UPDATE:

What a trip!  We stayed in the big house again, and it seemed like there weren’t as many people there as usual.  I guess that’s because there wasn’t.

Sam enjoyed the water this year, but was still a little anxious at first.  Every year, it takes less time for her to get used to the water.

Ellie didn’t mind the sand at all, but I think the heat bothered her.

I think she enjoyed Patrick’s truck almost as much as he did!  We also discovered during this trip, that she likes push toys and wheels!

Some kids:

And some family:

It was almost cold and pretty windy, so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves outside.  Here’s a family picture.  (And don’t mind my hair, as I said, it was windy.)

Silly girl with windblown hair.

Look out, Little Man!  Don’t you know that you’re supposed to keep your eyes on the road?

Whoa! Here comes Optimus Prime, ready for Trick or Treating!

We decided to get the kite out since it was so windy.  The three little ones helped me put it together.

What are those two scheming about?

Let’s go fly a kite!

However, Samantha has not moved past Jackson.  His birthday was in January.  Whenever she sings the Birthday song, she inserts “Jackson” where appropriate.  He still has the hold on her.

Christmas started with brunch at the Betbezes on Christmas Eve.  I really like this tradition.  We enjoyed brunch then the kids began opening presents.  Samantha got lots of great gifts, but the #1 score (in her eyes) was a new shopping cart from Great Aunt Mary.  She barely had the patience for her daddy to put it together.  Goodness.

After naptime, we headed to mass.  It wasn’t as crowded as usual, so we actually had a whole pew to ourselves.  Our friend Kris took this family shot after mass.  It’s one of the few times that Samantha has actually smiled for the camera.  Thanks, guys!

We came home, had Chicken Tortilla Soup (yum) then nestled all snug in our beds.

On Christmas morning, we got up and opened presents.  Samantha got a few books and some hand glove puppets from Santa.  The hit was the Abby Cadabby magic wand book she got.  I like this shot because it shows Sam in her Christmas PJs and slippers, inspecting her new book.

As we were packing the car and getting ready to drive to Huntsville, I went to feed the cats.  We didn’t arrange for anyone to stop by because we were only going to be gone for a few days.  However, I discovered that we were almost out of cat food.  As in, we didn’t have enough to last a few days.  Uh oh.  It was Christmas morning, and I was sure that no store was open that carried our cat food.  Luckily, the Grissoms came to the rescue.  Thanks for buying our cats’ food and taking it by the house to feed them!!

We drove to Huntsville in time for lunch.  The kids were getting ready for their naps so we hurriedly opened presents.  Wow, what craziness.  If I had to guess a favorite from that bunch, it would be the keyboard from MamaLinda and Pop.  Now Samantha can play the piano and push lots of buttons while her daddy is playing too.  She loves dancing to the beat.

On Boxing Day, my mom and I went out shopping while the boys and kids went to the Train Exhibit at the Botanical Gardens.  I think it was a hit.  Of course, anything involving Jackson is sure to be lots of fun.  See a previous post.

On Sunday, we traveled over to Florence to spend some time with Brian’s family.  We enjoyed getting to see everyone.  We opened presents that night then spent a few days relaxing and playing games.  Samantha’s favorite gift was the rocking chair from Nana and Papa.  She loves it!  She also loved Chloe’s skirt and playing with wrapping paper, tissue paper and boxes!

We had a great Christmas!  Whew.  We were glad to spend a few days at home relaxing before beginning the new year!  Here’s one final picture of us in front of our tree at home.  (And you can see my new curtain in the background, and Samantha’s new white dot outfit from MamaLinda!)