One-derful!

We celebrated Declan's first birthday a few weeks early while they were in town for Christmas.  He was able to have a house full of people to celebrate the first year of his life.  Laura went with a beach theme and had the cutest smash cake made.  Declan loved the icing and once he finished licking it off one side of the cake it was time to turn the cake for more.  It was a fun time celebrating such a cutie pie!  

Playing with cousin Ella and ready to celebrate in his "one" onesie!

Love those sweet blue eyes.

The smash cake

Icing makes me smile! 

Lighting up our Christmas Spirit

We didn't make it to a lot of Christmas light displays this year but we did take some time to drive by the Candy Cane Crib here in Columbia and stop at The Magic Tree.  Christmas lights just always help you get into that Christmas spirit. 

Cookies and Cocoa

The girls making their cookies

Ella had another cookie decorating party, this time at school.  During her school fundraiser many of the teachers auction off activities you can do with them to raise money for the school.  Ella's bid won a cookie decorating party with her teacher, Mrs. Howard, and three of her friends.  Ella invited Jessie, Madelyn, and Amelie to her party and they all had so much fun.  
Mrs. Howard said Ella was excited all day long for the party after school. It was also crazy hair day if you are which added to the excitement and explains some of the hairdos in the picture (Ella's was a little more crazy that morning). She gave them all hot chocolate, they listened to Christmas music and made some beautifully decorated cookies.  Ella was excited to use a piping bag and tips for the first time and made some heavily iced creations.  All of the girls enjoyed their time together and with Mrs. Howard.  It was a memory I think Ella will cherish for many years.  

Stockings, Snowflakes and Sprinkles

While Hannah and Sarah were here after Thanksgiving we decided we better do our Christmas cookie decorating, since we wouldn't see them again until after Christmas.  It was a great way to start off the holiday season.  We had some elaborately decorated cookies and some silly ones too.  Everyone had fun making their cookie creations! 

A New Rivalry Begins

Now that Missouri and Kansas aren't in the same conference, and Kansas won't put Missouri on their schedule,  Mizzou needed a new rival.  The SEC has made Arkansas our rival.  I thought getting away from the Kansas rivalry would take away my family rooting for the opposition.  But, now Hannah is at Arkansas and the sports rivalry has switched to the other side of the family. 

Dana, Hannah and Sarah came up the night of Thanksgiving to spend the weekend and for Hannah and Dana to attend the Missouri v Arkansas game on Friday.  Sarah recently had surgery on her knee and was still on crutches so she and Ella stayed home for the day.  Ella isn't a big fan of long football Saturdays so she was happy to stay home with Sarah.  They watched movies, hung out and Sarah even taught her to crochet.  

The rest of us headed to tailgate then to the big game.  The stadium was full and it felt a bit like a rivalry atmosphere.  Not quite to the Kansas stage yet, but I think it will get there.  Arkansas got off to a great start and Hannah was giving Sam some trouble.  Luckily in the end Mizzou came back and Sam could pass all the trash talk back to Hannah.  It was a fun game and meant Mizzou was the back to back SEC East Champion.  

The students all rushed the field after we won to celebrate being SEC East Champions! 

Full of Thanks

We had a great Thanksgiving at AC and Al's house.  We just drove up for the afternoon and evening but we had a nice car ride listing all the things we were thankful for and there were so many.  Then John and I enjoyed blasting some nineties tunes and singing loudly, I don't think the kids enjoyed that part of the ride as much as we did.  We made a quick stop at the trail head for the California, Oregon and Santa Fe trails.  Ella is studying the Santa Fe trail as her major class at the gifted center so I thought I could show her where it was in Kansas City.  We took some pictures for her to share with her teacher and class.
Then we arrived at AC and Al's to a house filled with family and delicious food.  As usual, I ate way too much but everything was so good.  It was nice to have time to share a meal and catch up with everyone we had not seen in a while.  The day helped you realize what you truly are thankful for, family.  

Sorry I don't have the best pictures.  They are a last minute effort since I had not taken any all day.