Christmas Part 2 with the Hobbs

We had a wonderful time with the Hobbs and Niki this past week. They arrived Christmas Eve afternoon. We had so much fun with them and were so thankful they came to see us! Here are some pictures to update you on our Christmas Day and the week following.

Christmas Eve Caroline opened one gift from her Great Grandmommie Hobbs. It was a beautiful recording of "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Caroline loved it!

Christmas morning was a little different because Brad had to go into work first thing. But he got home around 10 that morning and we celebrated after a yummy breakfast and after Emily woke up from her first nap.

Listening to Brad read the Christmas story from the Bible

Emily inspecting all the gifts we set out for Caroline to find.

After Christmas we had a fabulous week spent loving on Nana, Papa and Nik Nik. Nothing extremely exciting but here are a few of the moments we caught on camera.

Little talks with Isabelle...

Tickle-monster visits...


Kitchen strolls...

Pizza making...

A trip to the Museum of Discovery...

And of course a trip to Chuck E. Cheese!!

Wakefield Christmas 2010

We are so thankful for my family coming to Little Rock to celebrate Christmas with us this year. We had a fun filled week- we rode the trolley downtown and across the river, visited the Peabody Ducks, went caroling at a local nursing home, visited Heifer International museum, and had a Christmas dinner and presents the night before they left for Georgia. Thank you Wakefield's for making it so much fun to celebrate the holidays this year! We love you and miss you already.

Andrew brought his dog, Harmony, with him. Caroline was in love.

Sweet, tired-eyed Emily enjoying Christmas presents. Thankfully she didn't mind that her sister ripped open all of her gifts. Next year may be interesting. :)

No, they are not twins...but boy do they look and act like it sometimes!

Family shot before caroling at the nursing home

Andrew and Dad played guitar and sang, Brad, Mom, and I sang, and the girls played jingle bells.

Trolley ride through downtown Little Rock

We got off the trolley and saw the Peabody Ducks march. They got out of the fountain and onto the elevator and rode upstairs to their "residence" until the next morning when they march back down to the fountain. Caroline loved it!

Emily had no clue what was happening...she hid it well though. LOL.

AND...1st time ever that I have seen a surprise engagement...during the duck march...Mr. proposed to Mrs. and we all cheered!

Trip to St. Louis

The girls and I packed up and left for St. Louis on Friday. We met my parents in Memphis and they traveled the rest of the way with us. We had a lot of fun and wore the girls out! They were really great travelers and I was impressed with how well they did. We arrived in time Friday night to attend my uncle's Christmas benefit concert that he puts on each year. It was phenomenal. We got to visit with some of my mom's side of the family and fortunately it worked out that our friends from Mercer Medical school, Matt and Allison Barton and baby Noah, were able to come visit! We got spend a few hours loving on handsome Noah and catching up. I was so thankful that Allison made the drive to come see us. We left for Little Rock on Sunday morning and had lunch at a restaurant that we had eaten at several times growing up- Lamberts Cafe "Home of the "throwed" rolls". It is a huge restaurant, down home cooking, and of course- "throwed rolls!" Caroline loved taking it all in...and especially loved a mechanical choo choo train that circled around overhead. There is a video below of the rolls being tossed. :)

Paul and Tim played some background music on Saturday as we visited. :)

Little Moe was the hit of the party- Emily and Caroline gave him a work out! Thanks for the entertainment Moe...and we loved your sweater.

These pics were taken on the way home...at Lamberts and McDonalds. Fun road trip stops. I think we averaged stopping at 4 McDonalds this trip. Wow. No, we didn't eat at all of them, just stretched and played, but I have had my fill! At one of them I got to experience the playplace up close and personal. The indoor play area was labeled "ages 3 and up"....for a good reason. Because when I coerced my newly 2 year old into it and she took off climbing, climbing, climbing, through a huge maze...she couldn't find her way down and was NOT going to go down the slide herself. So after a few minutes of realizing my "coaching" skills were not going to get her down, I took my boots off and journeyed up the maze. Wow. It was a work out, very claustophobic, and confusing!! It took me a good 5 minutes to figure out where in the world Caroline was! Thankfully she was happy as a lark, jumped on my lap and slid down the slide with me. Not much fun for me- lots for her I am sure. So, don't ignore the signs on the play area. They are legit. :)

And I just took a couple pics of my sassy little thing this morning. She looks so big to me. She is growing and changing everyday. She wants to walk so bad...it's coming soon I know.