New Year's Eve

Nothing says "Happy New Year" like a Mexican Fiesta; a friendly game of "5 Seconds" and s'mores!

Music City Bowl

Philip asked for one thing from Santa this year - Tickets to the Music City Bowl - and Santa delivered! He was excited when he found the tickets in his stocking on Christmas Morning and even more excited as he experienced all the fun and celebration at the game! 

Peyton just happened to be hanging out when Philip & Wesley walked by!

This kid!
He is so happy and LOVES all things surrounding sports! 

Happy New Year Brunch

I planned a Christmas party for the Preschool kids at West End but Elizabeth got sick and we had to reschedule. Instead of a Christmas party, we had a Happy New Year Brunch! 

Emily, Leighton
Elizabeth
Lindsey, Kevin and Baby Wesley
Whit 

Wesley
Jo Jo & Leslie
Hope & Hazel
Tennyson & Jackson 

Sonya & Ayden
Wesley

Leighton, Elizabeth, Tristan and Eva 

Tristan 

Allen

Tristan & Whit

Knoxville Christmas

We usually don't travel on Christmas Day but this year we made an exception. Schedules got crazy with the holiday falling on a Sunday so we needed to celebrate Sunday night so the rest of the Bender crew could head back for jobs on Monday. It made for a fast Christmas Celebration but a fun one none the less. 

What a great looking bunch! 

I came down with a terrible cold on Saturday and it hit its peak on Sunday night so as soon as the presents were unwrapped, I went to bed and didn't get out of bed until mid-day Monday. The rest helped me feel a bit better and by Tuesday morning, I was ready for a family outing to see "Sing."

2016 Christmas Morning!

The kids were once again on the nice list! Santa came to town with all sorts of goodies!!

Philip got 2 tickets to the Music City Bowl in his stocking

Jackson got Under Armour shoes and Legos

Elizabeth got a "black car"

 After we saw all Santa's presents, we quickly got ready for Christmas morning Church. I will say, it is difficult when Christmas lands on a Sunday - especially when your daddy is the preacher and all you want to do is stay at home and play! But the kids did great and enjoyed the Christmas service.

After service, we came home, opened a few more presents (including Mommy's trip to NYC to see the Macy's Day Parade!!) and got ready for our trek to Knoxville! 

The children were nestled...

The children were nestled all snug in their beds. 

While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads...

Christmas Eve

This year, Wesley was in charge of the Christmas Eve program and he did a great job organizing a beautiful service. He had Jackson help him with the AV and Philip helped with the decorations. Elizabeth "helped" me with the Hot Chocolate bar!

Tracie and I set up a coffee/hot chocolate bar. It was a HUGE hit with all the kids ---maybe too big of a hit. They filled up with chocolate and we had a hard time getting them to eat dinner! 

After service, we had dinner at our house with Emily, Ryan & Leighton; Mimi & Pop Pop; and Jimmy & Elana. 

I thought a lot about my Mimi as I decorated the table.
She gave me these Christmas Dishes and the Ferris Wheel in the middle. She would have enjoyed how pretty the table looked! 

The girls decorated cookies for Santa.

The Christmas PIG!

Every year, we enjoy driving around and looking at the holiday lights. This year, we found our favorite display and it was the Christmas pig. We loved this because nothing says Merry Christmas more than a PIG :-)

Happy Birthday, Susan!

I love this tradition of the "Original 5" getting together for Birthday lunches. Today, we celebrated Susan's birthday at Pei Wei!

Build-A-Bear

I wanted to do something fun with the kids before Christmas. We were watching Leighton on Wednesday so we asked her to join the fun as well! We had lunch at Chili's and then each of the kids selected a Build-A-Bear! It was a fun adventure! 

Chili's

Philip & Death Star
Leighton & Abigail
Elizabeth & Wesley Bender My Little Pony
Jackson & Pika