Christmas 2015

Ohhhh man did we have an awesome Christmas this year!  We were spoiled and got not 1, not 2, but THREE separate family togetherness events.  Let's walk through them, huh?

"I woke up like this." - Other TV Room  (Santa came!)

First off, on Christmas morning, Grandma, Pawpaw, Aunt Tiffany and Joseph came over to exchange adults gifts and to watch the girls uncover what Santa dropped off the previous night.  Kylie was at her Dad's house, unfortunately, but that just meant we got to have another celebration later.  Silver linings.

Having the Martin clan over also meant that we got to have- wait for it- biscuits and chocolate gravy for breakfast!  Biscuits and chocolate gravy are a long-standing Martin family tradition.  Ryan's Dad and his sisters fight over who makes it the best.  I'm not going to get in the middle of that but I will say that Mike whipped up a might good batch for us on Christmas morning.

Aunt Tiffy reading to the Boo Boo.

Emery trying to take all the candy without being noticed.  Fail.

Pawpaw B, you'll be pleased to see that Bella got some clothes for Christmas.

Ugh- be still my heart.  How are they getting so big?!

This round of biscuits and chocolate gravy was most definitely kid-approved.

After stuffing ourselves silly, Ryan and I hurriedly packed up the car and we went with his family over to look at the progress on the new house.  We left straight from there to go to Conroe for Christmas Part 2 with the Boarman crew.

The girls were pretty well practiced at present opening at this point and it was nearly impossible to hold them off.  So we pretty immediately got down to the business of opening gifts.

Dad!  There's an alien in this box.  Get him out!!!

Em checking out the alien.

I actually did a pretty horrific job of documenting the present opening.  (Raise your hand if you're shocked?) So I'm including all that I took here.  Quantity over quality?

Nothing says biker babe like a good thumb in the mouth.  (Side note: I think she was teething because she had that thumb in there a ton over this break.)

After the serious presents were opened and Brynn was down for a nap, we adults held our first annual white elephant.  I have to say that for only 7 participants, it was fairly lively.  Ryan and I procured ourselves to go plates and an actual white elephant.  If that isn't winning, I am just not sure what is.

Wine Loving Willie was a hot ticket item. 

The remainder of the weekend was spent doing what we all do best- napping, watching football (gross), going on walks, playing a spirited game of Cards Against Humanity, eating way too many cookies and just generally enjoying getting to relax and hang out together.

I was going to caption this- "Oh to sleep like a child," but I'm pretty sure I still do.

Nonnie finally has another elf to help decorate cut out cookies.  I think Julie is more than pleased to pass off that torch.

It was serious business, guys.

When it's raining outside, what else is there to do but have drone wars in the house?  (Matt's is the bigger one, Dad's is the littler one.)

It's hard to say who dug this game the most between Emery, the pilots and the dogs.  Notice Dallas at the bottom right hand corner.

Aunt Julie caught this picture of Nonnie, Emery & Pawpaw all catching a snooze as Ryan and I packed up to get ready to head back.

And last, but definitely not least, on our way back home on Sunday we swung by Ryan's parents' house to celebrate Christmas with Kylie.  We heard that Santa had left her a few things there while she was at her Dad's and that was not just a rumor.  

In addition to checking out Kylie's loot from Santa, the girls exchanged presents and got presents from Grandma & Pawpaw.  As you'll see below- there was no shortage of presents!

Emery giving the Barbie House that Santa brought a test drive before Kylie got there.

Can you guys believe how big my sweet niece is getting?!

Brynn assumes everything is food until proven otherwise.  This was a Snoopy ornament.

Emery opening a few books.

Emery, Elsa & Kylie playing Barbie house...

...While Brynn catches up on her reading.

To make life easy, and to maximize playing time for the girls, Grandma and Pawpaw ordered pizza.  This is Emery's absolute favorite food and getting to eat it sitting right next to Kylie made her laugh the. entire. meal.  Brynn didn't know what was so funny but she wanted in so she would randomly laugh.  Which made all of us laugh.  I'm sure if anyone had been filming us they would have assumed we were drunk.

Post pizza party we decided to give Kylie's new game, Pie Face, a test drive.  I'll let the videos speak for themselves.

No, she absolutely had no idea what was coming.  Yes, there were tears.  Don't worry- Ryan and I each did it afterwards so she wouldn't feel alone.  No, you won't see those videos.

Kylie handled it a little better.

Soon after being pelted with whipped cream, we Martins had to pack up and hit the road before our princesses turned into pumpkins.  We had so, so much fun!  As Em would say, we are "SO sad" it's over.  Thank you to all who participated and helped to make it such a wonderful memory.  We love you all!