Gaylord Texan Christmas Display

 We went to see the Christmas lights at the Gaylord Texan Hotel in Grapevine on Christmas Eve. Derek was enamoured with all the "Santa Claus trees" and pretty lights. I think I read a sign that said over 12,000 ornaments were used in the decorations. It was CRAZY cool! There were lots of different decorated scense, like the Alamo at Christmas, the Riverwalk at Christmas, Santa's Boots, a full-size gingerbread house and TRAINS! It was hard to tear Derek away from the trains to go look at other displays. We got separated early on but it was a fun family activity all the same.

 What a handsome husband I have!

 We loved seeing the sights

 I cannot get over how GORGEOUS those lights are!

 Liz and I suddenly found ourselves separated from the group... and the kids! :D Of course the logical thing to do is document it with some silly stunts...

Aren't her orange skinny jeans fun?!

Peekaboo!

 These two disappeared for a good long while before we found them in the throngs of people

 Derek was stuck to Papa like glue

 I can't help but think of Vin Diesel in "The Pacifier." Too funny guys!

 This would've been a great family picture if Derek were with us.

 I love my sisters!

 Twinkle twinkle little stars!

 Derek was scoping out Papa's cheek for a kiss

 It was just so much easier to put kids on shoulders after a while. There were a TON of people.

 Derek was more impressed than this, but I love this picture.

 Uncle Colton is already a big hit with the kids.

 Of all the trees, lights and displays, this was my favorite.

King-sized or Santa-sized?

The Battle Against Thumb-Sucking

This kid is so going in the brig! I have tried everything from pickle juice to nail polish to rewards (for not sucking thumb) to punishments for sucking it. Now we're trying the masking tape method. So far, some improvement has been seen. Mostly, it just makes me laugh when I have to find a new way to tape his thumbs.

Try #1: tape on thumbs only. Fail. He peels it off in a few minutes. Grrr...

Try #2: Taping thumbs to his palms. Fail. Took longer to peel it off, but still came off.

Taping thumb and forefinger together. Sucess! He can't peel it off, haha!

Crazy dress up day. His "purse," lunchbox full of toys and Dad's flip flops. 

Beautiful baby blues!

He didn't like taking pictures for very long. :)

Look at these precious babies! I can't imagine what it would be like if they were twins.

Randominity

A collection of moments that just don't fit anywhere else...

 Whenever this happens (boys in close proximity and not swinging at each other), it's always a kodak moment. Haha! This picture was taken on Monday...

...and this one was taken this morning. That's about how often they sit together nicely: twice a week. Last Sunday, the nursery leader told Liz that the whole two hours of nursery was pretty much a cousin's brawling match. :S I'm sure they love each other though... in their own way. ;)

 Livin' the high life...

 Look at these sweet cheeks! The babies are cute too. ;)

 Precious petite pretty princess!!!

 She is such a sweet little happy thing!

 Trying to break the thumb-sucking habit he picked up. That's masking tape around his thumbs. The blue nail polish I slathered on his thumbs earlier didn't work so well. He had sucked it all off by the end of the day. :S Gross!!!

 Happy little Brick! We've been calling Bryce "The Brick" for two reasons: the first is because his skin has a definite reddish tint to it and and the second is because he's so dense! People always comment about surprisingly heavy he is for a six-week-old. Just like a brick, something that small shouldn't feel so heavy. :) Oh, and his eyes are STILL blue and pop beautifully when he wears any shade of blue. I seriously CANNOT believe I had a blue-eyed, blond-haired baby.

He loves this swing and the two little owls dangling from the mobile. I do too! It's so cute and so hard to find realistic animal mobiles. This one is perfect and a steal of a deal at kid-to-kid.

 Just for fun, I put Bryce next to Emeri on her little play mat to see what happened. Emeri wasn't in that position when I put him down; they were running more horizontal to each other than perpendicular.

 She was just inching herself around to defend her territory! Every time we put Bryce within her range, Emeri rolls onto her side, puts her feet on his belly and plays with his hair. She hasn't actually pulled his hair yet, but I'm definitely going to have to try to get a picture of that. 

Dinner with my Dad

My Dad drove up for some training he had to complete this week and we drove out to have dinner with him tonight. It was so fun! We met at a Jack in the Box (there aren't any of those near my dad) and introduced him to their bacon burger. I definitely inherited my love of bacon from my dad. :) I still make bacon sandwiches with bacon, mustard and cheese, just like he does. This was his first time meeting Bryce and Derek talked and talked Grandpa Bazemore's ear off, lol. It was nice to catch up and hear about how family in the southern part of Texas is doing. Can't wait to see him, TexAnne and Denise for Bryce's baby blessing after Christmas!

Grandpa Bazemore and grandson #2!

Proud Grandpa

My dad brought this awesome puppy puppet book and a box of felt food for Derek

The face I got when I asked Derek to say "cheese"... little stinker. :)

Derek loves being read to. 

Me and my daddy!

Mitchell and Dad had a good time talking about guns and planes. :) I guess Mitchell got his testosterone fix tonight, haha!

Nativity Activity

We went to see the massive community nativity celebration last night. It was awesome! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted the celebration, but all the churches in the community provided nativities and choirs and other musical selections as well as volunteers. It was so cool! I can't wait to go again next year! There were over 700 nativities displayed and the cultural hall was decorated just like a palace.Jeff, Tammy and Colton came out for dinner at Chick-fil-A and then we all drove over to the Stake Center to see the nativities. Check these OUT!!

Derek loved shadowing Papa and looking at all the nativities. There were so many!

Everything from abstract...

...to ethnic (probably at least 40 countries represented)...

...to stunning...

... and a whole lot more!

This nativity from Hong Kong was almost holographic. So cool.

Shout out to my fellow Irish descendants! Holla! (As Liz would say) lol ;)

Loved the mini nativities

I've discovered the Santa-at-the-manger nativities this year. I've decided I want one. Such a great reminder of the true reason for the season. Not sure what the creepy little kid in the blue nightgown is doing in this nativity though. Definitely not an elf. A stowaway maybe?

This just cracked me up. I love the moose in sheep's clothing.

Beautiful wood carving of the nativity

Pretty little tradtional nativity... til you see the stable is actually a cave. Pretty historically accurate/plausible.

I love simplicity

Deliciousness! Wish we could've sampled it... eating baby Jesus just doesn't seem right though.

Real men wear babies. ;)

This was a stunning little nativity with color changing led lights. Too bad the camera didn't catch the colors too well.

Sisters! All three of my sisters-in-law are like sisters. So, I guess I have 8 sisters! :D Can't wait to take pictures with Sereen and Lanae here in a few weeks! And aren't Liz's bangs just darling? I love them. :)

Ugh, ok, I know I forgot to put my face on, but Liz was just so photogenic, I couldn't resist. Plus, I love her rockin' colorful scarf! Totally matched her orange pants.

Giga and Emeri!

Just had to add Javelin-Isaac. Boy was this entertaining. Colton didn't actually launch him, just so you know.