the valentine nest: Celebrating Christmas: Round 2, 3 &4

We headed south to the Valentines house for a 4 o'clock dinner prepared by chef Bob himself. He makes some pretty delicious things & this was no exception! We enjoyed Beef Tenderloin, potatoes, green beans, rolls & more than a couple desserts. Selfishly I love eating a meal somewhere that there are others who can't wait to steal my children from me. I'm pretty sure I sat at the table for a long while, ate two full servings & may have scarfed up four giant rolls...the last two when no one was looking ; ) We loved spending with with Robby's Grandma Virginia also known as Gigi to the little ones, Aunt Anne & three of her four kids. It was fun to be at the Valentines for the first time in about 7 years. Back then Jeannine had no idea that she would need all these little stockings hung over her fire place!

I laughed out loud when she texted on Christmas Eve. She said "Ok, who is going to have a baby whose name starts with U?" I immediately knew exactly what she was talking about. I said she must be staring at her mantle seeing all the vowels but "U" & let her know that U provided slim pickins for names & would she really want an Ursula or a Ulysses? Such cute stockings though & I enjoyed a couple of the sugary treats they held!

Owen was excited about some new tennis shoes & strutted around the room like he owned the place!

The boys hit the jackpot when they opened an expansion kit of railroad track & two trains....one with batteries! The boys were a little nervous that it could move by itself. You can imagine how terrified they were when one of the girls cranked the gas on the pretend lawn mower Uncle Kyle bought. Sad but cute ; )

Anson was happier eating cake off of other peoples plates although Gigi looks like she didn't mind a bit!

Almost 80 years between these two yet they get along so well! I have always said something about Lolo reminds me of Virginia & after looking at this I am pretty sure it's the eyes. Such pretty ladies!

Another attempt at a picture...Charlotte has been cracking herself up lately.

Virginia with Jack, Thomas, Robby & Caroline. Sidenote -Thomas & Caroline were in our wedding & now they are taller then each of us (respectively).

Owen & Anson have started thinking it's hilarious to hug each other throwing their entire weight onto the other person. We find it amusing...who wouldn't with those darling smiles?

The evening concluded with buckling kids into carseats & Charlotte sadly saying "I don't want Christmas to be over." I laughed & said "Don't worry honey, it isn't, we live in Texas now & we have three more "christmases" to celebrate." We were excited when Gigi was able to come by for another visit before heading back to Michigan...can't get enough of her!

All slept well that night after a long day. We woke up & got the ball rolling cleaning up anything I hadn't cleaned in my rage the day before. Our family had the pleasure of hosting the entire Loftin clan, my moms' side of the family. There were around 25 people including the 7 great grandkids that kept all well entertained. Or wait, maybe it was Scott who kept all the great grandkids entertained ; )

Wide open spaces are good for this crew...

I am so bummed we did not get any group shots & especially bummed we did not get one of GGran with all her littlest loves. Once people cleared out, Uncle Scott & Uncle Kyle got to work building with the Magformers. It comes with a guide of all the things you can make with certain sets but these two didn't care to look at it. In no time at all, I was called in to photograph a cat.

Then I was called back in moments later because the cat was about to give birth to a Dalmation pup. Oh my goodness, never a dull moment haha!

Paw Paw got lots of snuggles while we cleaned up the house. We did some gift opening with just my parents & brothers. Robby got a pretty cool axe from my brothers. They had picked it out months ago....they are always scheming to buy the coolest gifts ; ) I think the sweetest gift I got was from my Dad. It was a book called Everything I need to know I learned from a Little Golden Book & is filled with familiar pictures but different words from the many Little Golden Books that have been written. The beginning is probably what sold him on purchasing it for me since it starts with "Is your life beginning to feel like a circus? Don't panic. Today's a new day! Get dressed first thing. (Sweatpants are bad for morale, put on something nice)" Hilarious & sweet. My favorite page has the pictures from Baby Dear. Daddies are special to girls young & old...Grandaddies are special too!

Saturday we did some running around town then headed over to Uncle Joe & Aunt Deb's house for our final family gathering in relation to Christmas. We of course had to attempt another picture...and fail...at least five times....

So, we moved onto gift opening. Much lower failure rate ; ) To summarize what the girls received, it was a blast from the past kind of Christmas with Hungry Hungry Hippos, Twister, Simon & even a Lite Brite! The kids were excited to play but as we observed, the adults seemed to be most interested haha ; )

Debbie, Mike, Zac & Keaton. Aunt Deb is actually quite tall compared to me & looks short in this picture. I'm wondering how much my boys will tower over me someday?

Uncle Scott & the great Gaga took over the assembling of Owen & Anson's new race track.

Emma taught Anson everything he needed to know about a Lite Brite while Zac was probably the only one who even figured out how to properly play the new version of Simon.