A Little More Lead Up To Christmas

Doug did a lovely job once again getting the outside of our house ready for Christmas.

And Red the Elf remained busy moving each day and reporting back to Santa...

One morning we even woke up to discover that Red had eaten all of our M&Ms...

I received so many beautiful Christmas cards this year. Thank you to everyone that sent one...

And Briana received her special video from Santa Claus. She was on the nice list of course! But he did ask her to try not to "sulk" when she gets upset about something...  :)

Briana was SO excited about Christmas coming this year. Even though I was sick, I really tried to fit in as much Christmas fun as I could when I was feeling up to it. It was a tough Christmas season, but we got through it and manage to enjoy it as much as we could.

And here is my kitty enjoying Christmas (as much as she could)...

 

Christmas Cookie Baking

The Monday before Christmas was our first "official" day of Christmas break, so we did our annual cookie baking with cousins N1 and N2 at Aunt A's house. N2 is still too young to really participate in the baking, so it was really baking with N1. ;)

The kids got to work on their masterpieces...

Lots of candies and sprinkles were necessary...

Each design was handled with care...

 Most of the cookies came out great - except for the one I forgot about. Heh. I thought I would give it a little more time to cook. Whoops...

 Once the cookies cooled, it was time for icing...

And tasting...

Doug's request was a Yoda cookie with a Santa hat...

 When we got home, Bri immediately showed Doug. He was quite impressed...

Doug really wanted to join us in cookie baking, but we had a sick kitty on our hands that day that needed to go to the vet. So, Doug took on sick cat duty for me. What a guy!

Trip To Chattanooga 2013 - Rock City Enchanted Garden Of Lights

The lights at Rock City were beautiful once again and it was so fun watching Bri and Chani walking through the lights together.

Saying hi to the Rock City gnome...

Walking through the lit forest...

BFFs at the top of the mountain...

Beautiful waterfall...

This is always one of my favorite light displays on the mountain...

Snowman...

Cute photo opportunities...

Love this sparkly cave and waterfall...

Entering Mother Goose Village...

The girls lit up under the black lights. They thought it was cool...

It was almost 8pm when we wrapped up and it was time to head home. Always love our Christmas adventures with the M family each year!

If you missed my Santa Train post - click here.
If you missed my shopping in Chattanooga post - click here.

Trip To Chattanooga 2013 - Shopping and IMAX

Doug, Bri and I stayed in a beautiful hotel in downtown Chattanooga Friday night. It was all decked out for Christmas.

The M family had some plans during the day on Saturday, so Doug, Bri and I slept in late on Saturday, ate breakfast and then headed to a nearby shopping area. This gallery/store was so neat...

We also stopped in an antique shop...

We then stopped at our favorite pizza joint in Chattanooga for a slice...

My adorable little minion...

We decided to see the Penguin 3D IMAX movie after lunch...

It was really good!!!

My two silly knuckleheads...

The lobby was really pretty...

After the movie, we went back to the hotel to rest for a while and then had a late checkout. We headed over to a small Starbucks that is right across from Rock City to chill, play on our iPads and have a warm drink. We waited for the M family to meet us there before walking around Rock City.

It rained on and off during the day Saturday which made me a bit nervous about walking around Rock City Saturday night, but the rain stopped late afternoon and the night was perfect for walking around the mountain.

Bri was so happy to see Chani again at Starbucks...

The ladies...

Up next, Rock City!!