A few favorite Christmas moments

We have had 2 Christmases already! It is so fun with our kids at these ages (2 1/2, 22months, 9months). The cousins have so much fun opening gifts and playing with each others toys, for being so young they are all very good share-ers. Here are a few of my favorite moments so far!

The 17 stockings that make up Christmas at my Dad's house.

My silly sister.

My adorable nephew, Parker.

Malea opening her shopping cart.

And her vacuum, my personal favorite. :)

Parker testing it out.

Our gift to my mom-- a wall of pictures of her grandkids.

Daddy helping to open her gifts.

Malea feeding her Auntie Andi at her new table.

New Year's Eve

We had a fun New Year's Eve starting off at CR Gibbs for Kathy's birthday and then heading over to the Brown's for food, wine/champagne and too much fun. It was so great having Brett and Emily with us and it just made me realize how lucky we are to have such great friends!

Sunday afternoon we had yet another Christmas. It was so much fun as my family gathered at my Dad's house for lunch and presents. Although the whole afternoon was quite fun and laughter filled I'd have to say that these are some of the highlights.

This is Malea's gift from Grandma, Grandpa and Santa but my step sister accidentally wrote "Satan". I'm not sure if we will be accepting any gifts to Malea from "Satan"!!!

These are Malea's first shoes! They probably won't fit her until she's about 1 but they are super cute!
Parker sporting some work goggles. He's so stinkin' adorable, look at those chunky thighs!

The best gift you can give a teenager: "Grow a Boyfriend". I'm not sure where my brother found this but it's perfect!

Grandpa (my dad) sporting his new T-shirt that my 2 nephews gave him for Christmas. Next year he'll have 3 grand kids!

Cousin Bake Day

Every year right before Christmas, since I was about 5 years old, my cousins and I have gathered for Cousin Bake Day to bake goodies for Christmas. It started out in my parents kitchen and we used to make about 2 or 3 types of cookies and then go hand them out and sing Christmas carols to the neighbors. We have come a long way in 22 years and now we are quite the experts. We don't carol anymore but we put together plates of about 10 different varieties of cookies and hand them out to friends and family. Of course we also sample a lot while we bake!!! This year was so much fun because our family is constantly growing and now it's not just the 5 of us girls it's us, plus my 3 step sisters, and my niece and 2 nephews. My oldest niece Makena is just the right age for helping out and she was so good at helping us cut out sugar cookies and play in the flour. :)

Makena (2 1/2), Trey (10 mo), my sister Andrea, and my cousin Lisa

Lisa showing Makena and my step sister Heather how to make frosting.
Me and Parker (5 mo) just chillin'.

A plethora of amazing cookies!

The whole gang, minus Makena and Trey who were taking naps.

So far we have enjoyed 2 Christmases, each with their own highlights. Our first Christmas was with the Browns and we had so much fun enjoying delicious food, great gifts, and the best part which was torturing Pip with Christmas bows. Doesn't Pip just look so happy in this picture? Watch the video, it's even better.

Matt and Billy sporting their matching head lamps, aren't they just so cute?
Every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas I love to bake goodies for my neighbors. This year I made Harvest loaves at Thanksgiving and then yesterday I made these yummy truffles that we handed out to everyone. Matt hates going and passing these things out but I love it because it's such a fun way to show people love during the hectic holidays.
Next we spent Saturday evening having Christmas at my mom's house with my sister's, their husbands, and my cutie pie nephew Parker. Parker loved all of his gifts but his favorite part was sticking everything in his mouth. I guess it's okay when you are 5 months old but it might be a little weird if he does this every Christmas. :) Actually I'm not sure who enjoyed his gifts more, him or my mom, she was freaking out at all the toys and wanted to play with all of them. She's so weird, but definitely a fun grandma!

This hat that my mom got Parker was so cute!

Matt got lots of fun stuff for running, like energy drinks, endurance candy and an awesome shirt to run in that repels the sweat off his body.

Christmas Party

Friday night Matt and I threw our 2nd annual Christmas wine tasting party and it was a blast. Last year the party was so much fun, and we had so many funny stories that came from the party, that this year we decided to throw another one to see if it would be as successful. Personally I'd have to say that this year's party blew last year's party out of the water! Everyone had such a great time and I think we have even more funny stories to get us through until next year's party. I'd say the highlights of the night were Meghan's "fish balls" appetizer and Derek and Danielle's hilarious answers to the Newly Wed Game. I should also mention that Billy and Heather have unofficially been crowned "Couple of the Year" for winning the Newly Wed Game 2 years in a row!!! You guys are going DOWN next year!!! I was too busy having fun that I forgot to take very many pictures but here are the few that I was able to get.

Heather tallying up the scores for best wine/appetizer pairing

Meghan and Danielle having a good time
Meghan holding up her prosciutto wrapped melon balls which Jeremy so lovingly referred to as "fish balls" and that became the term of the night. I don't think she will ever make them again because... well there are no words, just laughter.

The boys "enjoying" some "fish balls"

The best game question/answer of the night: Danielle's response: she would like Derek to stop "farting" and start "dusting". Hmmm... so strange.

Thanks to all of you that came and made it such a great night!!! I can't wait until next year!

It's Christmas Time!

I LOVE Christmas time! I love everything about it, the trees, the lights, the cold nights, Cousin Bake Day, family gatherings, tons of Christmas parties, opening gifts, but most of all being thankful for Christ coming and being born here on Earth. I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about Christmas in the upcoming month but for now here are a few of the pictures from the night that Matt and I put up our tree. I just love this stuff!

Matt putting the star on the tree.

Me putting my pregnant ornament on the tree :)The finished product!
In love :)

And to top it off we had ANOTHER turkey dinner with the Browns! Matt cooked the turkey on the BBQ and it was AMAZING--way better than the ones we had on Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving day fun

Here are just some of the pictures from our fabulous Thanksgiving. We did the Turkey Trot in the morning, then we went home and cooked, then we headed over to my dad's where a bunch of the family played flag football vs. another family we met (Malea, Heather and I were the cheerleaders), and then we stuffed our faces with AMAZING food!!! It was a great day filled with lots of fun and lots of family. It feels like my family is getting bigger by the minute and I feel so blessed! Thanks family for such a great day!

Us with the Browns after the race (and Tom in the background)

All the Moseley's after the race.

Chase, Alisha, Parker and us after the race.

Me and Heather cheering on our team!

Some of the 30 family members that were at out Thanksgiving.

My cutie pie nephews chatting it up

Me and Matt after a long, fun day