Christmas Eve and Christmas morning Purdy style

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. I honestly was very busy all month and was really looking forward to a few peaceful days with my little four pack. It was a much needed blessing to s-l-o-w down, sleep in, play games, eat great food and visit with my favorite people in the world. Thank you Lord for this time to reflect on your Son and for the continued Grace and Mercy you show us each and every day.

Christmas Eve was freezing!! I know it's cold when Ryan actually wears pants (he is always wearing shorts and it drives me a little nuts). It wasn't too cold to keep these 3 from hooping it up outside :).

We let Ally and Ryan open their gifts to each other early and this will probably be a new Wood family tradition because it spaced things out a bit and they were SUPER EXCITED!!

Ryan really liked his new DS game :). I see this scene a lot these days.

Then we went to Honey and GP's and let the Festivities begin. We let all the cousins draw a name and they got to choose a book for that person. This was a great idea sisters and we'll be doing this again next year too! Can you feel the anticipation?

The 8 books, each carefully chosen

Cousin twins again---these two are thick as thieves.

Pinkalicious!!

and a Phineas and Ferb chapter book for Ryan

We LOVE our books!!

Ally forced Aunt Kacey to read it immediately.

And then presents and more presents....such fun!

Dad read the Christmas story and we all headed to the Christmas Eve service

When we got back it was PJ time!!! We all have matching PJ'a...I mean ALL 18 of us, I'll post that picture soon---it's a keeper. My sweet Nana and her friend Sam were also with us this Christmas although I have no pictures to prove that. SO sorry NANA! I lost some major photo steam after the service. We were thrilled that you guys were here and absolutely LOVE getting to spend time with you.

After a short sleep it was CHRISTMAS MORNING!!! And of course Santa came and visited us at Honey and GP's.

Ally's stocking

Ryan's stocking

I wish Ryan I could have bottled Ryan and Ally's excitement when they ran into to find their stocking!! Ryan will never show his emotions in a picture but believe me he was STOKED that we're going to San Antonio to the Alamo Bowl!!

He's gonna wear this...

And Ally and I are gonna relax at the hotel while the boys go to the very late game :).

She was thrilled about her Barbie bike (and maybe even MORE excited about the mini Barbie bike that came with it)

Stocking madness

And then we had one of the best meals ever. Steak, twice baked potatoes and all the fixings. YUM!

Merry Christmas

from the Woods

to you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

"For unto us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Price of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Fun in December!

What a fun month!! December is always a super packed month and this year was no exception. We started the Christmas season off right with a performance by Ally Wood for Christmas Chapel. This girl LOVES to SING!! She did great:).

There was also a stellar performance by Charley and Stacey

GP and Ryan watched the greatness from the audience

After singing it was off to her classroom for the first of about 7,000 Christmas treats consumed by this super sweet girl!

Such a fun pre-k class

me and my star!

I found this little angel hanging out in the lunch room! He really is a angel most of the time...

We delivered gifts to a family in need

Such a great act of service that my dad has done for years. I got to experience this growing up and it's the COOLEST thing to share this now with my children. This year Stacey and Ally also got to participate and it was a huge blessing for all of us.

No December would be complete without a trip to see SANTA!! The big man visited Central National Bank and we opted for this rather than the mall this year. It was really a great experience. Ally was a bit timid at first but then warmed up and told Santa she wanted 'paint' :). Love that crafty girl! Ryan also sat on Santa's lap and told Santa he wanted Alamo Bowl Tickets this year for Christmas. He is a TRUE BU fan!! I had to laugh that I look a wee bit like Santa with my ever expanding belly:))))

Cousin twins

And then ALL the cousins. This is one big, crazy, excited group!!

Matchy matchy and

lil' matchy. Caroline's personality is really starting to sHiNe :)

On Christmas Eve we decorated our family gingerbread house. Every year it's a race to see who can get their side finished first. Nice work guys!

I hope you all had a JOY filled December as well!!

A Pajama Party for our Princess

When I asked Ally what kind of birthday party she wanted this year, without hesitation she said she wanted a pajama party!! Perfect for a cold December morning. I started planning this one WAY later than I normally do so once again the Cersey Team was called in to help implement the decorating. THANK YOU SISTERS!!! What goes better with PJ's than Donuts?? So we went B-I-G with donuts and had a great party. Thank you all for coming and celebrating with our Ally girl!

She was SO happy!! She smiled like this all day long. (Lauren these PJ's are awesome! Thanks again for stitching this for our princess.)

Donuts anyone? :)

(click to see some of the party decor...the donut trees were my favorite)

What five year old girl party would be complete without a great sparkly donut craft?? I think I had as much fun making these as the kids did decorating them!

The biggest donut I've ever seen!

and we couldn't forget the babies, so we had some donut seeds :)

One happy PJ lovin' family

She was very appreciative and complimented every single decoration, balloon, etc....so nice for momma to feel appreciated!!

Some of the donut lovin' folks

craft time!! notice while the girls worked hard on their donuts...

the boys played football outside! Honestly it worked out amazingly well for everyone :).

Honey read If you give a Dog a Donut, and all the party guest signed the cover for Ally---a treasure to see all those 4 and 5 year old signatures!

After the story it was time to sing to Ally and open some presents

We have some very sweet friends and Ally received WAY too much this year. With a birthday and Christmas a week apart, this girl is on gift overload. Thank you all SO much for not doing a combo birthday/Christmas gift...this momma really appreciates that!!

Right now Ally loves to do crafts, play with Barbies, American girl dolls, Angry birds and anything sparkly and girlie! So check...

check...

check...

and check!!

Grandma gave Ally her first Biddie Baby and we have been playing with it non-stop. Thank you Grandma!

Party peeps (minus a couple)

and The Purdys (minus Ryan, Josh and Caroline).

Since her party was from 9-10:30 we had the rest of the day to enjoy hanging out in our PJs. Ally played with all her new toys and even had time for a manicure (her first fake nail kit, hilarious:))

Oh this girl loves her some pink!

Meet Lila and Caroline. So precious to me that she named them after her beautiful cousins!

Such a great party and a wonderful day!!