Our Christmas

Beautiful Cara posing in front of the tree...

Well, Christmas Eve was a blizzard warning, so we missed out on dinner at the Carlsons. I just didn't want to risk spending the night on the side of the road! It had rained for a day and then the temperature dropped from 52 to 26 and it started sleeting and snowing.

We are so blessed!

Our stockings (:

Cara and Collin listening to "The Night Before Christmas" on their Pillow Pets from the Carlsons!

Cara had it pretty much memorized...

Opening of the stockings Christmas morning!

The Nutcracker

This year Lindsey invited us to join them and Uncle Craig for a performance of The Nutcracker at The Music Hall on Wednesday, December 23rd. At the age of 30, I saw my first ballet the same time my 3 and 6 year old saw theirs. It was an incredible experience to share with them!

For some reason Cara did not want her picture taken in front of the tree. I think the amount of people inside was a little overwhelming!

Craig and Collin discussed the program...

The cousins sat together in the front row....

The gang:

Lindsey, Kylee and Connor...

Craig and the squad...

Looking over the balcony...

My little Miss J...

The orchestra warming up....

And this is the point that I got yelled at for taking pictures inside. (: We had a wonderful time! To quote Cara at intermission, "That was amazing!" I can't believe how well both the kids did to sit through a two-hour performance. We owe a very special THANK YOU to the Carlson's for the tickets and such an enjoyable evening! Hope we can make it a tradition.

Uncle Craig's Visit

On Monday afternoon we were the first stop on Craig's week-long visit to Kansas City. We spent the afternoon busing around Olathe running errands and ate out at Haywards BBQ - Craig's favorite BBQ restaurant that he used to eat at when Grandpa used to bring him up to Kansas City.

Tuesday morning after breakfast we rolled our sleeves up and started cooking. Craig made us beef stew, spaghetti sauce, chili and for lunch, the most amazing sloppy joe mix I've ever had in my entire life! It's all in containers in my freezer for us to eat this winter and I couldn't be more thankful!

While Craig was working on all that, Cara and I mixed sugar cookie dough and we all enjoyed a little nap while it cooled in the fridge. We got up and hit it hard again. The kids loved being a part of Uncle Craig's very first time decorating a gingerbread house! He was a big help with frosting the doors and windows and placing the tiny candy pieces here and there.

Collin's side:

Cara's side:

Cara helped roll and cut out the sugar cookies and decorated some with sugar before they were baked and left some plain for frosting and decorating later.

Before:

After:

Yes, some of the cookies were neon! Cara LOVED them!

Me and my little bakers! Can't wait to see how many cookies Santa eats!

McKinney Christmas!

This year Dad and Lori had everyone over for the McKinney family Christmas dinner. We had Swedish pancakes and ham and then gathered to open presents.

The Carlson's gave us a 2010 Calendar - Cara has it hanging in her room!

More race cars!! Yay!

Uncle Jordan and Mandy's remote-controlled monster truck for Collin:

Hadley helping her Daddy open her Christmas present from Cara and Collin:

Battle Morph Mock 6 from Grandma and Grandpa:

Barbie pool from Grandma & Grandpa:

We are so blessed and thankful to have family who love and spoil us so much!

The cousins!

The last present to be opened was for Mandy from Jordan - an engagement ring! It was a very special Christmas for us. You can read their engagement story here.

Baking Cookies for Santa

It was an honor to join James' side of the family in baking cookies for Santa this year. James' Aunts, Grandma, friends and family were all there making contributions. We drove out to Mary and Chris' beautiful house in Bucyrus - just a few miles from Spring Hill.

Without Linda's help I would probably still be in the kitchen molding my peanut-butter balls and wrapping them in saran wrap. (: We had a great time!

Collin and Cara spent most of the time in the basement decorating a gingerbread house and their own sugar cookies. Here is Collin with his:

Yummy!

Cara thoroughly enjoyed having babies to play with and immediately took to her role as mother hen:

The table was loaded with cookies of all different types. It was so great to get to catch up with everyone and watch the kiddos play together. Here is Grandpa Ashworth "keeping an eye" on the cookies:

Mary gave out gifts of "Cookies for Santa" plates and personally embroidered "Cookies for Santa 2009" towels to match. The kids can't wait to use it on Christmas Eve!

Thanks for having us!