On the 29th, we had a short trip from Asheville and arrived at my little sister's house outside of Charlotte. The kids were happy to see their favorite cousins, Anderson & Gibson!!!
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| Anderson wanted N&A to play his new game, Pancake Relay. It was boys against girls and OH so funny! |
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| Gibson was obsessed with Nate's football and wanted to play "catch" constantly :) |
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| Nate's reward for playing with him |
That night, we had a "Christmas dinner" complete with a honey-baked ham and lots of yummy sides. Of course, no Gibbs family Christmas would be complete without an overflowing Christmas tree and lots of posed family pictures (Nanny's favorite, ha)!
After dinner, Poppy was the judge for our 2nd annual "Buck-off." (Translation: he judges whether Becky or myself have made the best buckeyes.) I am the reigning champ, and was confident I'd win a second year in a row.
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| The esteemed judge! |
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| Much to my dismay, Becky beat me. Back to the drawing board for me! |
In the morning, the kids finally got to open their presents!!! (Not before a few obligatory cousin pj pictures though :)
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| Besties |
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| The kids got WAY too much stuff, and loved every second of it! |
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| Gibson loved following Abby around like a little puppy. So cute! |
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Abby used her own money to buy Nanny & Poppy presents at the school's Christmas Shoppe.
Nanny got a rosary case (shhh! Don't tell Abby that Nanny isn't Catholic!!) and Poppy got a backscratcher.
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| Gibson is obsessed with brushing hair. Hysterical! |
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Aunt Lora couldn't make the trip to Charlotte, since she was due to give birth at any time. But she hated to miss the action, so we FaceTimed for a bit while the kids were opening presents! And she had a little elf hide an ornament for each kid on the tree, which had a hundred dollar bill inside! So awesome!! #collegefund
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| Anderson loves being a monkey on Uncle Greg's back |
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| Playing on the air mattress in the bonus room! #cousinlove |
After opening presents, we decided to get some fresh air even though it was CHILLY outside. We bundled up the kids and took a walk through the neighborhood. Aunt Becky treated everyone to coffees/hot chocolates at a Starbucks right outside their neighborhood. So fun! Luckily, Poppy was out running errands and saw us right before we started our walk back home, so the kids were delighted to hop into his *warm* car.
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| Anderson drank his hot chocolate so fast he got a unibrow!!! :) |
When we got back to the house, Uncle Mike & I decided to blow up one of Nate's Christmas presents - bumper balls!!!! They were beyond hilarious....
Click here to watch the video of the first time Nate & Abby used the bumper balls. Poor Abby got pummeled!
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| Abby got mad/hurt and went inside, so it was Anderson's time to play! |
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| Greg gave it a whirl |
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| Nate liked this angle much better! |
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| Nanny is a trooper! |
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| Abby wanted to stay inside & color after her bumper ball "injury," so she colored this hobo bag, which was a Christmas present. She is an expert colorer! (Is that a word!?) |
Anderson got Pie Face for Christmas and was dying to play it for the first time with his cousins!!! Nate and Greg are NOT big fans of whipped cream, but decided to give it a whirl anyway. (Abby was still stewing from the bumper balls and refused to participate. Her loss! It was SO fun.)
The bumper ball fun continued through the night! We had a yummy chili dinner, thanks to Greg, and then played with Christmas presents until bed.
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| Anderson's gears and Gibson' bristle blocks were super fun to play with! |
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| Abby won the saran wrap game and was thrilled with her iTunes card!! |
On New Year's Eve morning, these two little Deacons got to work early on one of Anderson's lego sets. Nate is such a sweetheart to him! They completed the set in about an hour and Anderson was thrilled.
Shortly after, Nate & Anderson left for Clemmons with Uncle Mike. They were meeting Greg & Poppy at a Wake Forest basketball game at noon.....and it was Anderson's first game! He was super excited. (And thrilled to be wearing a hand-me-down Deacon shirt from Nate) :)
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| They all had a great time until the end....when Wake Forest lost at the last minute. Such a bummer! |
While the boys were away, we had a girls day in Charlotte! (Well, plus Gibson.) First, a little vacuuming....Gibson's fave.
Then, we bundled up and headed to a park....
That didn't last long, so we headed to Chick-fil-A for lunch. Someone reallllly enjoyed the whipped cream from our milkshake! :)
Mike brought Nate & Anderson back to Charlotte that afternoon, while Greg & Poppy stayed in Clemmons. (More on that later). We met up with some of Bec's friends and headed to the local hibachi grill place for a NYE dinner. Lots of kids, lots of good food & drinks!!
When we got back to Becky's, they found a "fake" NYE countdown, and we counted down with the kids to midnight. (Although it was 8 pm in real time.) I think Anderson is the only one that fell for it, but Nate & Abby played along.
The rest of us had an early night - no one made it even close to midnight - but the same cannot be said for Greg & my dad. They had a romantic spaghetti dinner together (ha!) and then competed in the annual Running of the Lights 5K at Tanglewood. At midnight!!! They have been doing this for at least 5-6 years, and although I think they are INSANE, they enjoy it. Dad always brings home lots of goodies from the race, and this year Greg brought home a medal and a new coffee cup too. Winning!
The kids were excited to wake up on January 1st together, and we spent our last morning in Charlotte seeing the movie "Sing." Nanny and I had fun with these two munchkins, and their favorite part was the popcorn!
After lunch, it was finally time to head to Nanny & Poppy's house in Clemmons.
Once again, I want to thank Bec & Mike for opening their home for a few days. I love our crazy family and making lots of memories every Christmas!!
Once again, I want to thank Bec & Mike for opening their home for a few days. I love our crazy family and making lots of memories every Christmas!!
