North Carolina - Last Installment!!

I stopped scrapbooking because I could never keep up with real life. Now, I'm blogging and I still can't keep up with real life!!

I'm going to wrap up our little trip with these final words and pictures!!

Friday (the day after Christmas), Kathy, Eli, and I headed to the mall while Scott and David took our kids and theirs to the Children's Museum. The mall was crowded unlike anything I'd seen before Christmas and almost stole my joy!! Scott forgot the camera :) but the kids had a GREAT time at the museum! Some of the favorites were a beanstalk that you could really climb and a mini Krispy Kreme play area where you could "make" donuts!!

That night we went on a hayride/carriage ride through a park that has really cool Christmas lights. It was really cold, but lots of fun!

All the kids before boarding ...

Landry and Ella ...

Mom and Dad ...

Tim and Alex ...

Kathy and Kelsey...

Looking at the lights ...

Melodie and Rachael ...

Scott, me, Ella, Rachael, Landry ...

David and Lauren ...

David, Kathy, and fam

Saturday brought swimming in Grandma & Grandpa's hotel pool. Elijah seemed to make it into the 2 pictures I took there!!

And while we're on the theme of Eli, here's one with Landry...

And here he is smiling ...

Sunday, Renee, Alex, and her kids, and Aunt Linda and Curtis drove over with lunch...baked ziti!! Yum-o!! Here's everybody just chillin' after lunch.

Renee braiding Kelsey's hair ...

The boys hanging out watching a little football ...

We headed back to Renee's house to spend the last couple of days. Interestingly enough, on December 29th, it was warm enough for the kids to go swimming. (The pool was heated, but still!!)

The little boys hanging in the hot tub ... Landry, Roman, Luke, and Cole??

It worked out nicely, as it gave the boys some extra practice in diving ...

and cannonballs!!

On Monday night, Glenn and Melissa came over so we got to spend a little more time with them, so that was fun. I'm really wishing I'd gotten pictures of all the kids!!

All in all, it was a great trip! It was really neat to see everyone and for the kids to see and meet people they didn't even know existed!! Very memorable, indeed!!

Have you ever seen ...

. . . Batman playing RockBand??

How cute is he??

Christmas Morning 2008

Finally...everything's working and I have a minute to continue documenting this epic event!! :)

Here's how it happened on Christmas morning --

After breakfast...eggs with Grandpa...a big tradition with the boys ...

Though this looks like mass chaos, it was really a lot of fun!! We did a little take-turns present opening, and a little free-for-all!! It worked well both ways!!

Alex got a Walkman mp3 player

Parker got a Nintendo DS

Luke got a remote-control truck with flames (his criteria)

And Landry got a lot of Hot Wheels but he was sitting beside me and evidently I didn't get any pictures of him except this one. He's holding a wii remote candy holder that Kathy gave me to put in his stocking because it wouldn't fit in any of her kids' stockings!! He obviously liked it! Maybe it should have been his Santa gift!!

We also got basketball shoes...

Harry Potter books...

And Legos!! (Merry Christmas, Grandpa!!)

Aunt Melodie couldn't resist getting Alex a shirt from Duke!!

Eli got what every one year old boy needs ... a ball!

Later came lunch...my only picture from lunch shows the 2 big kids that got the privilege of eating with the little kids ... Scott and David!! How appropriate!!

After lunch, it was time for pictures. Here's everyone wandering around the backyard, trying to figure out where the optimum picture taking spot is.

And here are the families --

David, Kathy and fam

Nathan, Heather and fam

Mom, Dad, and Melodie

Mom, Dad, and Tim

And who are these people who let their kids wear clothes that don't even match on Christmas Day???

And here's Shantel (and Ella)...she didn't get to stay a long time, so I didn't get a lot of pictures of her.

All in all, Christmas was a great day. Lots of fun, lots of presents, lot of food, lots of family!!

North Carolina - Wednesday

Wednesday morning brought cleaning up Glenn and Melissa's house so we could head to Nathan's. We had really enjoyed staying at their house...it was a good place to come back and crash at the end of the day.

By the middle of the afternoon, we headed over to Nathan and Heather's house, about an hour and a half drive west. There we were met by David and Kathy and their kids, Kelsey, Lauren, Ella, and Eli, and of course, Nathan and Heather, and their girls, Rachael and Madeline. There was much excitement!!

The kids got busy on decorating some Christmas cookies. This has always been a favorite activity that the kids have enjoyed doing with Grandma. My camera was on a funny setting that I didn't figure out for quite some time, hence the fuzzy pictures.

Luke and Lauren

The first of many, many, many attempts to get all the cousins in one good picture!!

Again, a horrible picture that shows the kids watching Nathan's train around his Christmas tree.

Christmas Eve for the Bagg family is a big family party with lots of food. Must-have dishes are shrimp dip, maggot salad, swedish meatballs, rotel cheese dip, mini ham & cheese sandwiches with poppy seed dressing, and on and on. Then when you think you can't eat anymore, out come the desserts!!

The kids ate and headed downstairs to watch The Polar Express and an eery calm fell over the house!! They literally didn't move for that hour and a half and the adults enjoyed a little uninterrupted conversation!!

After the movie, the kids opened their new pj's and most of them headed off to bed for Santa would soon be coming!!