More Christmas Fun + Hello 2016!

On the 27th, the girls and I had a big Christmas surprise...Chris & Emi's arrival! My parents & Derek were in on the surprise, but Shelby, Hadley, and I were totally in the dark! My dad & Derek told us they were going to go look at some tools at Home Depot & Lowe's (but they were really heading to the airport!)...and when we heard them come home, in they walked with Emi & Chris! Talk about a big surprise!!! We had so much fun with them while they were here! We went downtown one day to see the Alamo, eat dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, and to see all of the lights on the Riverwalk, which was a lot of fun! The Riverwalk is so beautiful at this time of year! We also got in some sister shopping time at La Cantera, which was a huge treat for us! But my favorite moments were spent at home just being together...something we don't get to do nearly as often as we'd like. We're so thankful that Emi & Chris made the trek to San Antonio to see us! It was the best Christmas present they could have given us!

Shelby maintains this was the most favorite thing she did over her Christmas break--play pretend helicopter with Uncle Chris using her new umbrella from Santa :)  This game got played a LOT!

The first three days of my parents' visit, everyone was dressed in summer clothes...and by the time they left, we were decked out in full winter gear! Crazy weather!!

I didn't manage to get any other pics, but we took my parents to Top Golf for their first time while they were here--I think they both enjoyed it! Shelby definitely did :)

Another favorite activity...playing salon with Auntie Em's long hair!

Hadley is earning her keep in this family ;)

Visiting the Alamo!

Riding the boat to see the lights at the Riverwalk!

No nap + walking all over the Riverwalk + late night = both girls passed out on the way home.
I literally cannot remember the last time one of the girls fell asleep in the car, not to mention both of them!

We had so much fun with all of our Christmas visitors! Their visits just went by too quickly, as they always do! :(  It's hard to believe Christmas & New Year's have already come and gone! We hope your New Year is off to as a good of a start as ours is! It's been rainy & super cold here, so we've been enjoying lots of lazy days at home in our PJs just the four of us...it's been just what we've needed after a fun-filled Christmas! The upside of the dreary weather was that it forced us to get our house back in order & Christmas decor all packed away! We did get out on New Year's Day to head to the Verizon store & then to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch & playtime afterwards. I think this is the 3rd year in a row we've gone to Chuck E. Cheese on New Year's Day...I guess it's become an accidental family tradition for us, ha! But I'm pretty sure the girls had just as much fun at the Verizon store as they did at Chuck E. Cheese...within ten minutes of arriving at the store, Shelby figured out how to record videos of herself & play them back. She was laughing so hard at times she could barely breathe!! It was hysterical! {Side note: going to a phone start on New Year's Day proved to very entertaining as we watched people still hung over from NYE coming in to say they either broke or lost their phone overnight. We got a good laugh out of it!}

It seemed like Shelby's "Christmas Break" from school was a pretty good length when it was just beginning, but now I'm sitting here wondering where it went?! How is it possible she is going back to school today?! We're not ready...waaaah! We're also not ready to give Derek back up yet! He has essentially been home with us every day for two weeks straight with the exception of two half days of work between Christmas & New Year's. It's going to be hard to get back to reality!

2016 promises to bring lots of big changes for our family, but we couldn't be more excited! Happy New Year, Everyone!!