What to do for Christmas… Mitch & Faye had a perfect solution
this year!!! Christmas at their place in Wichita!!! We were RIDICULOUSLY EXCITED!!! I could hardly wait to hear Melissa, Colton, & Oren yell "AUNT
SHELLY!!!" In the cutest little British accents ever when we walked through the
door! Almost all of the Smith crew got to come to Mitch & Faye's place at McConnell AFB in
Wichita except for Mikey, Ragen, & Hunter, and of course Matt. We missed them so much but Christmas with part of the fam is better than none of the fam any day!
We drove through the night and got in Christmas Eve morning! It was only
a few day stay but it was one we will never forget! It was so heartwarming
watching my kids make Christmas memories with their cousins just like we did so
many years as kids!
Christmas eve day we walked with the kids to an awesome
playground in Mitch’s neighborhood. They actually all (semi)cooperated for a
picture or two!
Baby Barrett was a huge hit and all the kids fought over who
got to hold him. I know the pics look like he is 8 months old… nope! Still
under 3 months! This kid is MASSIVE and so freaking cute!We had a blast playing with little Oren too :)
For Christmas dinner Mitch bought what looked like an entire
half of a COW in brisket form!!! I got to spend a good chunk of Christmas Eve
with my Dad in the kitchen… talking, laughing, and learning the secrets to his
famous marinade. (Don’t forget the entire jar of maraschino cherries and juice minus
what Dad and I popped in our mouths!) It has been too long since I spent that
much time with Dad in the kitchen. THAT was my favorite Christmas present!
Thank you Mitch for the meat and thank you Dad for teaching me your magic and hanging out with me!
For Christmas Eve we went with Faye’s tradition which was so
fun! One giant wrapped box for ALL the kids to open together filled with PJs
for everyone, Christmas books, Christmas movies, treats, etc. So cute! Such a
great idea!
After Christmas cookies were decorated (fingers stained with
red and green frosting of course) it was time to wind down and hit the hay
before the BIG MAN came our way!!!
SANTAAAAAAAA CAAAAAAAAAME!!! Big surprise… all the kids got
spoiled ROTTEN!!! The loot for our kiddos… Bug and Kenzie got BETTA FISH! Terrible idea Santa…
Now we have to get them back to Illinois without killing them! But the girls were ecstatic! Braxton
got a light saber builder set that was sold out EVERYWHERE! Good thing Santa
has elves to figure that stuff out!
Mitch & Faye had a genius idea to keep little naughty
hands from ripping into the presents before go time… Giant baby gate fortress
of presents! They still managed to stick their fingers through the holes and
rip a few of course.
My favorite part of present opening is snuggling my kiddos
and Rich and my nieces and nephews. I think that was Rich’s favorite part too!
One of my favorite pics of the whole trip!!! Bug was TICKED because she wanted what Kenzie got! HAHA! LIFE LESSON KIDDO!
I absolutely love this picture of mom & dad! They look so comfy!
Absolute BEST part of the day though?... WE GOT TO SEE MATT
ON THE BIG SCREEN AND TALK TO HIM ON SKYPE!!! Reading his emailed every week
and hearing how great he is doing is one thing but SEEING how happy he is for
myself really helps my big sister heart! PERFECT Christmas present! I might
have been crying through most of it – just so proud and excited for him and
missing him too but mostly happy tears!
It was an incredible Christmas vacation! Thank you SO MUCH everyone!
Once we got back home we had our own little mini Christmas…
The BIG boxes that they were so excited for... RAZOR SCOOTERS!!!
Merry Christmas from the Under Armour Kids (Thanks to Uncle Mike!)
