Christmas with the Hutchins

We spent two nights at my parents' house with my siblings and families to celebrate the holidays.  One big sleepover!  Here are a few snapshots from the fun.

Me and my boy.

Mark and the kiddos with favorite new gifts - Carlton's new guitar, and Clara's fluffy pink coat.

 Our nephew also got a kid guitar, so the boys had a blast together.  And they were already picking up a few things from my musical brother.

Meme and Carlton doing Christmas crafts...

 And getting silly/creative...

 Clara modeling a stocking stuffer - starry eyed glasses - and of course, her new coat.  Loves her some pink coat.  She'll go into the closet, pull it out, and ask for help putting it on.... just to wear around the house :)

Santa

We took the kids to a neighborhood Christmas party in my parents' neighborhood, where Santa Claus was an invited guest.  Before the photo moments, Santa read The Night Before Christmas to the whole group of children.  Carlton was funny - planted himself front and center for the reading, and then just couldn't quite restrain himself from showing Santa (and everyone) the finer points of some of the illustrations.

When it was time for our photos, the kids did pretty well. 

Carlton was happy to hang with Santa, though he was pretty close-mouthed the whole time.  Poor Santa didn't get many answers to his friendly questions.

 

 Clara was a bit unsure.  This was about as close as she wanted to get.

And then we all popped in for some family photos at the end.

Happy Birthday, Jesus

Em hosted a 'Happy Birthday, Jesus' party at her house the week before Christmas.  There were crafts, toys, delicious food, dramatic reading of the Christmas story, and....nativity costumes.  Though Carlton declined to dress up this time, there were shepherds, angels, wise men, Mary and Joseph.

Clara breaking away from the photo moment (she LOVED pushing the baby stroller and couldn't get enough of that all morning).

Our little angel! 

Pink Pig

Em and I and our mothers took all of our kids to ride the Pink Pig train a few days before Christmas.  It's an Atlanta tradition, and though not all that impressive, is very nostalgic for those of who grew up going downtown during the holidays to ride it and see all of the big city decorations.  So it's fun for me and Em to make the multi-generational outing now, though the train is actually in a different location than when we were children.  The kids loved it!

Standing in line for our turn,

the older kids very eagerly.

Clara proud to have her own ticket.

Carlton and Abby Jane as seat buddies (with the twins in front of them),

the adults in the back (my mother, and Em and her mother, Bev),

 and I got to ride with my sweet girl.

 

Carlton was not so eager to leave the train after the ride.

We got a few shots in front of the sign outside.

And then the second highlight of the outing - the escalators at the mall and cups of hot chocolate!  Abby Jane was very grown-up and responsible, protecting Clara from the dangers of the escalator :)

December days

Mid-December has held some really fun moments for us.  Carlton made his debut as a singer, joining the other kids at church to sing some Christmas carols during worship.  The picture below is from the warm-up, during which Carlton was eating a piece of bagel he'd nicked from the coffee table.  Ha, and then the during the actual performance, he sat quietly and declined to sing - even though he's been singing Joy to the World at the top of his lungs around the house for the past few weeks :)

We also gathered recently for the Christmas party with my extended family.  Though I didn't capture many images, I got a few during Mark and Carlton's turn at the stack-the-cup game.

Carlton chillin' with his Uncle Reuben, a bit partied out.

And one photo just from our everyday playtime around the house... Carlton's latest idea as to how to share toys with Clara involved them both taking a turn on the riding car together :)

Christmas in Austin Part 2

The family portraits before gift-opening.  The four of us,

Brian's family with grandparents,

and the grands with all six grandchildren.

Carlton sporting the new bow-tie he opened from Aunt Jill.

The second half of the week there the temperature dropped about 30 degrees, so sweet little Cadell got to try some new cozy gifts.

We spent some time indoors making and decorating gingerbread cookies,

but the cool weather did not keep the kids from running around and having a blast together.  Even Clara got in on the action, and seemed to love the energy of the big kids.

A wonderful week to be together!  Can't wait for next time.

Christmas in Austin Part 1

In early December we flew to Austin, TX to spend a week with Mark's family, all of whom have recently moved there.  The first few days were hot and sunny, and we had a fun barbecue over at Brian and Sara's place.

Carlton enjoying a juice box (a real novelty for him!)

The kid table for the four oldest cousins - Paul, Iris, Laila and Carlton.

 Brian snacking with Clara...

and with Carlton.  Quality uncle time.

The day of our Christmas celebration, all the kids dressed in red.  Jill with the two youngest cousins (her son Cadell, and Clara)...

Me with the oldest and youngest cousins, Laila and Cadell...

My boys being goofy...

and Clara trying to draw with markers just like the big kids.  She wanted to do every last thing they did, of course.