Christmas 2014

Mason's tree on the left and our family tree on the right.  Notice all the ornaments from the bottom half of the tree have magically disappeared and wound up on Mason's tree.  The two trees make me smile exactly how they are, so this is how they will stay for the season!

Mase and Grandma Gillispie making cinnamon ornaments.

Moss family Christmas!

Mason can barely contain his excitement to start opening presents at the Moss family Christmas.

Poppy Claus

This kid!

Working hard on a gingerbread house.

This is our elf, Elfis.  He brought donuts on Christmas Eve morning. 

Mason is really into Lego's this year.  

Mase is super excited to open his presents.  Yes, they are all for him.

He's probably wishing I would quit taking pictures so he can rip this one open.

So excited! 

Christmas morning.  Just the three of us.  It was low-key and perfect.
Exactly what we needed after a busy few months.

Team Moss on New Year's Eve.
In the background is Mason's new fish tank.  I bought him a cheap one for Christmas.  Richard and Mase returned it for a much nicer, and much more expensive, one.  Complete with a changing LED light and aquarium safe TMNT figurines.  

Team Moss had a great Christmas!  We celebrated Christmas with both of our families, but Christmas day was spent at home with just the three of us.  Richard grilled steaks and it was all very low key, which is exactly what we needed after a busy few months.

Mason received a lot of fun gifts for Christmas, including lots of Lego sets, a kid smart watch, a tennis racket, a fish tank, basket ball, fishing games, Optimus Prime, and a real tent.

Richard treated us to wireless Beats headphones and I bought myself a nice little camera.  Apparently, we've all been very good this year :).

Christmas 2012

(Mason really likes to 'decorate' the tree, which is why all the ornaments are on the top half of the tree)

There must have been some sort of mix up at the North Pole, because for Christmas Mason got an ear infection and two bottles of antibiotics, we think he also were teething, so needless to say he wasn't exactly spreading Christmas cheer.  

After a trip to the doctor, we headed to Joplin to celebrate Christmas Eve with Nanny and Poppy Snyder, along with Brad, Gala, Noah, Addi, Lincoln and Hendrix Moss.  Even though Mason didn't feel great, he enjoyed opening presents and really enjoyed the steak filets that Poppy grilled for dinner.  

Christmas morning, Mason was up very early (like around 3:30 am).  Richard woke up with him and said he kept asking to open presents.  After an hour, Mason went back to sleep and slept in until 9:00 am (Merry Christmas to Mom!).  When Mason woke up, he still didn't feel very well, but was very interested in the loot Santa left under the tree.  Some of his favorites were a kid friendly laptop computer and a remote control Jeep.  

After celebrating Christmas at our house we headed down to Grandma and Grandpa Gillispie's house.  Even though Mase still didn't feel good, he was very excited to play with Jackson and see Uncle Josh and Aunt Paula.  GG and G'pa gave you a Furby and Mason loved shaking it to wake him up and feeding it from the iPad app.  

Mason loves going to Bass Pro to ride the Christmas carousel and seeing the fish, turtles and the alligator.  As you can see, someone couldn't put their candy cane down long enough to take a picture.   

Well, Mason hasn't exactly made friends with Santa yet.  

Pretty sure Santa would have rather have Mason or Mom sitting on his lap, instead of Dad.   

 Christmas at Silver Dollar City!  Mason loved the lights and riding on the train.  He also really liked seeing Uncle Josh blow glass in the glass shop.  

Merry Christmas from the Moss family!

Christmas 2011

 Our little Christmas tree.  I set it up the night before Christmas, as Mason could not be trusted not to pull the big tree over on himself.

  

 We weren't sure if you would 'get' Christmas, but you were so excited when you woke up and saw the lights and the presents.  

 Looks like someone got their two front teeth for Christmas.  

 Mason was not a fan of Santa

 Early Christmas morning

So many new toys to play with and you just wanted to love on your BlaBla

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 was Mason's first Christmas and was so special! I remember last Christmas, I was rocking my nephew Jack and my mom said, "I bet next Christmas you will be sitting there rocking your own baby." Little did we know, she was right!

We spent the night at Mom and Dad's and I was lucky enough to get my very own Silent Night (Mason slept for 10 hours straight!). I remember when I was younger, I was so excited to see what Santa left under the tree, but this Christmas, I was just excited to be with my family. God has blessed us with more than we could have asked for this year... we are all healthy and happy!

For Christmas, Mason got some toys and a Jeep walker from his Grandma and Grandpa Gillispie, although he can't quite reach the floor yet, he loves it because he now has a Jeep just like his Daddy!

Christmas Memories

Christmas Tree 2010

Richard and I were recently sharing some of our favorite Christmas memories.

We both recall waking our parents up super early and being so excited to see what Santa had brought us while we were sleeping. For me, the whole Santa thing kind of scared me. I mean the idea of a stranger sneaking into your house while you were sleeping was a little off. Anyway, I digress...

Richard remembers one of his favorite Christmas presents was a brown leather jacket he got around Jr. High. As he was telling me about it, I could hear the excitement in his voice even to this day. He said not only did the jacket look great on the outside, but that the inside even had a map printed on the inside (anyone who remembers the early 90's knows exactly what he's talking about). He was so proud of it that he admitted to wearing it when he had no business wearing a leather jacket (think 70 and sunny).

My favorite Christmas present also came around Jr. High. My parents had gotten us kids our own phone line and I got my very one candy apple red phone for my bedroom. No doubt, they were probably tired of their phone line being tied up (clearly this occurred before call waiting and cell phones). That year I also got a calculator with jewels as the buttons, I remember thinking it was the coolest thing ever! And, considering I loathe math, that's saying a lot.

Of course, my favorite present ever was about 2 years ago when I got engaged on Christmas Eve! The ring was stunning, but the thought of getting to spend the rest of my life with such a great guy makes me tear up just thinking about it. I had prayed I would meet someone like Richard (little did I know he was right under my nose the entire time) and my prayers were finally answered! We had both been through some rough, lonely Christmas's in the past, and the moment we got engaged somehow made all those tough times worth it. Thanks R for making my dreams come true that Christmas Eve and everyday since.

The Irony of Christmas Cards

As I ignore that nagging feeling of my Christmas cards not being finished, I am thinking back to past family cards. I don't have to think too hard because my mom has an entire photo album dedicated to every Christmas card she has ever sent out. On one hand, this is a very cool idea and a great way to take a walk down memory lane On the other it is a constant reminder of all those bad hair do's (remember when the perm was in?!), acne breakouts, and ugly Christmas outfits. Needless to say, we all have a good laugh when we bust out the album on Christmas Eve.

While our cards always appear picture perfect and portrayed a happy family or 3 happy children, we all know the truth... And every time I get one of those picture perfect cards from someone else, I wonder what their truth is.

What is our Christmas card truth?

The truth is, in that cute picture of us 3 kids holding the puppies, we were gagging because the puppies had bad gas and I think one peed on my sister.

The truth is, in the picture that showed us all decorating cookies, mom was having a meltdown because my brother had spilled a whole container of those tiny silver balls all over the hardwood floor and my sister and I had green icing in our hair.

The truth is, although Mom tried her best to make it work, my sister's perm was that bad! (I've been laughing the whole time I write this because it was so bad!)

The truth is, while we were laughing it wasn't because we were having fun, it was because we were making fun of my mom for not knowing how to work the camera and for my dad yelling "Just take the f^#&*!@ picture!"

The truth is, in that last family picture we took, most of us had a little too much to drink before the photo shoot. Come to think of it, that was probably our best picture.

The truth is, on the card I am sending out this year, Mason had just pooped all over the photographer's blanket.

FFF

Well, Mason has officially experienced FFF (Forced Family Fun). FFF is a long standing Gillispie tradition, and since he is part Gillispie, there is just no way getting around it. The rest of the family spent the evening at Silver Dollar City Christmas, but we skipped out this year, as we didn't want Mason to be too cold (yes, Richard and I are those over-protective parents!).

We spent this weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's Gillispie's and had a great time. Jack and Jill and cousin Jack were there, along with Uncle Josh and Aunt Paula. Everyone (especially Grandpa and Grandma) made such a fuss over how cute and good Mason was. Gosh, I just never get tired of hearing that!