{Winter bucketlist update // Gingerbread House // Bake Cookies// Christmas Story}

I think this will wrap up our bucketlist for Winter 2014. It was a fun month, that's for sure!!! 


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I forgot to take pictures of the process, but did get a picture of the one Mason wanted to leave for Santa. He said, "Mama, can we leave the Texas one for Santa so that he remembers I am Mason from Texas?" Goodness I love this boy!

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We had many, many of these throughout the month of December! They're kind of my favorite.

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This is a Christmas Eve tradition for the Halls. Every year Nate's mom orders a chicken nugget tray and fruit tray from Chick Fil A and we have that and other snacks and a hangout and watch tv night! Starting at 7pm The Christmas Story is on for a 24 hour marathon! This is the first year that Mason really paid any attention to it and liked it. Love sharing these traditions with him! Nana let him open one gift that evening...a Ninja Turtle pillow. She thought he might like it for our movie night!

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Updated bucket list

+ take family photos
+ deck the halls
+ visit santa @ bass pro shop
+ visit the Christmas tree farm // they sold out of trees super early this year so we didn't get to go
+ go to the tree lighting event at our town square
+ make mason's Christmas list
+ bake cookies (& leave some for santa)
+ make ornaments & Christmas crafts
+ watch the Santa video for Mason
+ make a gingerbread house
+ order our Christmas cards
+ trim the tree
+ go to breakfast with Santa @ Church
+ take the traditional Christmas light picture of mason
+ pick out our yearly ornament for the tree
+ go to the polar express // they sold out before the 1st weekend of December & Mason was sick with the flu the weekend we were supposed to go.
+ have a pajama/movie night
+ go to Bethlehem revisited
+ put Christmas lights on the house
+ watch the marathon of The Christmas Story on Christmas Eve
+ go to an ugly Christmas sweater party // we had family come into town and had to cancel our evening
+ go to prairie lights   


How did you fare with your Winter/Christmastime bucketlist?

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{Happy Birthday to my love}

Happy Tuesday friends!!

Today is a very special day. It's my husband's 33rd birthday!! We are finally the same age! And for a whole 19 days he cannot make fun of me for being older than him. Although, he likes to remind me those whole 19 days are quickly coming to a close and I will be an 'old lady' again. Jokester, that one!

Anyhow, Nathan, Happy Happy thirty-third Birthday my love! I am so blessed to have been able to spend 19 of those with you. I hope that today you feel as special as you are to Mason and I. Thank you for all that you do for us year round. We love you more than you will ever, ever know.

Enjoy your day!



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{Winter Bucketlist Update // Breakfast with Santa // Bethlehem // Bass Pro Shop}

Hey everyone! I'm back! I took an unplanned furlough! Life just got too busy and there weren't enough hours in the day. We had all kinds of family in town and 5 different Christmases to go to over the last couple of weeks! It's been amazing and I am so, so sad that it's over. December is my most favorite month and I am not ready to let it go. Ahhhh. 

But for now, let's play catch up.

So, our Winter Bucketlist...I think we made a pretty good dent into it. There were several things that I am so sad that we missed...but we will plan better for next year!

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Breakfast w/Santa at church was so much fun!!! We went with our friends, the Rochelles. Mason and Tanner met when they were barely one at daycare and have been the best of friends since. When we got to the church our boys went straight for the craft tables while everyone else went for the food! It worked out great, though. We were able to work on crafts and get pictures with Santa before it got crowded! The boys made door hangers, ornaments, backpacks, reindeer antler hats, and magic reindeer food. After our pictures with Santa we sat down to grab a quick bite to eat. Then the boys were up and playing again. After breakfast with Santa we met back at our house to change the boys out of their pajamas and to play for a minute. Then we all went to have lunch at Chick Fil A. We let the boys play in the play area and us adults ate and chatted for a while. It was a great day!

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This was one of the best nights we've had as a family in a while!!! Everything was so wonderful and left me on a high for the longest!! We started the evening by going to Bethlehem Revisited in our town. We've lived here for 7 years and this was our first {but definitely not the last} time to go! It was amazing to step back in time and to see how things were back then. Mason loved it and went up to every place in the market. We walked around the entire thing and just as we were at the end of the market we saw the camels coming through. So we bee-lined to the nativity to watch!! It was so moving and so touching. Mason was so excited to see Joseph, Mary, Jesus and the wisemen!!!! 

After Bethlehem we went to get snacks and drinks and then drove out to Dallas & Plano to look at Christmas lights! We found some really great neighborhoods and the lights were amazing. 

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This was a big fat fail! We tried!! We just waited too long in the season to try. We normally go the weekend after Thanksgiving, but Mason was sick this year. Bummer! We got to Bass Pro at 10:30 am on Sunday and the next ticket time we could get was for 2:30. Gasp! 4 hours with a 4 year old is just too long. We talked to Mason about it and he was perfectly fine with not waiting 4 hours to see Santa. It broke my little mama tradition loving heart just a little, but I didn't want to wait that long either.

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Updated bucket list

+ take family photos
+ deck the halls
+ visit santa @ bass pro shop
+ visit the Christmas tree farm
+ go to the tree lighting event at our town square
+ make mason's Christmas list
+ bake cookies (& leave some for santa)
+ make ornaments & Christmas crafts
+ watch the Santa video for Mason
+ make a gingerbread house
+ order our Christmas cards
+ trim the tree
+ go to breakfast with Santa @ Church
+ take the traditional Christmas light picture of mason
+ pick out our yearly ornament for the tree
+ go to the polar express
+ have a pajama/movie night
+ go to Bethlehem revisited
+ put Christmas lights on the house
+ watch the marathon of The Christmas Story on Christmas Eve
+ go to an ugly Christmas sweater party
+ go to prairie lights 




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{Winter Bucketlist // Take Family Pictures}

One of the most important things on my list this Winter was to take family photos! You see...trying to take pictures with two boys that would rather do anything in the world than taking pictures raises quite the challenge. But, one afternoon we were all off work & school and my brother in law was available to snap a few pictures with our camera and my boys didn't put up a fight! It was actually pretty easy...and we were done in less than 10 minutes. That's a win in my book!!! And my one goal was to get a Christmas card photo and that we did! 


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Updated bucket list

+ take family photos
+ deck the halls
+ visit santa @ bass pro shop
+ visit the Christmas tree farm
+ go to the tree lighting event at our town square
+ make mason's Christmas list
+ bake cookies (& leave some for santa)
+ make ornaments & Christmas crafts
+ watch the Santa video for Mason
+ make a gingerbread house
+ order our Christmas cards
+ trim the tree
+ go to breakfast with Santa @ Church
+ take the traditional Christmas light picture of mason
+ pick out our yearly ornament for the tree
+ go to the polar express
+ have a pajama/movie night
+ go to Bethlehem revisited
+ put Christmas lights on the house
+ watch the marathon of The Christmas Story on Christmas Eve
+ go to an ugly Christmas sweater party
+ go to prairie lights 


Have you had family pictures taken recently?


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