Santa Claus came....a little early!!!

Sometimes parents have to get inventive to make things work around busy holiday schedules...and this year Santa needed to come on the morning of Dec 24 to my nieces house.....due to this change in Santa's sched it made it possible for Denny and I to make a quick trip to Savannah to see the boys on "their" Christmas Morning.
We got there on Tues, 23rd and had a great grilled burger dinner and got in some good play time. Then we made our sugar cookies so they could be decorated the next day, and left for Santa...

Jase had a turn...

Quinton had a turn....

and Witt....

Then it was off to bed. Tomorrow during the day we were going to Monkey Joe's to bounce, play games and work off some energy. After a stop at Waffle House to fuel up!!
Monkey Joe's is wow....thankfully we got there when it opened and we were about the only ones there for about an hour. Then it got busy which made it harder to keep up with your kids....but we were 3kids/3adults so we were ok.
Made a few stops on the way home, then came home for some lunch and naps....we big kids just breathed for a min. Then it was more play time and finally time to decorate those Santa cookies.

Britt had this great idea for each kid to have their own icing cup and decorations...wow, that worked really well.

 "Hurry up Uncle Denny....and please don't eat the icing.."

 "Nanny...he's so sloooooooooow"

Uncle Denny helped spread some icing.....thanks Uncle D!!

" I'll just try these M&M's to make sure they're ok!!" 

Mommy gave a helping hand too...

How about a little more red icing???

And finally onto the "done" plate....

Great job guys...Santa is going to LOVE these!!!

After a pizza dinner it was time for THE bedtime story...Twas the Night Before Christmas...in our Christmas PJ's....then off to bed...thanks Mommy....

Now...with everyone asleep Santa's helpers went to work....

Wow....books, etch-a-sketch, art eisel, bouncy balls, play dough...it's going to be a big morning!!!

and a Dino Truck.....WOW!!!

The next morning was dis-belief...."and I wasn't sure Santa was coming...this is cool!!"

Art supplies....woohoo!!

 That's a cool marble game.......and Dino Truck

Where do we start...there's so much cool stuff!!

I LOVE my Dino Truck........

 The fishing game....I remember this one....

Even Uncle Denny got to play!!

I see hours of fun for the young and the old!!!

I want to draw, but I don't wanna put my flashlight down....I can do both....!!!

Potty candy in the stockings....COOL!! Now we have more incentive to go potty!!!

And diggin' those night goggles!!!

Santa ate all the cookies..........

All that made me hungry....sweet rolls and fruit, MY FAV!!!

Oh my...what a busy morning...but Denny and I had to head back to Atlanta. It was Christmas Eve and we needed to make the candlelight service at church and then head to Mom's to help get things ready for Christmas Day. 

Thanks Britt, Des and kids for letting us come and enjoy your Christmas, we had a wonderful time!!! 

Christmas Traditions....The Gingerbread Village.....

For many years now my youngest sister has been creating Gingerbread Masterpieces with our nieces and nephews....each year it's a differnt theme and totally adorable. Her only rule is that everything must be eatable....so u have to use icing for "glue" and maybe hold something a looooong time for it to dry!!!
This year the theme was "your favorite movie".....so Chad and Ashley decided on Star Wars and Harry Potter respectively. Shea did Apollo 13. The other big kids are now a bit busy to come back and play, but now we have the next generation to "teach".....

I was not there when Chad and Ash created their "works of art"...but I was around to help when Dylan (3yr old great-nephew) and his twin sisters (18 mth olds) came to add their "touch".

It was a hoot watching this come together.....3yr olds and 18mth olds are BUSY!!!!

We gave up on the "fav movie" theme with the little guys and would just be happy if they got something done.

First...Shea bought a "pre made" house....she thought it would be VERY sturdy and not easily broken. But not something the big kids are allowed to do!!!
Next the icing goes on to be the "glue" for the decorations.

Helping spread the icing....good job.

Mom was playing with the little girls....getting them ok with icing being everywhere.... 

Little girl #2...no, you are not eing double, they are identical....makes life tough...LOL!!!

Dylan had it going, was now time for one sister to give it a try.....

"Hey...I like this Shea-Shea....give me some more things to stick on!!"

"and I think this house needs some more icing"

Next sisters turn....is there any room left to add anything???

"I found a spot...here goes!"

"This one needs to be smashed on!!"

The final placement along side the others.....wow!!!

Ashley is watching and listening from the phone in Shea's shirt pocket.....and according to Dylan...his is the BEST!!!

Another successful Gingerbread year...if all the kids get involved next year...you will need a bigger platform!!!

Well done guys!!

Thank YOU ...United States Military

I headed to Atlanta on Dec 16....I wanted to attend my company Christmas party and I was volunteering at the Delta Holiday Military Lounge in the Atlanta Airport.
As I was leaving Sarasota this display was in the airport....it was done so well...what a beautiful tribute....it was very long and just wonderful. All of these men and women are from FL and now reside in heaven.

This letter was attached and had been written by the soldier...it started out by saying..."if you are reading this, I'm in heaven....."......wow.

I was so glad I'd sen this, I didn't have too long to look at it, but it was truly wonderful.

I boraded my plane feeling very humbled and grateful.

 As much as I love working from home it is nice to get some "face time" with my co-workers. We had a wonderful lunch together and some time to just chat and catch up with each other.....always a nice time....thanks Tom.
The next day...Friday Dec 18 my work team were covering the volunteer hours at the Military Lounge. 2015 was Delta's 46th year to host a Military Lounge on B Concourse during the holidays. We bake and volunteer, it's a wonderful way to give back to those that sacrifice for us each and every day. There is generally one day at the lounge that is particularly busy, this is Block Leave Day....where many of the surrounding bases release many of the troops to go home for Christmas. On this day we had over 5k troops to move through the airport and we had over 1600 to visit the lounge. It was an amazing busy day.....

Here's how the airport looked at 0300 ...........wow!! One could feel very safe at the airport!!!

Then in the lounge...it was as busy as the room would allow...

We fed them.....and fed them...and fed them....

and we enjoyed their company.....

From outside the lounge we tried to keep them stocked with goodies....

These were lots of toys we donated so the soldiers could take something home to their waiting kiddos....

It had been a long day....I started at KK doughnuts at 630a, getting 30 dz doughnuts, and it ended about 11p closing and cleaning the lounge so it would be ready for the next day. What an amazing and humbling day.....thanks troops...we love you and support you.