Happy Birthday Brandie!

Today was Brandie's birthday!  She started off by receiving some flowers at work from Emma and Abby.  At home, we had a small party for her.  Lulu and her kids came by, as well as my Mom and Dad.  I made her one of her favorite dishes, King Ranch Chicken, and also made her a chocolate cake from scratch.  She also received some flowers from Mom and Dad, along with some balloons and candy.  She received Bath and Body Works products from the girls, and I got her some floor seats to see Pink in concert.  All in all it was a great birthday for her, and I was glad she enjoyed it!  Happy birthday sweetheart!

Houston Zoo 12/28

Emma holding onto her money for shopping at the Houston Zoo

My Girls

Seal making some waves and enjoying the cool weather

So envious of these big cats!

Emma found Melman at the zoo

Dada the hero! Got his girls each their own popcorn.

Christmas Night

Emma practicing her doctoring skills on her Dada.

Our Christmas feast!

 

Emma and Abby enjoying their inflatable bouncer with all the colorful balls.

We hosted Christmas dinner at our home and Nana and Poppa came over to eat and watch the girls open all their wonderful gifts. We had a really wonderful time with our family and watching our girls enjoy themselves as they played with their new gifts. We feel extremely blessed to have all the time we have had with all of our family this Christmas. These memories made will be forever proof of the blessings for our girls look back on for years to come.

Christmas Morning at Nana and Poppa's House

Poppa always cooks Christmas breakfast and Nana always makes homemade hot chocolate. We took the girls over as soon as they woke up and began our Christmas with breakfast and gifts from Santa. 

Christmas Eve Night

 

 

 Above are the videos of the girls at their Nana and Poppa's house Christmas Eve night. They both got to open a gift there before heading home to settle in for the night.

Emma and Abigail opening their traditional gift at our house before getting ready for bed. They both receive PJ's on Christmas Eve to sleep in as they wait for Santa to show up.

Christmas Eve at Memaw's House

Emma holding her dog Reggie with Brandie and Abigail.

Tank, the youngest of all the cousins, was all smiles.

Abby thought it would be a great idea to sit on the gifts to try and open them.

For Christmas Eve day we went to the Housley side of the family and gathered with all of the girls cousins so they could play and open gifts together. The girls received many beautiful outfits from their Memaw and Keith along with a princess doll each. We had a wonderful time and ate some great food. The girls always look forward to going and seeing the Memaw and cousins, knowing that they get to see their dog Reggie is a plus!

12/22 Pheris Family Christmas and 12/23 Chesser Family Christmas

Emma sitting with some of her cousins.

For the Pheris side of the family we gathered on Saturday, December 22 at cousin Kelly's house in Houston. We had a wonderful time with family and ate some really delicious food. We watched our precious girls play with their cousins and open all the gifts from their Great Aunts and cousins. Both girls had a blast and were fast asleep on the ride home.

Emma coloring at the restaurant at the Chesser family gathering.

Abigail sitting at our table waiting for her chips and salsa.

For the Chesser side of the family, Aunt Trish organized our gathering at a wonderful restaurant called Jimmy Chonga's in Pasadena. There was a total of 28 of us and all went well. The service was great, the food was tasty, and the girls had more than enough entertainment with all that family around. We hope to gather more often and be able to spend more time with all of them so our girls can get to know them better.

12/21 Emma and Abigails School Christmas Parties

Abigail was given the huge green stocking on the left and Emma was given the custom made Santa bag on the right both filled with goodies and candy.

Emma with her Mama at her party.

Emma with her Dada at her party.

Abigail sitting with her friends at her party.

The girls had a wonderful time at their school Christmas parties. We both took turns sitting with each of the girls and it took us two trips to get them and all of their goodies into the van before leaving. We are thankful that our girls have teachers who care and go out of their way to create special treats for them.

Emma's 1st Time Making Cookies

Emma and Abby's Christmas Program

This is a video of Abby participating in singing Jingle Bells with her class from day care.

This is a video of Emma singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with her class from day care.

Abby getting ready to go

The girls playing before we left

The stars on stage!

Emma running around before the program started

Emma thought she could fly like Rudolph, alas that was not the case

As you can see, the girls had an exciting evening and got to perform in their first Christmas program.  Nana and Poppa were able to attend as well, and the girls performed wonderfully!