Christmas in KC

First thing in the morning we were once again headed to the airport. This time our destination was home. We walked in the door and E was thrilled to see that Santa had come. She wanted to get right to work before we had even gotten the bags in the door. 

Duke was pretty excited too but he liked to open a present and play with it for awhile before opening another. I typically prefer this method. He's so easy going! 

E was BEYOND excited to find out that Santa had gotten her exactly what she wanted. I mean this girl was shaking she was so happy. 

Bear was pretty pleased with his train set. All he kept saying was "Choo- choooooo! Open choo- chooo!!"

Mama made E a craft table for her to keep her craft stuff on in the craft room upstairs. She was pretty excited about that but we'll save that for another post.

The rest of our day consisted of playing, playing and more playing. It was so nice to be home. 

The best part about coming home though was getting all of our mail!!! Holy Christmas Card AWESOMENESS!!!! 

Our wall is all filled up and we love seeing everyone's smiling faces! 

And just like that, our day was over and these little people got some much needed sleep. 

Wrapping Up Houston

Our final day in Houston was a busy one full of fun! We started the day off right with donuts! The kiddos (and adults) were in heaven. 

  

Then we had a mini photo shoot. Janet got the kiddos matching t-shirts. She think of everything. Looking good girls! 

 

 What handsome Dudes! Once Duke starts talking more these two will be wild! 

We loaded up and headed out to what Janet called "the zoo." Okay zoo I thought, lots of walking, seeing animals, awesome. Not exactly. This was better!!! This was a wildlife reserve with TONS of animals from rhinos, to buffalo. They had zebras, giraffes, ostraches, all sorts of deer, goats and the list goes on. We loaded up on a "tram" and they gave us buckets of food.

 Duke was ready to ride!

E sat with Grammy and Pa. She was ready to go with her bucket.

 We started driving and as we went the animals would come right up to the tram and eat from your buckets. It was crazy! 

 

This guy still gives me the heebie jeebies.

It was awesome! A buffalo ended up taking Jakob's entire bucket. Duke wasn't all that excited to feed the big animals. 

After our ride, E got brave enough to feed the ostrich thruogh the gate with Grammy's help.

Pa and his wild animals.

The adults are a bit nuts too!

 Then the kids got to ride pony's. I was really impressed with E. She was super brave. 

 Duke however was not impressed which really surprised me. He did so well riding the pony's last year in KC. 

 Then we went to feed the goats. 

These guys were just the right size for Duke!

E really got into it!

This is exactly how I felt after this trip. I ate so much Mom and Dad said they could see that I had grown. I was totally a pig!

And out final dance party of the trip! I can't believe how fast the party went! Thank you so much to Chad and Janet for hosting us and for all of the fun! We had a blast and I loved watching the cousins together! We love you guys dearly!!!

Houston Day 5

Everyone was feeling a bit stir crazy and it was finally dry enough to go to the park!!

This park overlooks the ocean and it's a personal favorite of mine. 

Swining with his Pa. 

Tossing rocks into the ocean. 

 

I wish I would have had my nice camera. There were sailboats just on the horizon and it was pretty fantastic photo.

 I wish we would have thought to take a nice picture all dressed up with Grammy, Pa and the kidlets. This swing was a good way to contain the tiny humans.

 

 The ladies.

The crew. Love this crew!

That eveing the girlies had community tub time. There were lots of giggles coming from the tub. 

For the evening activity Grammy played Quirkle with the kids. It was definitely a favorite! We are having so much fun!!

Christmas Day

Looks like Santa made it to Aunt Janet's house!! 

 

Long before our trip to Houston we began explaining to E that Santa would not be bringing her presesnts to Aunt Janets house. He knew that we had no room in our suit cases for the kiddos toys, so he was going to leave them at our house. I was a bit worried about what her reaction would be Christmas morning but she was just as happy as could be with the treasures Aunt Janet and Grammy spoiled her with! One of her favorite items being this tub for her Barbies!

 

Duke got a few treasures too! 

 

And of course Aunt Janet got a few things for our future little man. She is beyond generous and so thoughtful. Thank you so much Aunt Janet and Grammy for making all of my kiddos feel special!

 

Then there was lots of playing. 

 

 Pa made pancakes for breakfast!! So delicious!

We had church at 12:00 which was the nicest thing ever! It was a slow morning where we just got to enjoy and soak everything in. Since everyone was dressed up we figured it was the perfect time for some family photos. 

Tobler Christmas 2017! 

Benicio and Grammy were feeling a bit under the weather so we left them at home. They sure did miss out though! The sacrament program was amazing! The music, the Christmas story. It was perfect! 

These two couldn't be any cuter!

I really feel that we will have to have a photo like this on one of our future Christmas cards. Jakob... present, Duke ignoring, children screaming and I'm just nuts!

Once we got home it was dinner prep time! Oh my LANTA! Turkey dinner twice in one year?! Be still my heart! We cheated a bit but dinner prep was quick and painless.

Chad and Janet ordered a turkey from Popeye's and it was AMAZING!!!!!!! So full of flavor, juicy, tender! AHH! I'm literally drooling thinking about it!

For the evening activity we played Pictionary. We may or may not be a little competitive. It was a fun evening.

Then it was game time!!! I'm a pretty big Chiefs fan. It's hard not to be when we had Andy Reid in our previous ward along with other members of the team, and in our current ward there are also several Chiefs. My Christmas wish was for a Chiefs win...

And guess what?! WE DID!!! It was a very Merry Christmas full of family, laughter, and love! I am so thankful for this time of year and for our precious Savior. Merry Christmas everyone!