Granna and Mr. Richard's house

So Emily, Lydda Grace, Wade Allen, and I got to go see mom and Mr. Richard for Christmas.  Here are somethings we did.

1.  Eat lunch with Great Grandmother Downey at K&W on Healy Dr.

2. Wade was not feeling well, so he slept a lot.

3. Going to visit Mrs. Hanes Cookies (you can watch the people make the cookies right in front of you.  Everything is done by hand.)

4. Yogi bear in 3D (what a treat)

5.  Just one glimpse at a time of the kitties.

6. Christmas dinner out on the town in Winston-Salem.

7. Fruit kebabs. (LG got her first cookbook from Granna.  You can see how much fun she was having.)

8.  Wade's NCSU basketball.

9. Here is a great picture of Granna enjoying watching the grand kids play!

Christmas Scavenger Hunt

So Emily, Lydda Grace, Wade, and I celebrated the Lord's birth on December 20 with all the traveling with to family.  So for Emily's gift this year, I decided to do a scavenger hunt.  Below are the clues she was given, and a couple of pictures to commemorate our time together.

Clue 1: Christmas morning should begin enjoying your kids openinG their presents

Still need picture 

Clue 2:  i am alwayS excited to see wade at the wheel and lydda grace saying “buckle me up”

Clue 3: gRab four cups and put on the song and make a special drink

Clue 4: chOOse a pose and your husband of 2184 days will take this picture

Here is Wade giving Emily the next clue.

Here is Emily and LG reading the clue.

Clue 5: lydda graCe is no monkey but wade sure is a slider

Clue 6:  Exit the house and let’s head to the place where you buy most of your groceries

 We did not need to go to Aldi by this point, so there is not picture.

Clue 7: If you have been reading carefully, you Should know where to go next.  The hard part will be figuring out what you have to buy. (Answer: Scrooge's)

Emily holding the CHImay beer (don't worry Wade is just to the right of Emily).

Clue 8: Let’s stock-up on postage PMATS

Read Clue 11 to learn what happened with this.

Clue 9:  Krieg and Karis are waiting on you for a picture

Unfortunately, Krieg and Karis were not home.  So Kevin took a picture of Emily and I in our car.

Clue 10: Now time to get some cash for another present

 We forgot to take a picture.

Clue 11: I am sorry but we will need to go by O.C.E.S. to process some paperwork

So I ended up spending an hour at work. So while I was working Emily and the kids went to get stamps (clue 8) and pick up lunch at Sonic (clue 14).

Lydda Grace and Wade in OCES.

Clue 12:  The place we first kissed for a family photo.

 It was raining, so Emily took a rain check and we are going to take the picture at a later date.

Clue 13:  you thought you were buying CHImay beer for a random reason, but the real reason was to hopefully give you a clue to your Christmas present from me.  (Don’t worry we will buy a converter).

The CHI

Emily's face when she figured out the clue.

Clue 14:  Now for lunch:  if you do not know where to go CINOS

a few things I want to remember this year at Christmas

- Lydda Grace's favorite Christmas song is "Joy to the World" she doesn't have it down quite right but she makes up for it with enthusiasm! 

- Sometimes when we hear a song on the radio or in a store LG will say "They're singing about baby Jesus!!!!!"

- When we are out driving Lydda Grace is quick to spot Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph in nativity scenes. I love that this is what stands out to her and what she gets excited about when we're looking at Christmas decorations. 

- Lots of homemade ornaments on our tree this year! I'm loving it! 

- The one-finger rule for the tree doesn't work! We've tried to satisfy the kids' curiosity to touch the Christmas tree by telling them they are allowed to touch it with one finger..... this has only resulted in well over 2/3 of our ornaments on the top 1/2 of the tree! 

just the 4 of us

This past Tuesday we were home between travels for a fun day with just the four of us. Jon will post more later about his plans for the day.  We let the kids open their Christmas presents that morning so here are some pictures from that. 

The shoes on Wade's feet were his favorite
present by far :)

Whenever anyone asked what she wanted for Christmas LG
said repeatedly, "a pink tutu!!"
Couldn't wait for her to open this and she was super excited and  wore it all day :)

Granna Wylie and Mr. Richard's wedding

Here are some pictures from the wedding back on Nov. 11 (11/11/11 at 11am!). 

Getting ready with Granna Wylie!

love this

LG was a great flowergirl and stood up front the whole time!

Wade made it down the aisle (throwing the pillow in the process!)
but cute nonetheless :)

Like I said, LG loved being the flowergirl!

the happy couple and the whole family!

Wade with Granna at the reception

big family photo

Sending off Mr. and Mrs. Richard Danner!
Congratulations!