Merry Christmas 2011

Christmas was a magical holiday this year with so many exciting moments for the kids.  Here are a few of the highlights of our Christmas weekend.

Jack & Kara made a gingerbread house together at the Austin Children's Museum:

The day before Christmas eve we visited the Zilker Christmas tree.  The kids enjoyed drinking hot chocolate and running underneath the lights.

The Zilker tree is not actually a tree, it is just lights hung from an Austin moon tower. The kids decided it looks more like a volcano than a tree...inside the Zilker volcano:

After the Zilker volcano we stayed the night in a hotel downtown (we won a free nights stay in a raffle a couple of months ago).  All five of us stayed in one room together and had a blast.  It had been a long time since we stayed in a hotel together.  This pic is in the hotel lobby on Christmas Eve morning:

Christmas eve we baked and decorated sugar cookies:

Christmas morning was full of excitement and fun! This was our first year to do stockings and they were a big hit.

Pa bought Ainsley a remote-control T-Rex..."Roar!"

Kara pulled in a lot of princess loot and was in princess heaven!

Our family Christmas lunch:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday, Ainsley!

Today Ainsley Ann turned 5 years old!

Ainsley enjoyed a really great day today.  We started the morning with special presents from Grandma and Grandpa D and the Lowman's.  After Sunday school and lunch we got to the much anticipated highlight of the day -- a party with her friends from school at Pump It Up, full of bouncy houses and slides. 

A few pictures from the party:

Tonight we had a small family party with a pinata.  Since it was raining and very cold outside the poor T-Rex had to hang from the second floor. 

Ainsley has literally been asking about her birthday for six months.  Tonight when she was going to bed I said, "Did you have a good birthday?"  She replied with, "Yes.  When is my next birthday?"  Gotta love a child's love of their birthday :-)