The Sadlers: Christmas Time is Here

Do the years always pass as quickly as 2016 or am I just getting super efficient at passing time? The kids didn’t get out of school until the 23rd which on one hand is absolutely brilliant because there is very little time to go crazy waiting for Santa but also horrendous if you are traveling anywhere. We spent Christmas day at home and then headed to Bobo and Pops’ house for dinner after church. The night before was chaos for Santa who hit some turbulence on the drive in and busted Grayson’s electric scooter. Thank goodness Grayson is smarter than the elves at getting something moving. He spent most of the morning scooting around the neighborhood shouting konnichiwa and pumping his fist. Millie’s favorite part was unwrapping and then getting excited that it was a box underneath the paper (OOH, a box!!). She also liked the contents though and was very pleased with her “Millie tiger” stuffed animal. Our Christmas Eve dinner was haphazardly put together after a long day of work and then attempting to decorate cookies and go to church and just get into vacation mode.

Our cookie decorating involved a lot of sprinkles.

Most of the sprinkles ended up in Millie's mouth or on the floor.

Millie wanted nothing to do with Santa this year. Most of the photos I have of her involve running away from Santa or giving him the one eye stink while keeping her distance.

Grayson was a good sport and was usually holding her off to the side for our 3 attempts.

I made the mistake of asking her Christmas morning if she wanted to go see what Santa brought her and she said “NO.” She was more willing to go into the living room once I asked if she’d like to unwrap some presents. Millie was also very into Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. She was quick to point each of them out whenever we came across a nativity scene. Sadly our main nativity display is losing body parts due to over love. The lambs have lost both hind legs, the shepherd lost a hand and one of the wise men was decapitated. Liquid nails needs to recruit some Sadler kids for commercials.

Christmas Eve includes a note to Santa

and the opening of one package (ornament, book and pajamas). The kids wanted to open up another present since they just knew the contents before opening these packages but they didn't know the design and I think that's something to be excited about!

The following morning I caught Grayson doing some covert spying on Santa gifts for the girls. But they were still pretty excited to see it for themselves.

We opened presents, headed to church and then off to Plainview to see Bobo, Pops and Tia and open more presents.

After dinner, we headed home to pack for the next part of our vacay (after some pictures around the tree).

With all the excitement, this photo was EXTREMELY difficult to obtain. First Lola stubbed her toe and couldn't stop tears and then right about the time she calmed down, she bumped heads with Matalley. So then it was just a crying fest for a ridiculous amount of time. Millie gave up and headed to the bedroom and Matalley (in a good attempt) tried to convince Millie that monsters were coming if she didn't get in the picture. Millie wanted nothing to do with the picture but only to be taken far far away from the monster in Mom or Dad's arms. We finally convinced her she would be protected in the middle of her sibs with her tiger protecting her....and so this is what we got. Yay...pajamas and the tree.

The kids then all wanted a turn at beingphotographer.

So our quick photo shoot lasted too long and we still had to pack!!

Matt was super proud of the breakfast burritos we made and prepared for the next morning. We were out the door by 9:30 to drive to Waco for Christmas with the McDannels. Millie sang Happy Birthday to Jesus on repeat for most of the drive and our arrival was met with cheers.

We arrived just in time for our 3rd Christmas and a game of Christmas While Elephant Exchange Bingo (or Cool Whip Bowl). Sad to say the boys won the Cool Whip Bowl for the second year in a row.

We'll get 'em next year. After that we got up the next morning and made a quick stop at Magnolia to snag some cupcakes (lavender lemon, yes please!) and a little shopping.

And then we headed to see Mimi. She hates taking her picture but I love the evidence of our trip...well worth it to see her.

After our visit, we headed north to Arlington to visit Six Flags! Thank you Bobo and Pops for the season tickets! We are excited to go back without our thousands of acquaintances who also attended that day.

The kids really did enjoy our evening. And then we headed to another hotel which is always a treat. Upon waking up the next morning, we split up into guys and girls. The guys headed to Top Golf and the girls headed to Build a Bear for an experience Christmas gift from Tia.