Mark's Birthday and Thanksgiving

 We celebrated Mark's birthday the weekend before Thanksgiving.  The kids LOVE celebrating and even more when it's their daddy.  

 Mark dropped me off half way and my dad picked us up to let us spend a week in St. Louis.  Mark met us on Wednesday and Thanksgiving morning we woke up and headed down the street to the Thanksgiving day parade.  I love parades and to be that close, we had to go.  The kids enjoyed all the candy.

 Cooper was a hit!

 The weather was gorgeous-obviously we aren't wearing coats.

 I don't have any other pictures on my camera, but the day was spent cooking and indulging.  

Christmas Eve into Christmas Morning

I found these cute pictures that I had to add.  Before we left town the kids had a little gift exchange with Meme.  We are so very lucky to have her in our lives!  The kids have missed her like crazy during this break.

Christmas Eve

It was our year to be in St. Louis for Christmas Eve.  We spent the days enjoying our time doing new things, so when the Eve of Christmas came, it was time to calm down and relax to relish in the evening and remember the true meaning of Christmas.  Our first stop was church.  We have been non-existent in a church in a very LONG time.  We joined my family at their new church-it was small and friendly and made me wish we had something like that.  My kids need to know more about our faith and develop a family within the church.  At that moment, I knew my new years resolution, to attend church and get the kids involved!  After the Christmas Eve service everyone ventured back to my parents house for our tradition of a sea food feast! 

Mum and Avery baked everyone's favorite cookies in the shape of candy canes! 

The kids waited patiently to open presents!  They exchanged gifts from each other first. 

Avery received a neat kit to make her own button hair ties!  Luckily Aunt Sarah taught her how to do it. 

We were able to keep them in their clothes to capture a few pictures:) 

We got a few of the cousins. 

And then the door bell rang... 

Santa came by to give the kids a train set-this kept them entertained while dinner was being made. 

Uncle Matt gave the boys these huge trucks.  Lincoln and Mack are used to sharing toys and Mack usually dominates them.  Lincoln was excited when he saw the truck, but nothing made me smile more than his reaction when he saw a second truck waiting for him!  It was pure joy! 

Since we leave on Christmas day and my brother's family likes to have their own Christmas morning, we open all our presents on Christmas Eve. 

After finally falling asleep around 11:30 (only because we were tracking Santa and he was almost at our house) he arrived.  They all woke up around 8:00 the next morning to more gifts from Santa.  This year they were so excited to see he had come! 

They can each find their pile by the first letter in their name. 

My kids are beyond blessed.  At times I feel guilty by the amount they receive for holidays and my hope is they appreciate it all and can be thankful.  Our new years resolution is off to a great start!  We have found a new church were the kids can jump right in.  It feels nice to know we have found a place where everyone seems happy.  Through this experience, I hope we as a family, can work to live a life that has meaning and teach our kids to always be grateful for all they have.  As a family we couldn't have had a better time in St. Louis!  Thank you Mum and Papa for a wonderful night filled with pure joy!  

After a big breakfast, it was off to celebrate with more family!

Ice Skating on Christmas Eve

Two days before Christmas Eve we loaded the car and headed to my parents.  I wanted to have time to do some fun things with the kids.  First stop was the pool.  My parents live in a hotel and they have access to the pool on the roof top.  The kids love swimming and it keeps them in the water throughout the year.

I'm not sure why my camera was so fuzzy, but the next few pictures are not the best.  On Tuesday night we loaded the car and headed to the zoo.  The kids love to spot the Arch first!

The zoo is so neat this time of year.  They have music playing, hot cocoa ready, lights displayed, and story tellers.  Once we got in the zoo, and loaded them in the stroller, our experience was great!

The next day we were going to have the kids rest since Christmas Eve is a late night with my family, but then my brother asked if we wanted to go ice skating.  I have always wanted to ice skate in Forest Park and I was even more excited to take the kids.  Growing up in Chicago we always ice skated!  There were two ponds behind our house and the dads would snow blow them off for us, then the neighborhood would skate.  In my head it sounded like a fabulous idea!

Avery did great after a lot of time.

The boys gave up pretty fast! Lincoln was like a turtle on his back and couldn't stand up and Mack took a pretty hard fall!  This in turn lead them inside with snacks.

By the end, these four didn't want to leave...I was ready!  You get such a workout skating with kids!  My whole body hurt!

The atmosphere and time with family made it special.  Christmas music was playing and it brought me back to my younger years.  Hopefully we can try it again soon to keep them going!