Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 needs to be written down in record books. I'm pretty sure we had the most fun out of any other family. Trust me, we know how to party!!!! Some of us partied for a month, others were here a few weeks. My parents had queen bunk beds made for upstairs, so at one point we had four couples all snuggled in up there. It was so much fun. Late night talks, and laughing so hard we cried. I of course love being around all my siblings, and Gavin loved having built in playmates. You should see his Aunts and Uncles play with him. They are great!!!! If Aunt's and Uncle's weren't playing with him, then it was all about the cousins. We did so many fun things. My mom had it planned out to a "T." We were so sad when everyone had to leave, but I guess the party had to end sometime. :( Enjoy our amazing Christmas through pictures.


We had family pictures taken. This is one of the best. The others....not so hot

Friday night we rented a stretch hummer limousine and drove around Dallas to look at Christmas lights. Here Gavin is "Flying" from the front to the back.

Hodgkiss and Jones all packed in together
Gavin and Brylee snuggled together looking at the lights
Christmas Eve we had a visit for Santa and Mrs. Claus. The kids loved it, and felt so special.
One big happy family!!!
Grand kids in their matching pj's

Christmas morning was so much fun. Gavin really got into Santa this year. He was spoiled rotten. If fact, we all were.
Let the craziness begin
Gavin's stocking and present's from Santa.
After the craziness of Christmas morning, church, and amazing Christmas dinner, we all crashed pretty hard that night. We all needed our rest because Monday we woke up, packed an over-night bag, and headed to Great Wolf Lodge for two days. It has the largest in door water park in the U.S. There are only a handful of them scattered around the U.S., so we were in for a big treat. It was a BLAST!!!! We all loved it. They had a kiddie area with slides, giant ship with bigger slides (Gavin's favorite), and even had a couple of slides that scared the adults half-to-death. We took in every minute we could. Even with all of that swimming, Gavin still threw a fit about leaving. We loves the water.
Here is just one part of the indoor water park. The orange and green slides on the right of the picture were Gavin's favorite. He is just a dare devil.
Wednesday was our Adult night. We played whirlyball (pictured below), laser tag, and went out to dinner. It was so nice to be kid free for the evening. It meant we could act like kids again. One of the funnest kid-free nights we have had. While we were out acting like kids, all of the grand kids stayed home with Nana and Papa. They went to the park after naps, headed to Chuck e Cheese, and watched a movie. Talk about great grandparents. Our children have been so blessed to be apart of this family.



Friday morning we headed to SMU to watch BYU vs. Tulsa in the Arm Forces bowl. We love us some BYU football. Good thing we pulled it off in the end. That was a close one.
New Year's we all headed to Trail dust to eat some steak, slide down the 30 ft. slide, and do some country dancing. Annual sister's picture. I'm not sure why we do this. I guess to see how much older fatter/skinnier we look over the years. Probably not the best idea. Anyways, Gavin loved going down the slide over and over again. He hardly stopped to eat. We spent two and half hours there. Then, we ended our night with the traditional banana splits. Did i mention we did tons of eating.... I think we all gain around 10 pounds. YIKES!!!!
Gavin going down the slide.
5 out of 7 kids still partying hard!!!!

Ofcourse I took a million pictures, but tried to pick only a few. What you didn't see was many days of shopping, 3 movies, hours of outside playing, a game of kickball, taking the cousins to a indoor bounce house, broom hockey at the American Airlines Center, and nights of dance dance on the kinect. See, I told you we know how to party. If you didn't already want to be apart of my family, I'm sure you do now. :) I can't thank my parents enough for all the fun. It was a Christmas we will never forget.

Children's Holiday parade

Llama Llama Red Pajama-we read this book every night
Gavin's Favorite: a train with bubbles


Best family picture we could get.

Last Saturday we went to the Children's Parade in downtown Dallas. My parents volunteer each year to help check tickets, so we decided to tag along. Last year, Gavin had so much fun, so I knew this year would be even better. We got down there pretty early, so Gavin had plenty of time to see the clowns, say hi to the characters, and run around A LOT. It was a really fun morning. We were all exhausted afterwards. Gavin took a really long nap that afternoon. A plus for both of us!!! :)

Happy Birthday Alligator

Oh Alligator, you have been in our family for over a year. Happy Birthday!!!! I remember when Nana bought Gavin this alligator. See, Gavin was/is terrified of the alligator at Grapevine Mills Mall. So, last Thanksgiving we thought it would be funny to buy him this little alligator and see what he did. The first time he saw it, he was scared to death. We would randomly put it next to him, or on his shoulder. I know, we are sooo mean, but it was too funny. After the five day vacation, Gavin would hold this 8 inch alligator by the tail only. He had to be certain Alligators mouth came no where near him. It didn't take long for them to become friends. Gavin plays with him at least once a day now. Did i mention this alligator cost a total of...........wait.......wait......wait for it.......one whole dollar. ONE DOLLAR!!!!!! That's it. This stupid toy, that is a must have for Gavin, cost less that the donuts we ate yesterday. Anyways, needless to say, Gavin has become quite the fan of Alligators. He loves going to see them at the zoo, and watch them on national geographic. Although, he is still terrified of the alligator at Grapevine Mills Mall. Silly boy.


Lately, Alligator takes a bath with Gavin every night. Many nights we wash him too.

He came to the BYU game with usA sleeping companion
Playing under the kitchen table Thanksgiving morning Alligator has been to: Utah, Idaho, Montana, Tennessee, Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma. Most of the time Alligator lives in Gavin's frog backpack. He also goes to church every week, eats meals, and runs many errands with us. Who knew one dollar could bring so much joy to this little boy. Happy Birthday Alligator!!!!

Riding the Polar Express

Getting ready to board the train. They were soooo excited!!!!!





Dancing to the Christmas music with Miss LilyTrying to put his ticket in his pocket. Uncle Brent taught Gavin that his pocket was up his pant leg over a year ago. He insist that's where everything goes. :)


On Black Friday night we headed to Grapevine to ride the Polar Express. I was so excited to take Gavin. He loves Trains and watches the movie Polar Express at least once a week. Gavin was ecstatic about getting on the train.We first went in this big tent and watched a little show. It was a lot of singing and we met the conductor of the train. Then, we walked through a path surrounded by Christmas trees, and it was snowing. Once on the train we sang Christmas songs, and Santa came by to give each child a gift and hot chocolate. Gavin was so excited the entire time. He loved every minute!!!! Thank you Nana and Papa. It has been so much fun this Holiday season taking Gavin to all of these activities. Although he is a handful at times, I can't imagine my life any other way. He is full of life, personality, and energy.

Meeting Santa

After Thanksgiving Dinner we headed to Outdoor World to get pictures with Santa. They have a carousel, crafts, train, shooting games, and the best part is it's all FREE!!!! I wasn't sure how Gavin would react to Santa this year. He was so funny. He walked right up to Santa, but once he got in his lap he froze. We couldn't get him to smile for the life of us. He kept his head perfectly still, but kept darting his eyes from Santa to me. He then turned and gave Santa a hug, and walked away. Of course he loved walking around and seeing all of the animals and fish. Great way to really start off the Christmas season.
Ps. I tried to upload a video of Gavin meeting Santa but it won't work. Sooooo annoying