Flurries, Tyson's Birthday Party & Pizza

December 26th:  The day after Christmas we actually had flurries in Savannah!  Here's a video of them coming down in our yard:

Gavin and I threw on shoes and jackets so we could go outside and check it out.  He, of course, wanted to stay outside and play but it was too cold!!  

Later that day we got ready and went to the Roundhouse Museum for Tyson's 2nd birthday party.  It was the perfect place to have a kids party.  They turned one of the train cars into a kids play room, with a train table, reading section, little tables, crafts, etc.  Tyson's party was filled with balloon popping, coloring, story time, cake, presents, and getting to watch the model trains.  Gavin loved every bit of it, except the balloon popping!

Train cake that Erica and Andy made!

Big boy Tyson coloring at his party!

Gavin and Ty really enjoyed the cake :)  And I love how they both have train shirts on!

Help from daddy :)

Gavin, Tyson, and Grey

Birthday high fives

Gavin had to help Tyson open the gift we brought (a train shirt and book).  It was hilarious when Gavin yelled out "Theres a book in there!" as Tyson was opening it.

All 6 boys watching the model trains

After the party we took off for a family dinner at Mellow Mushroom.  The flurries were coming down again!  We attempted a picture in our North Face jackets but the random guy on the street that took our picture wasn't sure what he was doing!  (Gavin got his North Face at his 2nd birthday and Jason and I opened ours Christmas morning.)

Little Buddy and Jason with full bellies!

Our Little Family Christmas

Thanks, Santa!

Loving his Sandgnats baseball cards.

A Fishing Game from Neena and Papaw

Christmas morning treat - Skyping with Pop in Afghanistan!  He got to watch Gavin open a few gifts and see Jason and I open our North Face jackets from them!

Opening a book from The Shiflet's

Clickstart Computer from Daddy and Mommy

Jason's North Face Jacket from his parents

Mini train set from Neena and Papaw

He had to get his trains from Pop and get to playing ASAP!

A new candle picked out special from Michael!

Trash truck time!  He kept wanting to put real trash in the back (hence the yogurt cup).

Jason made biscuits and gravy for us once the presents were opened.

Merry Christmas to Daddy - a new hunting "bang bang" as Gavin likes to call it.

Gavin and Mommy after we got back from church.

Next, LB and I played games at the kitchen table while Jas cooked bacon wrapped asparagus and ham.

Checking out his memory card game

The fish game was the hit of the evening!

We had our dinner table set in honor of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.  

Patriotic dinner table with the KIA bands at the head of the table.

I made the sweet potatoes, stuffing and rolls, and Jason did the ham and asparagus!

Gavin says you can never have too much ketchup.

Our little Rudolph!

Buddy helped Daddy get his gun oiled and ready for his next hunt!

We made a pallet on the floor and played more games and read books while watching The Polar Express!

We certainly missed being around extended family this Christmas.  It was tough knowing how separate our family was!  On Jason's side, Jeff was in Afghanistan, Starla was in Crossville, TN with her parents (her mom was home and her dad in the hospital recovering from a recent fall), and Lindsey was snowed/iced in Nashville, TN all by herself.  On my side, my parents and most of my siblings all got together for dinner on Christmas night.  

We did our best to talk with everyone on the phone, but it just wasn't the same seeing everyone face to face.  Thankfully we could skype with a few people at least!  

We still made the most of our Christmas and did have a nice, lazy day at home just enjoying the three of us.  We love having Gavin wake up in his own home on Christmas day and being able to work around our own schedules with no traveling though!  We can't wait until next year when Gavin will be 3 and Stella will almost be 1.  It'll surely be an exciting Christmas morning!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Our 2010 Christmas Card

Peppermint Dots Christmas Card

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View the entire collection of cards.

For Rent!

We have officially listed our home for rent with a property management company.  If we find the renter ourselves, we don't have to pay the tenant procurement fee, so we are desperately on the search!  If you know of anyone moving to the Savannah area please pass on this link to them so that we can get a renter ASAP.  Thanks so much!

Here is our Military By Owner Listing:

http://www.militarybyowner.com/real_estate_listings/details.aspx?l=T3Z6qdcQr79wsfH7LTfUjyj406YVDsTHzwq1TYBBg0I%3d&F_ListingType=2&F_AdNumber=MBO172990

1st Day of our 4 day weekend

Dec 22: Enjoying the Warm Weather!

Dec 21: Battalion Events

Tuesday we had two big Ranger Battalion events to attend, keeping us busy.

 In the morning, Gavin and I attended the HHC Change of Responsibility ceremony.  This was held in the Ranger Memorial area.  Jason narrated the ceremony so Gavin really enjoyed that!  He could hear Jason the whole time but had the hardest time finding him.  1SG Haynie gave over responsibility to 1SG Nash.  I know Jason has really enjoyed his time with 1SG Haynie and I've liked working with his wife, Cyndi in the FRG.

Jason also officially passed on his HHC XO job on Tuesday.  He was presented a plaque and a coin from HHC.  Unfortunately we didn't know this "presentation" was happening so we weren't able to be there.  It's a really nice plaque though!  I know it was tough for Jason to give up his platoon in B Co, but I'm really proud of the work he has done in HHC over the past cycle.  I know it hasn't been an easy job, but I know he did great at it!

1SG Haynie and Jason

The Haynie Family

In the afternoon we went back to post to attend the 1/75 Family Christmas Party.  We knew Santa would be there as well as a magician with animals.  I wasn't sure how Gavin would handle either of these things, so we were pleasantly surprised when he asked to talk to Santa!  He didn't sit on his lap, but did want to be sure Santa knew how much he liked baseball.  After the magic show Gavin also wanted to wait in line to touch the bird, rabbit, and humongous snake that were used in the magic show.  As much as Jason and I didn't want to stand in line and wait, we did it!  It's not often that Gavin branches out and takes that kind of risks with complete strangers so we wanted to encourage his bravery all we could!  Thanks to 1/75 and all the others that made the Christmas party happen.  The pizza, fruit, and cupcakes were a big hit with our family!

Telling Santa all about baseball

Visiting with Magic Marc and the animals!

**Also, a big Happy Birthday to my brother, Joe!  He and his wife are in Tennessee visiting with family and were able to have a nice dinner at The Depot to celebrate his birthday and her college graduation from UTM!  We're so proud of you guys!**