Christmas #2 in NC

More blog catch-up today....

Per our usual holiday routine, we travelled to my little sister's house on December 26th. The kids were *SO* excited to see their cousins, and spent the afternoon playing hard!!

 It was also Bec's 36th birthday, so we had some *very* spicy chicken fajitas (thanks Mike!) and a yummy ice cream pie from Nanny. 

Gibson decided it was his birthday, and blew out the candles before Bec got a chance!

Two of my faves

Oh how Abby *adores* her little Gibson

Matching pjs!!!

(Not pictured: Charlie Kate - in bed - and Otis - sick at home in Raleigh. So sad!!!!!)

 We all woke up on the 27th, ready for our big Christmas breakfast and then lots and lots of present opening. However, we had two little snags......Anderson threw up as soon as he woke up, so he had to stay quarantined in his room all day. Poor little guy! And Otis was sick as well, so he, Aunt Lora, and Uncle John decided to stay in Raleigh. We missed them so much :(

Abby is THRILLED to finally have a girl cousin :)

Finally, the kids got to open presents!!

Poppy with his fave / usual gifts - chocolates and a gift card. He is SO hard to shop for!

Nate setting up / synching Nanny's new iPad! #techsupport

We had so much fun with Nate's new laser tag set!

(Sidenote: I'm terrible at laser tag)

Abby got lots of new babies for Xmas and has her hands/purse full!

CK looked oh-so-cute in the outfit I got her for Xmas!!

On our walk, these two cuties had to sit and snuggle together

#andbabyben #orisitJesus

Family picture time! 

Anderson got to come out of quarantine for a few hours

 Then it was time for the annual BUCK-OFF (a buckeye bake-off)!!! Bec and I compete every year to see whose buckeyes taste the best. Poppy has always been the judge, but is partial to lots of milk chocolate (and I use semi-sweet). So, we enlisted 2 more judges to make it more fair.

 Well, it didn't work in my favor like I had hoped. Bec was declared the Buck-off champion for the 2nd year in a row!!! She's lucky I'm a good loser, because she is *not* a very good winner!! :)

 The kiddos worked hard on a "bed" in the playroom and had quite the sleepover that night! 

#audreyanntoo

 Nanny & Poppy braved the movie theater with all the big kids the next day, to see "The Star." It was Gibson's first movie theater experience!! Nanny said he was *done* about halfway through, but just moved to her lap and was content to finish out the movie that way. Abby said she loved the movie, but loved the popcorn & soda even more.

 I cleaned out & organized Charlie Kate's closet for 2 days, and came across this "My First Christmas" outfit. Considering it was Dec 28th, we put her in it for a picture and called it a day :)

 A visit to Bec's house wouldn't be complete without a family walk to the Starbucks! (It is right across the street from her neighborhood entrance). The kids loved their hot chocolate reward!

 We had to leave on the 29th, but not before Abby got in some lego time with Anderson. And if you're wondering why Anderson wasn't in a lot of these pictures, it's because he is now fully obsessed with legos!!! When he wasn't in bed sick, he was doing Legos! #NateJr

It was a wonderful Christmas celebration as usual, and we looked forward to more family time as we were headed to Lora's for sweet Otis' first birthday party the next day!!