Merry Christmas

I had intentions of doing several posts about family get-togethers, but simply ran out of time on getting them up....so I am doing a big post and combining them all. Ready for A LOT of pictures??? I hope so....here we go.....

Tori, Bryan and Banks went to Vicksburg for Christmas this year, so we went to Birmingham before Christmas.

Thursday night before Christmas Memaw and Paw Paw had us over for dinner. About 5 minutes before we got there the power went out. It was out the entire time we were there, so we had an old-fashioned candlelight Christmas dinner with them. It was actually fun to do it in the dark. Anyway, that explains why everyone is squinting in the pictures (I think my flash on the camera about blinded them all evening).

Brittan and Georgie I know want to kill me for posting this picture! I had to...they always act so silly when they are together!!

Then Friday we headed back to Birmingham to have Christmas with Mamaw. She fixed a great lunch and then we exchanged gifts. The children were so excited to see Mamaw, since we don't get to visit as often as we'd like.

Mamaw has dubbed Daniel, Jack and Banks "the wrecking crew"....wonder why????

A HUGE tree fell in Mamaw's back yard a while back. Needless to say, Georgie had a fine time climbing on it!

Finally it was Christmas Eve! The sweet babies were so excited! They left their elves, a note and cookies and milk for Santa.

I always love the first, sleepy-eyed pictures on Christmas morning!

After we went to church Christmas morning, we went to Nana and Papa's for Christmas lunch. Santa had actually left a few things at their house too!

The drum set was a huge hit. The boys pretty much fought over it all afternoon.

Michael showing off his gift....an all expense paid trip to the BCS Championship game in New Orleans! He better cheer Bama to a victory!

Jack is always trying to take Nana's super soft throw home with him, so this year he got his very own!

I had to share a few of my favorite pictures to end off my Christmas post.

Our sweet friend Phoebe made this cute train cake for the children. She handmade everything....and it was all edible (and delicious). Anyway, here is the before picture....

and here it is about 15 minutes later.....

Georgie was so proud of her American Girl Doll, Kit! Aren't they so cute??

And lastly, remember the picture of Daniel playing the drums? Well, I don't think this needs much explanation! HA!

Family Night

The Wednesday before Christmas we attended "Family Night" at The Club, atop Red Mountain in Birmingham. Mom, Dad, Tori, Bryan and Banks went with us. All I can say is that the Butlers had ourselves a fine time!!

Santa was there with several of his elves before dinner. This is the first year none of the Butler kiddos cried or were scared when they saw Santa. They told Santa what they wanted and Santa really helped us out with Georgie's request for a real pug puppy. He told her she need to wait another year for that! Whew!!!

Poor Banks did NOT like Santa!

We ate a wonderful buffet style dinner. They even had small kid-size buffet tables that had things like pigs-in-a-blanket, chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, and tater tots.

Toe Toe and Georgie...two peas in a pod!

Georgie enjoyed coffee with her dessert!

Nana and Papa

The Hoover High School Jazz Band was on hand to play Christmas tunes. They were WONDERFUL and really set the mood for the entire evening.

Now this is where the real fun began. They had a dance floor for the kids and the Butler trio had a blast! I only wish I had some video to share with you.

Jack spent most of the evening break dancing! Not really sure where he got his moves...certainly not from his Mama or Daddy! He was the only kid sporting these moves (and he's actually pretty good at it).

Georgie and Daniel even helped Banks dance some. He had a blast crawling around on the dance floor.

Me and Michael