan was done!

Our attempt at a family picture... at least one child is smiling