Christmas 2015

Christmas 2015 Top 10 (in chronological order):

1. Many family movie nights watching Star Wars Episodes IV, V and VI (a first for me)
2. Christmas Eve lunch with good friends at our house 
3. Christmas Eve candlelight service at Fellowship Memphis
4. Christmas morning with gifts from Santa
5. Another Christmas celebration with James' family
6. Laser Nerf gun wars with cousins
7. Ice tubing in Nashville with good friends
8. Hover boards in Columbia
9. Ice skating with friends
10. Shogun with friends

All Emery asked asked Santa for was a nutcracker. So Santa brought a nutcracker you could paint and an entire art studio with supplies. You can tell from the video that she was most excited about that nutcracker. So funny. 

Nintendo DS and Super Smash Bros. 

After lunch on Christmas day we headed to Waverly to have Christmas with James' family.

After church on Sunday

Sunday afternoon we headed to Columbia via Nashville to hang out with the Shirley family. So fun catching up with these dear friends! We sure miss having them in Memphis!

Ryan (3), Reese (8), Emery (4), Mayer (2), Case (7) and Parker (10)

Testing out the Shirley's new hover boards…

Getting it down…

Case testing out Parker's new hover board. 

Art Project Memphis

While Case was at holiday basketball camp (had to get him out of the house and away from his electronics for a few days), I took Emery to the Art Project Memphis for a fun outing that I thought she would enjoy. It's this super cool art studio for kids in midtown. We paid for her to have 90 minutes of free play and it was so great! Emery used up every minute and when we left she said, "THAT WAS AWESOME!" 

Lefty problems...

Polar Express

What better way to celebrate Christmas than by taking a ride on the Polar Express! We had the best time! We took a short road trip down to Batesville, MS and planned to eat lunch on the square. There weren't any restaurants (weird) but there were four food trucks to choose from. So we grabbed some yummy food truck eats and dined outdoors because it was 70 degrees! Dec. 22 and 70 degrees. Crazy! Then we boarded the Polar Express and the real fun began. The chefs (local high school students) danced and clapped through the isles while Polar Express music played, they served hot chocolate and cookies, the conductor came by and punched their golden tickets, then we stopped at the North Pole and Santa came aboard our cabin and stopped to talk to each kiddo while handing out silver bells with "The Polar Express" engraved on them. I mean it was great. Completely surpassed my expectations and was worth every penny. Great memories were made! 

Thanks, Lauren for the super cute pjs. 

Pure JOY! 

Christmas 2015 at Harding Academy

Harding's Christmas program, "The Littlest Angel Choir" was so so sweet. We really look forward to this program every year and this one did not disappoint. The kids had worked so hard and really did a great job. 

 
 Santa visited Emery's class!

And a petting zoo and sleigh rides with Frosty! 

Pre-Christmas Festivities

We've been busy enjoying many of the pre-Christmas festivities that our community has to offer. 

Live nativity at Germantown Baptist Church with friends.

Our Sunday School class party photo booth fun.

Germantown Christmas Parade with friends. And yes, Emery and Case have on summer clothes. It was 73 degrees. 

After-school Santa visit at Bass Pro. They take pictures for FREE!

The weather has been CRAZY! We've been outside all month long without our coats and have enjoyed trips to the green line to ride our bikes.

A drive through Starry Nights.