MLK Birthday Weekend

On the Saturday before Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday holiday, we traveled to Jacksonville to see Granny.
 

I got to spend some time with her talking about the old days, how much she missed my Pee Paw, and about how much we loved each other. It was very special for me and the kids, and I'm so glad we made the day trip. On the way out of town, we stopped by Arby's where, as usual with my kids, silliness endued.

I love those kids!

Happy New Year!

After all of the Christmas festivities were over, we spent our week cleaning up and getting ready for our new year to start. We spent New Year's Eve with our friends, the Mazeracs, and lit fireworks to celebrate the start of 2015. We hope everyone had a happy new year! 

Still Christmas and a visit from Grandparents

Wow, saying life has been busy this year is a major understatement. I have not had time to update at all. But I will catch up! So we're rewinding time to December 27th. Grandma and Pawpaw Gilbert came in town to celebrate Christmas, and we really enjoyed spending some quality time with them.

We had a slow day, and Danny got to play with his new scooter, racing Harley and having a lot of fun.

They were tired out by the end of play time, but Harley was still alert and ready to chase some squirrels. Have I mentioned how much I love this dog?

It was so much fun, that everyone wanted to join the fun...and the general silliness began. Piggy-back rides were the name of the game, and while these worked,

this one did not

and this one was just ridiculous.

In all, we had a great time, and a wonderful Christmas!

Finally, the Creamer Clan's Christmas Day

It came! It finally came! On the morning of the 26th, we celebrated our Christmas. The kids were so happy, and we all got something we wanted

or needed (yes, that is a car wash kit).

After a morning of presents and pinwheels (our traditional Christmas breakfast), we set out to the movies to watch the third installation of The Hobbit. Because we had enjoyed our traditional Christmas Chinese dinner on Christmas Eve, we went out for pizza after the movie. We relaxed, we had fun, and then we got some good family pictures that night.

It was fantastic! Merry Christmas, everyone.

Christmas Day

Because George had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we postponed our family Christmas until the 26th. As a result of the postponement, we spent Christmas Day morning goofing around,

dressing Harley up in Christmas scarves and such,

and generally just hanging with each other.

By afternoon, it was time to get cooking. As I had made buttermilk pies that morning, we focused on chilis for the squad Christmas dinner. I made Ree Drummond's Simple Perfect Chili

and Giada's White Bean Chicken Chili.

We delivered the food around 9:30 that night to a local hotel that had offered the space to us, and we had fun serving the officers. George took lots of pictures,

even though some did not make us very happy.

I got some good shots too.

In the end, everyone enjoyed the food and company. One officer, whose diet wouldn't allow carbs on that day, took a piece

make that two pieces

of buttermilk pie home with him for his free day. I think that look meant it was supposed to be kept on the down low. George had a great time with his squad, and the kids had a great time serving people who sacrifice so much to serve others. I was totally impressed with their enthusiasm to serve the officers and their dad, and they did not complain one time about our Christmas being delayed.

What an awesome Christmas Day!