Santa's Sled Landed in Memphis...

...and so did we! The day after Christmas the boys and I, along with Uncle Steve, Aunt Jackie and Henry, headed down to Memphis to spend the holiday with Uncle Bryan and Alyssa. Nana, Papa, and Dan had to work, so they couldn't travel with us during this visit!

Alyssa opened plenty of presents from Santa, but she also got some great stuff from the rest of her family from Illinois! She got to open them right there at the hotel room with all of us looking on!

Thank goodness we got Alyssa this art set......and this game - we never realized how much use the kids would get out of these!!!
We always stay at one particular hotel in Memphis whenever we are there - the kids love it because of the pool and hot tub and we like it because of the fab breakfasts, dinners and drinks served - all free of charge! However, the pool was CLOSED for our entire visit - except for the day that we left!

Thankfully we had plans to visit the Memphis zoo lights that night!

It was SUPER cold, but was beautiful! And, where else could you see some of Santa's reindeer - once they were resting after their big night???
Alyssa and Uncle Bryan were having fun - especially with Alyssa's great view from way up there!
My three cuties!
Nick, Alyssa and Jack having fun!
Henry all bundled up on the train with his daddy!
A castle - we all thought this was pretty cool - it's amazing though how it looks SO SMALL in the picture!
After the zoo, we headed back to the hotel and chilled a bit before going to sleep - unfortunately, not all of us were able to sleep! The next morning, I heard from Jackie that Steve had been up all night long with some major belly issues! Bryan had to go to work, so that left me and Jackie with all 5 kids in just 1 hotel room (as Steve was sleeping in the other one!) and no pool!!! We managed to survive until the afternoon, but then we did what any other moms would do - we went to Toys R Us and let the boys pick something out - from Uncle Bryan, for Christmas! But then, we headed back to the hotel and once again "chilled!" Thank goodness for portable DVD players, Ipods, and DSi's! :)

And Phase 10 for me and Jackie!
Later that evening, Steve felt a bit better so he ventured into our room...only to have some "issues!" Thanks to Jackie for posing for this pic that speaks for itself! :)
CLOSE UP!
Even though this trip didn't quite go as planned, we managed to have fun and enjoy our trip! Let's hope that our next trip is a little less crazy!

Love you, Steve - but next time don't lie - okay, I think we are even now!!!

Reindeer Games...

Since I had our lunch catered, it gave us more time to spend doing what we do best - playing games!

Santa brought Jack Mind Flex, Bop It Bounce, Sonic Slam and Rubic Slide, so we had plenty of new things to try! Here is Papa with the Bop It Bounce!
And Jack with his Mind Flex...
Thanks to Santa, we also got Just Dance 2 and Just Dance for Kids! Of course we ALL had to try these new games out! Here is Aunt Joy, Casey (congrats goes out to her and my cousin Ed on their engagement!!!), and Nana!And here are my boys - all FOUR of them! I LOVE the fact that the 3 little ones stayed in their pajamas all day on Christmas...
...that is, until they went out into the snow!!! Here is Uncle Steve with Jack, Nick, Luke and HENRY!!! Thank goodness I had a snowsuit that would fit him! :)
Close ups of all my little guys in the CHRISTMAS snow!

Jack!
Nick!
Luke!
And my Henry-Boo with his Daddy!
Merry Christmas all! What an awesome day!

Secret Santa Is NOT So Secret...

Jackie, Steve and Henry headed over to our house bright and early on Christmas morning for a yummy breakfast! Once we were finished eating it was time for more gift opening...

First up was Henry!
Because Henry gets all of the boys' clothes and toys, he has EVERYTHING a little guy could want - so, I went for big and loud this year! Check out this cool V-Tech learning, biking giraffe - he can learn his ABC's and exercise all within the comfort of his home! :)
Next up it was time for the adults to unveil our Secret Santas! We always start with the oldest - so Papa got to give his present to the person's name that he drew back on Thanksgiving! Here is Dan with his fun gifts!
Next, Dan gave a gift to my BFF Steve (you are lucky I still like you after our texting war yesterday, Stevearino!!!) I just love how he always poses for the camera!
Steve then presented his gift to....NANA!
...who in turn gave the gift she bought to...PAPA! And look, he got sticks!!! Because his real present was sitting in the backyard - a big ole metal dome, custom made from a welding shop to have HUGE bonfires in this year! S'Mores at Nana and Papa's house!
Since Papa had already given his gift and only Jackie and I were left, it was obvious that Jackie and I had each other...and even more obvious that we had shared that information with each other! Jackie got to pick out all her clothes I got for her as well as these fab sunglasses!
And I received all the great martini and red wine glasses as well as a fantastic Sherpa throw!
Since I knew I would be receiving such great gifts, I planned ahead and found some fun cocktails to serve - so once it hit noon, we were experimenting! Too bad no one was really into drinking such strong drinks - thanks to Nana though for trying them out!
The party wasn't over yet though - there was another meal to be served and more family to see! Christmas, Part 3 was coming soon!

Christmas Morning Memories!

Since Nana and Papa spent the night on Christmas Eve, Dan and I gave them our bed. I guess the boys forgot because they went running into our bedroom to find Nana and Papa - that didn't stop them from waking up their grandparents early!

We always try to take turns opening presents so that we don't accidentally throw anything away and so that we can truly enjoy the entire morning, but as you can see, both Jack and Luke are opening a gift - which Nick is waiting patiently for his turn!
Luke SO wanted the Dora the Explorer Talking Windows house - he is such a smart little guy...he knew from the shape of the box that this is what he REALLY wanted from Santa - I love his smile on this pic!
Here he is telling me that he "knew it" was the Dora house!
Here is Nick posing by his Beyblade fight arena - just what we need with 3 boys - a FIGHT arena - thanks SANTA!!!
Another fun gift for Nick - Kung Zhu pets - again with a battle arena - what was Santa thinking???All that Jack really wanted this year was Mind Flex - that crazy toy where you are able to control the movement of foam balls by your mind! Well, he got it - and here he is showing Nana all about it! :)
Probably MY favorite game that Santa brought Jack - Bop It Bounce! Although, Aunt Jackie rocked this game throughout the day on Christmas!
Santa was also good to Daddy - bringing him Rock Band 3 - complete with a piano!
Santa and Dan were both great to me - although I had MAJOR bedhead so prohibited the use of any cameras on me! :(

The boys got Nana and Papa some "personalized" mugs!

The boys were worried that Santa wouldn't know that Nana and Papa were at our house this year, but he did - and made sure to bring them a great gift - their very own Wii (which I am happy to report that they play with OFTEN!)
Santa did have just one more surprise for the Morra boys!!! He had left a note telling the boys to go look out the front door because he had one more gift that he couldn't get down the chimney! The look on their faces was priceless - they were SO excited to see their very own basketball hoop!!!
Once all the excitement was over it was time for breakfast!!! And then more gift opening once Aunt Jackie, Uncle Steve and Henry came over - stay tuned for round 2! :)

Christmas Eve Chaos!

Okay, so it wasn't exactly "chaos," but it was a bit more of an active Christmas Eve than we are accustomed too! The day started out with presents!!! The boys had been eyeing their gifts in the "big bags" as Luke would say! These gifts were from Dan and me and while they weren't toys - the boys still look excited to get them!
...and to open them up! They loved their new snow suits, boots, and hats, gloves and scarves!
They were especially happy about all those items because on Christmas Eve it was snowing!!! So much so that they were able to make some great snowmen!

Our typical Christmas Eves are often very quiet - with just Dan and the boys hanging out at home before we venture out for church. This year though, Nana and Papa headed over to our house in the early afternoon to beat the nasty weather!

The whole family enjoyed our snowy winter's day and then headed out to church. After church, the boys continued their tradition of spreading their reindeer food!

I also had to get a picture of the three boys with their snowmen! The one snowman on the left has a sign that Jack and Nana made that said, "Santa Stop Here" although it was covered with snow!
While the boys were spreading their reindeer food, Dan was shoveling the driveway to get ready for all our visitors that were expected on Christmas day!
We came in from the cold and snapped a quick family picture!
Then it was time for the boys to open their presents from Nana and Papa - something that I always did when I was a little girl!
Jack was super excited to get an Ipod with the necessary attachments to use with his hearing aids!
Nick was thrilled too - he couldn't wait to get Tyo Cruise's Dynomite on his Ipod!
And Luke was crazy about all of his Dora the Explorer toys!!!
Hugs and kisses for Nana and Papa!

After checking the Norad and seeing that Santa would soon be in Illinois - the boys happily showered and settled into their beds for the night! Can't wait to see what Santa brings us!!!