Christmas Day - 359/365

Christmas Day! 

Finally, the day for all the work and craziness. is here! 

We had a great morning opening presents with Reagan. Every year it gets even more fun!

For our main presents....Jim finally got his own iPad Air! He was stoked! I got my much anticipated Disney Parks Pandora Bracelet with a couple charms! I love it!

Reagan got a huge amount of stuff! Disney dolls, Lalaloopsies, games, all kinds of fun stuff. Right now, her favorite thing is probably her LeapTV. It's like a Wii for the little ones. Grandma got her a few games, as did we, so she was set this morning! She jumped right in and started playing! It actually puts her on the screen for certain things, so she LOVED that!

We had a great morning!

This afternoon, we went over to Nana and Papa's! The crowd was much smaller this year. The Downard side couldn't come up this year. It's sad that they are all getting so old. We missed them! 

But, Ed, Pam, Ray, Jenny and the rest of us were there. We had a yummy dinner of filet with all the yummy sides! 

After dinner, we started our marathon gift exchange! It takes forever, but is SO FUN! We each open a present one at a time and listen to the story and show it off. It's the best! This year it took four hours and 15 minutes! We do take breaks to get food and snacks. We actually did a shot of fireball this year! CHEERS! LOL! 

Reagan did great during the four hours and was a great little Santa! She did knock over my red wine on Nana's beige carpet, but we were able to get it up! Thank goodness!

I got a present from Brian Hoyer this year, which was really cool. Except when I opened it, it had two wrapped presents inside. One for Nana and one for Pam. Even though I was his intended receiver, Pam and Nana intercepted my present. BOOO! I got nothing in the end! LOL! What a hoot!

Aunt Pam knits these really cool ponchos. At the end of the night, she let Jenny, Nana and I pick one out! They are too cute!

Even the guys got in on the poncho wearing action!

What a fun Christmas day!

Brinkley and his Christmas bone!

                                                  

Me and my kiddos!

Jim and Reagan opening a present!

Reagan and her haul of presents that she got so far from us, Santa, Grandma and Aunt Adrienne!

Playing her new LeapTV!

Our little family at Nana's!

 Reagan atop of Mount Zabel Gift Exchange!

 The Zabel clan!

 Fireball!

 My present from Brian Hoyer. 

Ponchos!

Browns Cincinnati, Johnny Manziel, Jim Florida - 348/365

Jim and Greg were up and at em early today! 

They wanted to make sure they were at the course by 8:30 to catch Jack teeing off at 8:42. They got over to the course with no problems and made it to watch him start. They ended up following Jack for his first nine holes. Jim was in his glory. They were able to get super close to him, since it was so early and the crowds were thin. 

Over the two days they became familiar with Jack's wife Barbara, so much so, that she actually wandered over to them and struck up a conversation this afternoon. They talked about Jack, Jim Tressel and all kinds of Ohio sports. They loved it. Greg even got his picture taken with her!

After Jack's first nine, they decided to sit on 13 tee and watch all the rest of the groups come through. After that, they went up to 18 to watch everyone finish. 

Greg had entered a contest earlier in the day, to guess who was going to win the tournament. You got a wristband for the specific player you picked. He picked Bernhard Langer to win, and as it turns out, he WON! Greg and Jim were able to go on the 18th green and get a group shot with everyone who picked him to win, along with Bernhard himself. They were so stoked! What a way to end the tournament. 

After the tournament, they went and had dinner at a nearby pizza place. 

After that, they went back to the room, Greg was a little petered out and was just going to lounge around the room. Jim decided to go check out Epcot for an hour since it was open to an odd 9:30 time. He went and caught the end of the Holiday Candlelight Processional and the American Adventure show! He was thrilled! After that, he took a spin around the Boardwalk Lagoon on the way back to the car. They had a successful day!

Meanwhile, I was home watching the Browns have the ultimate UNSUCCESSFUL day!

Nana and I headed up to the game alone. Papa was sitting this one out and obviously Jim was in Florida. We were meeting Pam, and Denny and Joyce. 

We were dropping off a ticket for Pam at will call, out front by the will call window, people were getting their pictures with Swagger! I decided to jump in and have my picture taken! It was so fun! He is HUGE, too!

We had a fun little tailgate, but NOT a fun game! Johnny Manziel was getting his first full start of the season after Brian Hoyer got benched. He was absolutely dreadful! At halftime the browns had literally four first downs and eight passing yards. The most exciting thing to happen was the hovercraft races at halftime. We had fun though because people just kept yelling random one liners, so we laughed the whole time!

When we got home, we picked up Papa and Reagan and went to Stonebridge for dinner. YUM!

It turned out to be an OK day, despite the outcome of the game. 

Browns Colts - 341/365

It was Browns Day again, today and Nana's BIRTHDAY!

With it being Nana's birthday, we were hoping the Browns could pull off a win for her!

Although, after their nice run of wins, they have started to struggle a bit the last couple weeks. Hoyer has been having a hard time.

It was nice to wake up already in Cleveland today, so we were able to sleep in a bit. Reagan spent the night at Grandma and Papa Greg's. We got up and ready and headed over to the stadium. 

Deanna, Mike, Raymond and Jenny were meeting Nana, Papa, Jim and I today!

We all got over there at 11 and had a great time at our tailgate! 

The game itself started off great! We were winning most of the game. The colts ended up scoring in he final seconds of the game, winning by one. Billy Cundiff missed a field goal earlier in the game, that if we could have had back, would have helped us win! Oh well, what the hell, as grandma Ruthie would say. It was a fun game to watch!

Reagan had a fun day at grandma and papa Greg's. They helped her make a card for Great Papa who is stuck in the hospital after a bad fall. I'm sure he will love his card! 

The first picture is the crew from the game!

 Next, Reagan making Great Papa a picture!

Recovery, Browns and Lots of Cheese! - 327/365

Today we were just going to hang around the house and let Reagan recover from her illness. She seemed like a new person after her medications started working. She was a little bit tired, but all smiles this morning. We just watched a bunch of TV and played a little. 

This afternoon, Jim and I made our traditional veggie and cheese tray for the Browns game. 

They were playing the Falcons and WON 26-24. WOW!  Hoyer was a little shaky during the game, but they ended up pulling it out with a last minute drive. Cundiff, made the game winning field goal, for once! It was a miracle! Brinkley was happy since they scored 26 points. He got lots of celebratory cheese! When we watch games at home, we give Brinkley a cheese cube any time the score! He doesn't get much, so it's quite a treat when he does get some! LOL! 

This evening before bath, we played Reagan's pop up palace game! She beat me fair and square! It was fun! So glad she's feeling better!

Our little one being silly this morning. 

 Game day snacks and Brinkley's celebratory cheese!

 Playing Pop up Palace!

Browns Vs. Texans - 320/365

Today, we were heading to the Browns game!

They have been doing so good and we were excited to see the outcome of today's game.
Ray, Jenny, Vicki and Lew were joining us. We all met at 11:00 and had our traditional indoor tailgate. 

This was going to be the first REALLY cold game, so we were all bundled up. Cleveland had gotten a pretty good snow storm the other day, so there was a lot of snow under the seats and in the cup holders. YUCK!

The game itself did not go well. The Browns played absolutely awful! They could not get it going and fumbled a lot. The Texans outplayed them in all aspects of the game and even had backup quarterback, Ryan Mallet in. It was his first NFL start! UGH! They ended up losing 23-7. It was brutal. 

Reagan had a great day hanging out with Grandma and Papa Greg. They spent a lot of time playing Legos, so Reagan really enjoyed that! 

Jimmy and I at the game!

 The crew at the game. 

 Raymond and his snowball. We were teasing Raymond, because we said he dressed like a "Texan". 

Pictures, Concerts and Football - 310/365

It was a busy day for all! 

Reagan's Preschool Pictures were today! She was excited to get dressed up. Nana was excited to take her, too! Hopefully the come out OK. 

This evening, they went for their special Tippy Dinner. When they got home, they went in Nana & Papa's bathroom for bath time and Reagan made Papa and Brinkley get in the shower! They had to pretend to get all cleaned up! LOL!

They finally got her tucked in for the night and Nana sent us a precious picture of her all snuggled up. We sure miss her!

Meanwhile in Florida, we were spending the morning at Magic Kingdom. We decided to take the boat today, which we never do. It was cool because you could really get a good look at the Polynesian Villas. They look amazing. 

We did some big rides and took in the Festival of Fantasy Parade. I wanted to take some time to try to get some good pictures. It's such a colorful parade!

This evening we were off to Epcot again! We snacked around the world of course. I HAD to have my Germany pretzel. I'm always so amazed at the size. They are as big as your head! 

This evenings concert was David Cook! Out of the couple bands that were playing while we were here, I was most excited about him. He was awesome in concert and has an awesome personality to match. He joked with his band and the crowd. He was genuinely happy to be there. It was a great show!

After Epcot closed, we decided to walk over to the Boardwalk to catch the Browns game at the ESPN club! They were playing Cincinnati. There were a TON of Cinci fans there, YUCK! 

The game started off a little shaky, then all of the sudden the Browns turned it on and kicked some BUTT! They ended up winning and the Cinci fans left before the end of the game! Win, WIN!

Great day!

All set for picture day!

Everyone in the shower!

Sleep well, sweetie!

 Boat to Magic Kingdom!

Space Mountain!

Maleficent Dragon

Pretzel Head!

David Cook!

GO BROWNS!

Browns Win & Freddy Krueger - 305/365

Football day! 

We were meeting Joyce Dripps and her family today! They always enjoy coming and we enjoy having them. It's always fun to sit and chat at the indoor tailgate. 

The Browns played awesome and actually won for a change. They beat the Buccaneers 22-17! Woohoo!

Since the Browns won, we actually got to go to the Paver to see Pam and Zach! YAY!

While we were visiting with them after the game, we even ran into Freddy Kreuger! LOL! YIKES!

After we took some pics, we hit up the Team Shop. We didn't buy any treasures, but it's always fun to look. We hadn't been in there much this season!

Reagan spent the day with Grandma and Papa Greg. They had a good time playing and even spent some time with Brinkley so he wouldn't be lonely. She has so much fun over there on Browns Sundays!

WINNING SELFIE!

Freddy Krueger!

Family!

Browns vs Raiders & Sprained Ankle - 298/365

We were heading up to a Browns game today!

They were playing Oakland for a 4:00 game. We had invited Jesse and Jessica to come with us. We were just going to meet them up there, with all the child care delivery's that needed done. We ended up parking in the same lot and right behind them. We all got out of the cars and were chatting in the parking lot. I started to back up while talking, so I could open the back door of the car to grab my coat. I ended up rolling my ankle pretty bad in a pot hole. I was mortified! LOL!

Jim ended up driving me and Jessica down to the stadium, so I didn't have to walk that far. It immediately swelled up. The bartender was nice enough to give me some ice in a bag, so that helped quite a bit.

Nana, Papa, Ed and Pam were meeting us as well. We all had fun at the indoor tailgate, but Pammy ended up throwing her Simon Burger across the table. It landed over my me at the complete opposite end! LOL!

The game was great and they actually WON for a change! We were all so happy! YAY!

Go BROWNS!

Swollen Ankle

The crew!

We win!!

Browns LOSE & Pumpkin Walk - 291/365

Today was another busy day! 

With Reagan and Brinkley still at Nana's. Jim and I slept in a little bit, then did some chores around the house. 

This afternoon, Ray and Jennifer were so sweet and invited us over, along with Nana and Papa, to watch the Browns play the Jags. Jenny went all out and made pot roast, potatoes, carrots, biscuits, green beans and salad! We were stuffed! It was SO YUMMY!

We had yummy cupcakes for dessert! 

Jim left in the third quarter to go and meet Greg, Nikki, Adrienne and the kids at a spaghetti dinner for a friend of Greg's foundation. They had a nice time.

The game itself was AWFUL! Everything that could go wrong for the Browns, did! They ended up losing to Jacksonville, who hadn't won at all this year, 24-6. It was BAD!

After the game, I met Jim and the crew at the Pumpkin Walk. We just love going and checking out all the pumpkins. We have learned to go way earlier than it actually "starts," because it gets SO CROWDED and this year was no exception. It was crowded, again! We still had fun and the kids loved dancing to, Hey Kid, the band that's there every year. They just ran and ran and ran! They had a blast!

We got to see Ron and Rachel a little bit, too! It was a fun night!

The first picture is Reagan with Dexter. They love each other!

 Next, our family selfie!

Jillian, Reagan and Evan at the pumpkin walk!

 A little family selfie by the tiki torch!