Delightful December

December started in a wonderful way with the Ducks winning the Pac-12 championship! Not a bad way to start the month!

We had fun on South Congress and had a little photoshoot as well!

On a lazy Saturday, Allie found Jake's old costumes....crazy monkeys actually crazy lions and Pikachus. 

The Tutu really ads something to the outfit!

I love that Jake is reading now but him reading to Allie is just about the sweetest thing ever!

Jake's class had a fun field trip to the Austin Nature Center!

Birthday party Saturday! Allie had parties for her friend Mila W. and then her old boyfriend, Josh. Meanwhile Jake was at a party for his buddy Avi! Mila's party was with the guys from Little Wing Music (they did Allie's 2nd birthday party) and she was rockin' it.

This is the best I could do in my attempt to capture Allie and Josh together.

I was very excited for Hanukkah this year. I was prepared more than in previous years and that alone was a Hanukkah miracle!

We had a great first night with Bubba making latkes and Matzah Ball soup and complete with a little driedel.

Hanukkah also brought a visit from Uncle Phillip! Both kids (but especially Jake) were super excited for his visit! 

Loving their Bathrobes from Great! 

I went with Bubba and the kids to see the "Mutt-cracker (Sweet)" at the Vortex Theater. Jake and Bubba went last year and Allie and I tagged along this year. It's put on by "Circus Chickendog" an Austin-based troupe that has more dogs than humans. It was...interesting but the kids loved it of course and it was fun to do something different!

Meeting the cast!

We did the 5th night of Hanukkah with the Gray's and were happy to introduce Hanukkah to Hailey and Ryan.

Jake was so sweet with Ryan!

Thanks to the Grey Family for introducing burnt orange into their wardrobe! 

It had been awhile since we had had a mani-pedi date so we invited our friend Penelope and her mom, Clara to join us for some girly fun!

Jake's creation! This is what you do when you're home from school for two-weeks. 

The last night of Hanukkah! Eight days is great but it's a long time!

This is the first year that Jake and Allie picked out gifts for each other! I remember doing this with my sister so I loved every second of it. 

We had a lovely day on Christmas Eve day of just hanging out the four of us! But on Christmas we had 10 adults, 10 kids and a whole bunch of booze! We had a great time and clearly the kiddos were in need of getting some energy out. I think the parents needed it too!

The girls having a tea party was just darling!

Followed by a movie for Allie and Livy!

While the boys played...

The next morning we left for Houston. Our first stop was to visit Alex's grandma, Berte. She was so happy to see her great-grandchildren and couldn't get over them, especially how Allie worked an iPhone!

Then we met Lisa and her boys for lunch. The boys were so excited to see Jake, it was very sweet! Alex got Allie to take a bit of a nap while Lisa and I got to catch up a bit while the noisy boys played. Eventually we went out for a walk and to the park. We met this guy along the way and stopped for a photo!

Sunday morning we headed over to see Aunt Noonie & Uncle Papa. We got to have Ken's famous waffles and a very nice morning together. Noonie hit a home run with some very sweet Hanukkah presents! It was a perfect last stop for our quick trip to Houston. 

Back to Austin for time with the BFF! Hailey got a stroller for Christmas and couldn't wait to show Allie. They thought it was so cool they both had strollers for their babies!

Georgia played the Louisville Cardinals in the Belk Bowl on December 30 and after work I met Alex and the kiddos at The Tavern to cheer on our Dawgs! Happily the Dawgs destroyed Louisville and a great time was had by all!

 Our biggest Dawg fan with his biggest fan!

We spent New Years with the kiddos and some good friends which was really fun! Not everyone made it to midnight but amazingly we all did! Allie loved being with her friends Mila and Livy. Livy's big brother, Ben, followed Jake around and he loved having someone who actually listened to him (read not Allie) and having another boy around to play with.  

Allie's plays us into the New Year! Happy New Year and here's to an amazing 2015 for all of us!