Lights of the Ozark....

Our 6th annual trip to see the lighting of the light on the Fayetteville Square!  We always meet up with the Watkins for dinner somewhere downtown and then head out to see the lights!  

This year we met at Damn Good Pies for some yummy pizza with all of our crazy kids!  When we started this tradition Josh and I hadn't started our family and Chris and Cassidy only had one child...now they have three and we have two!!

It was definitely one of the coldest "Lights of the Ozark" that we have experienced...I think the kids were better troopers than the parents!

Ava Kate enjoyed the parade from daddy's shoulders!

Cassidy helping Owen check things out....

Cohen...not impressed with the cold weather!

Owen and Brenner up front checking it all out and trying to get all the candy...

Family pic...

Owen and Brenner...

Ava Kate and Layla...

It was sooooo cold this year that we opted not to stand in line to have pictures made with Santa! By the time the parade was over and we made our way around the square, everybody was ready to go inside and get warm!!

December festivities...

December was such a busy month with  a lot of fun activities...

A weekend visit from Gigi...

....would be complete without a trip to the square for a camel ride!!

warming up with some hot chocolate...

Ava Kate loved the lights and was such a little people watcher....

an attempt at a family pic...

my sweet baby girl givin' me some lovin'....

so excited..

who needs toys...

they played in the box all morning...

...and had an absolute blast!!

my handsome little guy all ready for school...

Ava Kate admiring the Christmas tree...

taking ornaments on and off...

Owen at his Tiny Tim class...

Lights of the Ozark

Our annual night at Lights of the Ozark...

We typically have dinner at Tim's before the lighting of the square, but apparently everyone had that idea this year...so we moved to Damn Good Pies.  Four families with a lot of excited children made for a dinner of fun and chaos!  We all keep adding to our families which adds to the excitement each year!!

Chris and Cohen

Danielle and Ansley

Ava Kate all bundled up waiting to see Santa....

 the crew....

 ...and the sword fighting begins!

 Pictures with Santa!!!

the watkins family....

 our kiddos...

 Owen giving his letter to Santa....

Ansley...

 Owen was excited about seeing Santa, but I think the pony ride was his favorite part of the night!  Just look at that smile....

Christmas Festivities...

Well....our Elf's arrival was a little late, but Santa decided that Owen really needed his own elf this Christmas!!

We had recorded Elf on the Shelf and Owen had watched it a few times, so when our elf arrived Owen knew exactly what it was!  We read the "Elf on the Shelf" book and then worked on naming him.  Owen tried to name him Chippy (from the Elf on the Shelf movie), Christie, and Owen....so we decided to give him a few options and let him choose.  In the end, he chose to name him Buddy!  

Buddy watched Owen throughout day and then flew back to the North Pole each night to report to Santa.  It's amazing how well this worked!  All I had to say was "remember Buddy's watching you" and Owen would immediately start saying "I want to be on the Nice List".  And each morning Owen would go hunting to find where Buddy had landed and get sooo excited when he found him!  

Owen's daycare had a Christmas Party so we decide to join the fun.  Owen was so excited to see all of his friends, especially EMMIE!

A pic before we left for the party...Love this pic!!

Huggin' on Emmie

Making ornaments...

We also got together with the Childers and Gearharts just before Christmas.  We all met for dinner and then headed to the Square to see the lights and partake in all the activities.  

Owen and Charley at dinner....playing games

We attempted to get a picture of them with the lights...

And the most fun thing of the night....the camel ride! Owen wasn't too sure about this, but decided he would give it a try since Charley was all about it! Drew was the lucky one that got to ride along!!