Ending the year with a bang and some whipped cream

We ended 2016 by packing in as much time with family as possible.

It was so good to have these two guys around!

This little Miss loved the extra attention. She's getting so good at army crawling that nothing is safe on the ground anymore.

Love her and her fuzzy little head!

Lance! He got to come over a couple times and hang out with everyone. Thanks, Scott and Abbey, for sharing your time!

Every year my Allred grandparents send money to my mom to take everyone to dinner. This year we went to Nagoyas, a local hibachi grill. It never disappoints.

Cole's scar is healing well, although it's getting wider. The doctor said there really isn't much we can do, other than keep it moisturized. We may want to do a scar revision at a future date, depending on how the scar looks, but for now, it's better than the mole!

Lily got her very first hair cut!! Her poor hair has a tendency to turn into a rat's nest in the back, so we figured maybe trimming it would help.

She was so excited to finally get her hair cut!

Grandma's bathtub is the best! The kids love to play all together whenever we visit.

Look at the camera!

One more try.

Oh well.



Hanging out with the Scholz family. Our kids adore Callie and Bryce and beg to see them whenever we're in town.

Sweet cousins. Bryce is so patient.

Picnic dinner!

As is family tradition, Mom tried to teach Darnell how to play cribbage. 

How can you go wrong with all those back-seat players?


Lance finally got to try out his drone!

He did a pretty good job and was able to control it rather well. I'm excited to try out the video feature.

Telestrations, anyone?

Pie Face!

Love our family!


We drove back to Charlottesville to spend New Years at home. Nicole (Rossi) Jerrell was in town and came by to visit us. It was great catching up!

On to 2017!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning! The kids were all pretty excited, although were kind enough to let us sleep in until around 8. (A couple of them may have snuck down the stairs to peek at the tree before they were supposed to, but hey, it's Christmas.)

Okay, pictures done, it's time for presents!

Checking out the stockings:

Cole recently discovered Yoshi and it was love at first sight. He as been asking for Yoshi for months now, but not just one. He wanted four: "blue and pink and red and green". Santa delivered and Cole couldn't have been happier.

Skylanders!

All the kids got snazzy sunglasses.

Uncle Chad and Uncle Darnell are vying with Amy for best gift-giver. A drone? Really?

Cole's latest obsession is Plants vs. Zombies, so he was excited to get some figurines from the game.

Mom handed out the gifts.

IT was so fun having Chad and Darnell here!

Whenever you asked Cole what he was going to get for Christmas, he always responded with the Yoshi's and "an 'O' gauge Polar Express". Santa delivered again! (Cole is the easiest to shop for because he has the most particular taste and always knows exactly what he wants.)

Dad set it up for him and he chugged away happily. I'm crossing my fingers this lasts--it's not really a toy, but rather a "real" model train.

A bike! All the kids got new bikes this year!

Ooo! Pedicure from Uncle Chad!

Surveying the work:

After opening gifts, we ran over to the Glass's house for Christmas dinner! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the whole group! (Just go back and look at Thanksgiving--they're all there!)

The kids were happy to have their cousins to play with!

That evening, I picked up Lance from Scott and Abbey to spend a couple hours with us (Thanks, Scott!). We ran over to Callie and Bryce's house where George and the kids were so he could see everyone and open his gifts. I think he liked them.

Uncle Nate was there! He's the best!

Another book for our bookworm.

Before taking him back to Scott, we ran over quickly to my Mom's house so he could open his Santa gifts and see the family.

What? Santa got him a drone, too?

This cute boy is still loving his Yoshis!

He took it on a quick flight outside and got the hang of it pretty quick!

And it wouldn't be a visit with Uncle Chad without getting teeth checked. Lance is definitely going to need braces, but he has another year or so to wait.

Merry Christmas!