Christmas

Andy had 3 days off for Christmas this year so we booked it up to Richmond for a quick trip. I've always loved begin around family at Christmas time. I know there will be a time that we won't be able to travel to see family, so I am soaking it up right now! We had a full and busy 3 days around Christmas. We did lots of decorating, playing, baking, and entertaining. We were the only "kids" able to come to my parents this year, so it was definitely quieter, but it was still enjoyable:)

 The girls decorating a tree in one of the guest rooms

Christmas Eve…she was a piece of work during the service. Here she is laying on the floor and coloring. At least she was quiet for a few seconds;)

 Our traditional Christmas Eve family photo op.

Mom and dad had several guest for Christmas eve dinner this year. The Davidson's, our favorite french teacher and family friends, were there. Madam Davidson even taught us a Christmas song in French!

 Christmas jammies!

Mimi and Papa and their favorite McPherson grandchildren:)

Christmas morning was so fun. I love getting to see this day through our girls eyes. They love getting presents (what child doesn't?!), but they also cherish each item they get and get so excited watching others open the gifts they give. They have sweet hearts:)

Their Santa gift this year…Olivia's house (legos)

 This next progression of expressions are from opening their stocking…they are the cutest!

They totally forgot/ignored all the presents under the tree and spent a long time just playing with the mini lego sets they got in their stockings! Of course, Papa and daddy were all too happy to help;)

 little miss trying on Mimi's glasses

Cousin Dan came by for a quick visit before we went of to church

relaxing after church and opening more presents…its always more fun sitting with daddy:)

Mimi and Papas gift! Fishing gear and a promise of getting to go fishing with papa!! The girls are SOOOO excited!

poor cagney!

 Granny came! Sweet Kendall going out to meet Granny.

Alley showing Granny her knitting. Granny is the one who taught me how to knit, so I thought it was special that she got to see a product of her guidance:)

Getting ready for Christmas

The girls got a gingerbread house kit for Christmas from Granny. The girls get so excited about this gift. They just love decorating with candy and then getting to see it everyday:) It's a fun little project that seems to help them feel like they are decorating for Christmas. 

The starting point

this is serious business

oh MC, how many pieces of candy did you eat??!

 The finished product…I think everyone is proud

The girls and Andy were so sweet. They treated me to dinner at Red Robin in honor of my Birthday. I always love when we can spend time together as a family. Lucky for us, Andy had a day off close to my actual birthday, so we did some last minute Christmas shopping and did a little celebrating:)

my little pistol:)

We certainly had to keep up with the tradition of going out for donut the morning of your actual birthday. I just lucked out with getting to go to Krispy Kreme! Happy Birthday to myself!! :)

My girls, who are the best presents I ever received!

Now I think we are ready for Christmas!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving the girls and I celebrated in Virginia while Andy was with the basketball team in South Carolina. We got back in time from the Virgin Island for me to run up to VA but Andy had practices and games and couldn't get away. We had a very nice and quiet TG with Mimi and Papa plus Uncle John and Aunt Kim.  

There are too many cooks in this kitchen…good thing two of us are more concerned about tasting everything that's being cooked than cooking it:)

I am thankful for a warm fire in the fireplace and for good company:)

the twins, enjoying some relaxing time 

My three blessings. I am so thankful for my girly-girls.

I am so glad we were able to see Granny right after TG. She has been such a blessing to me and I love how our girls just adore her!

The girls are so happy to be back in Clemson with daddy!

All smiles

This girl decided she wanted to learn to knit…patience…ugh!

She is doing well and I hope I can continue to encourage her to persevere through the tough parts of learning to knit!

We had such a nice November and TG. We have so much to be thankful for this year! May we continue to spend each day being grateful for all that God has done for us and for who God is!

St. Thomas

This year the Clemson men's basketball team had a tournament in the Virgin Island, right before Thanksgiving. My parents graciously agreed to watch the girls so Andy and I could have this time away together. It.was.a-ma-z-i-n-g! I am so thankful for parents who are willing to shuffle their schedules around and take on my three girls for a week. The good thing is that my girls adore their Mimi and Papa and always behave much better for them than they do me;) So, since I knew the girls were in great hands, I had a great time relaxing!

The welcome sign as we left the airport.

the view from one side of our hotel.

the view from the other side of the hotel

 the view out the front (our hotel was on the tip of the island so we had a three sided view of the ocean).

aaaaaannnd, the view from our hotel room…womp-womp! Oh well, we hardly spent any time in our room, so this was just a laughing point for us all:)

down at the boat dock before taking a water taxi to the nearest town

these little guys were EVERYWHERE! They'd just sit right in the middle of everything and stare you down. Slightly freaky.

My view for most of the week! Paradise

crap, look who came calling…not invited fella, not invited at all

sitting on the infinity edge of the pool, over-looking the ocean

our friends, the Sikes, and us. We stuck together….and also had the same hotel room views;)

because I'm a dork;)

just chilling

We had one excursion off the island. Everyone went snorkeling at Turtle cove to see the reef, huge turtles and other marine life. We had a great time. It was different because the water wasn't that clear. St. Thomas is where the Caribbean and the Atlantic meet, so the water isn't as clear. It was still beautiful though:)

there was a beach on one side of the hotel that was nice. The ocean was pretty rough on the beach, so we didn't spend much time down there. It was still beautiful though!

this little waterfall next to our hotel, fed into the ocean. It was hidden and pretty cool.

the last day there were more little rain storms that blew in and out. After a long one (probably 15 minutes), this little rainbow came out. It was pretty cool.

more beach pictures

Some pictures before one of the team dinners outside of the hotel. We've got to document this time together:)

I am so thankful to be able to go on these trips with Andy! We had a great time and got to spend some time together without our girls, which is always a blessing. It was fun, but I'm glad to be back with our crazy girls!