The rest of the story...

Now that all of my Christmas pictures have been recovered, I can finish sharing about our Christmas.

Christmas evening, we went to church to celebrate with the Swartzentrubers (Alex's mom's side). Instead of exchanging gifts this year, all of the family was invited to participate in a talent show. It was sooo fun! My girls couldn't wait for their turns. They love the stage! First, Braylee and her cousin Trista sang the Old and New Testaments and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Then Brynna sang Little Wormy, ABCs, and said the Pledge of Allegiance. I literally had to rip the microphone from her hands because she wanted to perform more! :) Then Braylee decided to tell the Christmas story, but she was being a little shy at this point and forgot some of the parts, but she still covered the main points. Others did puppet shows, sang, and played the piano.

Alex with his girls, his mom, and his grandma

The day after Christmas, we celebrated at Gramma & Pappy's. Gramma & Uncle Adam had put together a scavenger hunt for the girls' big gift. The girls and Gabe went running all over the house on their "treasure" hunt. They ended up in Adam's old room...and found new chairs with their names on them! So cute! We took a picture of the grandkids lined up in their chairs. The little ones went down for naps after lunch and we enjoyed a quiet afternoon of playing games. Gramma, Mandi, and I were frustrated with two straight losses to the boys in Taboo and Pictionary. Then we realized it's because all 4 of them are "hard-wired" the same...they think too much alike!

Pappy & Gramma with the grandkids

Uncle Adam and the girls. He got them boots.
Checking one of the clues on their hunt.
Finding their chairs.
Brynna, Braylee, Gabe, & Ella

The next morning after church, we went to my Grammy's house. It was definitely sad not having Gramps and Uncle Bill there. Alex was sick, so he missed out on the fun too. We ate lunch, opened gifts, and then played Spades...and of course joked about how Gramps would have tried to cheat. Braylee wasn't ready to say good-bye to Taryn when it was time to go, so Mamaw invited Braylee to spend the night at her house.

Then, Brynna and I went to Ella's 1st birthday party! Mandi had the house all decked out in pink & red and Ella loved all of the attention. :) Happy Birthday, sweet girl!