"May Sisses!"

FYI: "May Sisses!" = "Merry Christmas!" in Keaton lingo












We had such a terrific trip to SC for Christmas!

Highlights included:

• Nutcracker: watching our niece, Laura perform in the Nutcracker. She was the cutest, most graceful "Bon Bon" ever to take the stage! Here's a pic of the family after her performance

• Special Dinner: my brother in law, Rob, has become a master at preparing his signature Nicaraguan cuisine patterned after everyone's favorite Miami restaraunt, Los Ranchos. He and Lisa treated us one night to marinated skirt steak, black beans and rice, 2 different flavors of chimichurri, fried yuca, and plantains - yummy!! I should have taken some pictures, but I was too busy stuffing myself to think about it!
  

• Tiny Tots: this is the first time Keaton and his cousin Matthew (2) have been old enough to really "play" together. It was so much fun to watch them interact. It is obvious that they will be close friends (partners in crime) for years to come!

• Grove Park Inn - we ventured up to Asheville on the day after Christmas to visit the Grove Park Inn. They had fresh snow on the ground, and amazing Christmas decor. We ate lunch at their buffet which was RIDICULOUSLY good!

Sleigh Ride with "Brumbra"












Laura and Rob














Grandma with her girls












Matthew feeding Keaton a strawberry at lunch

• Kids & Gifts: Christmas with a houseful of kiddos is just too fun! Keaton's favorite gifts included his many new cars and trucks, his Elmo guitar, his Little People barn and carnival. He also loved playing with the toys that Santa brought to Matthew. In fact, we had several lessons in teaching him to share Matthew's toys with Matthew! Here's some of my favorite pics of the kids last week.

Gingerbread houses












Keaton and "DeDe"














Holiday Barbies!














Matthew was our funny Clone Trooper in diapers! He is quite the comedian.














At the Christmas Eve service this year, the pastor talked about how as children, our joy in Christmas is primarily found in the anticipation of the gifts we will RECEIVE. As adults, our joy is found more in watching others (especially our children) enjoy the gifts we have GIVEN, much like God delights in watching us enjoy the gifts that he has so graciously provided for all of us. As you know, this has been a tough last few months for Scott and I, but I have never felt more blessed by God than I am now. How amazing it is to know that we have a God that we do not have to pay penance to, but One that delights in OUR joy.

1 John 3:1 "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"

Oh well, we tried!

"Smile, Douglas, Caroline, Matthew, Keaton and Laura!" Getting a decent picture of the Anderson cousins is getting trickier every year.












Notice Caroline flashing the U sign for Miami!

"La La" = "Elmo"

I've blogged before about Keaton's love for Elmo. All along, he's always said "La La" when referring to his furry red friend. This morning, he points to the TV and says, "ELMO!" Clear as day! What an amazing verbal milestone for Keaton, but a kinda sad one for Mom. Another reminder that my little baby boy is growing so fast!

Christmas Portraits

We took Keaton to JCPenneys today on a whim and had some Christmas portraits made. I went into the experience with zero expectations. He does not have the best track record of cooperating for pictures lately. Thank goodness Santa was nowhere in sight. It's a Christmas miracle!

Good Friends

We were able to spend some time recently with our good friends, the Batusics! They have two sweet boys, Andrew (22 mos) and Jacob (4 mos). Keaton and Andrew had a great time playing together, and we had so much fun catching up with John and Melissa!





















































Meg, don't worry. As you can see from the pics, we basically just read books the whole time - no fun at all! ;-)

Our trip to the North Pole (Bass Pro Shops)

I had a feeling this was going to happen. All day, I kept asking Keaton, "Do you want to go see Santa this afternoon?" He repeatedly told me, "No!" But he says that alot, so I hoped that maybe once we got there, Santa could win him over with a candy cane and some "Ho ho hos!" No such luck. We arrived a little early to avoid the line, so Santa was walking around the store talking to kids and playing with toys. As soon as Keaton spotted him, he immediately climbed up my leg and started putting his head on my shoulder. The funny thing is that Keaton is in LOVE with Frosty the Snowman. I think if he was given a chance to sit on Frosty's lap, he would have grinned from ear to ear. Anyone know of a mall where you have this option? Anyway, When it came time for him to sit on Santa's lap, you can imagine how well that went over. Actually, you don't have to imagine. Here's the pic:














The reason we went all the way to Bass Pro Shops to visit Santa is that it is the ONLY place in Nashville where they give you a free picture! I was also really impressed with this Santa. He was a very good sport, and he did not smell like "beef and cheese" (for you Elf fans).

After Keaton recovered, we wandered around a little in the store. He loved looking at the big fish they have in the aquarium inside BPS. Look at this huge "FITH"!

Fire

I had to share this picture of the awesome fire Scott built in our fireplace! I guess all we need now is some chestnuts roasting...

Cookie Party!

Last week, Keaton got to meet up with his church friends and have a cookie decorating party. Keaton's idea of decorating cookies is dipping his finger in the icing and licking it!












With my help, we did manage to decorate 2 cookies below:












Jackson and Will (I think? Sorry Jen & Mike!)Knotts. Don't you love the green icing mustache?












Keaton with friends Noah and Wes (pretty sure ?)












My mom was in town, so she got to come to the party with us. She had fun cuddling with Baby Aaron Denny. As you can see, Keaton does not like sharing his "Brumbra" with anyone!

Fa la la la la

We have been busy making our house merry and bright!












Didn't Scott do a great job on the outside of our house? I was so proud of him for toiling in the freezing temps last weekend to get those lights up!

Here's a picture of Scott decorating our tree.

















Here's some pictures of Keaton UN-decorating our tree.





























Between Keaton and the cat, we cannot hang any ornaments lower than 3 feet from the bottom!

Trip to Oklahoma

We had a terrific time in Oklahoma last week hanging out with the family and friends that are LIKE family!













Mia is turning into such a big help with Keaton, and Keaton loves his cousin "Manie!" He's still talking about her! They had a great time playing together.












Keaton loved helping his "Brumbra" (Grandma) cook!


















Our friends, the Hudsons, had some horses at their house for the week, so we got to do a little bit of riding over at their place while we were home.













On Saturday, we watched the OU vs. OSU game over at my brother's house. As you can see, they are a house divided.












Who gave him those??!!


















Running free on 100 acres! A little boy's dream!

















Reading books with Papa


















Go ahead, laugh. It was quite exhausting getting Keaton to sleep in the car on the way home. I managed to coax myself to sleep in the meantime! Scott took this pic while driving! I'm just glad he did not try to put something in my mouth! 10 hours is a LONG trip with a toddler!

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving!
Yesterday, we made a field full of Oreo Turkeys with Aunt Alexis and cousin Mia. Didn't they turn out cute? Keaton helped eat the turkeys!


































Keaton jumped right in with the cooking this morning. As you can see, Grandma, sat him right down on the counter in the middle of a pile of flour and let him help make the dressing! What a mess.












Of course, my picky eater would not try any of the Thanksgiving dinner except the bread and cranberry sauce.

































Aunt Lexi knows the key to my heart - www.sesamestreet.org