Christmas Continues & January Birthdays - 4/365

We were off to the farm today to have our Christmas celebration. We were going to do it earlier in the month, but everyone had the funk, so we postponed until today. 

Nana and Papa got cavatelli, meatballs, sausage, salad and rolls from LaRocca's in Poland for our meal. It was SO GOOD!

Reagan got a lot of great presents. She was so excited! 

We did our traditional $20 boy/girl gift exchange. Jim got some cool tote bags and I got a Bob Evan's gift card and chocolate! 

We also celebrated all the January birthday's and Nana's from December today, too! We have four January birthdays on that side of the family! I got a bird house, candle and a Target gift card! I was pumped! LOVE Target!

We had a fun afternoon visiting with everyone!

Papa helping Reagan open presents

 Sitting with great grandma Downard

 Posing with the tree Belinda made

 Heading out to shop with Nana's purse!

 The cake!

Gift Exchange Day - 362/365

Today we were able to finally do our gift exchange with Nana and Papa. We like to keep that one separate, so this was the first chance we could do it. They came over around 11, so we could do the gift exchange and then everyone would be able to watch the Browns' final game. 

We had a great time opening all our presents! I got a Disney Pandora necklace and a Mickey Mouse Cruise necklace!! YAY! I was so excited! I got a few other things for taking pictures and a cool little printer for my iPhone!

Jim got a new Browns shirt, Disney gift cards, a gift card for a suit, and some more pairs of his FAVORITE pants! 

Reagan got tons of fun stuff. She got an adorable pair of Uggs, lots of new Legos, art stuff, dolls and one of her favorite things was a Beado Machine. She couldn't wait to try that out! She made out like a bandit. She was so excited!

We had a great morning with Nana and Papa. 

After they left, we settled in to watch the game. The game was awful and a typical way for the Browns to end the season. Manziel started and did awful, Hoyer came in and wasn't great but we caught up a little bit. He then got hurt, so Conner Shaw came into finish the game. He actually didn't do too bad for being a rookie. He looked better than Johnny Football. They ended up losing 20-10. There is always next year....

While we watched the game, Reagan did lots of artwork with her new dot markers. She had a blast with them. 

This evening, we were playing with my selfie remote for the iPhone. It is so fun! You can stand your phone up and click a picture while you stand way back with a remote. That will be so handy! Love it!

Great day!

Reagan and her Anna and Elsa Animators dolls!

 Reagan, Papa, and his special "Papa Pop" ornament! 

 Playing with the selfie remote! 

 Reagan doing some dot art!

Lunch with Pam, Raymond's Party - 360/365

Today, we were all sleepy and recovering from the Christmas craziness! We all slept in! It was nice. Jim did have to go off to work for a little bit today. They weren't going to be busy at all, but since the market was open, they needed to be there. 
Nana, Pam and I decided to go to lunch at LaRocca's, just to get out a little bit. It was nice and we had a fun time.
This evening, Reagan was going to have a slumber party at Grandma and Papa Greg's house. She was so excited. Reagan and Papa Greg got to spend a little bit of special time together while, Grandma went to visit Great Grandma Roupe. They had a nice evening together.
While she was over there, we went to Raymond and Jennifer's annual Christmas party. They always have it decorated so nice, with TONS of food! We always have a great time! My favorite part is always Jenny's yummy punch. Jim's favorite part is the video games! LOL!
Good times!
Reagan ready for lunch!

Reagan coloring at lunch. 

The Zabel crew at the party!

Funny faces...at least for some of us!

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!

Christmas Eve! - 358/365

Christmas Eve! Time sure flies!

Today, Reagan and I spent the day cleaning and getting everything ready for Christmas Morning. 

Jim only had to work a half day, which was nice!

This evening, we were heading over to Jim's mom and dad's for our dinner and gift exchange with them. 

We started with a yummy dinner of roast, mashed potatoes, yams, and veggies. So good! We were all stuffed!!! 

After that, we headed into the living room for our gift exchange. The kids were SO excited!!! Everyone got some wonderful presents! The girls both got a Frozen Karaoke Machine. Even got a Planes Bike. The adults got lots of fun gift cards. 

Grandma and Papa loves the personalized gifts. We made Papa Greg a YSU Penguin plate. The penguins were Reagan's feet prints. It was adorable! We made Jim's mom a photo blanket of our trip to the Outer Banks! She loved it! 

Everyone had a great time!

When we got home, we put out our cookies and milk for Santa. She even counted out carrots for each reindeer. Too funny! On Eppie's last night, we let Reagan hug and kiss him. She actually started crying that he was leaving us. It was so precious and sad, all at the same time.  

She can't wait for him to come back next year!

It was a fabulous Christmas Eve!

 Jim getting in some cuddles with the kiddos.

Three little sweeties!

 Reagan showing Papa Greg how she made his plate.

 Counting carrots for the reindeer!

Ready! Someone already nibbled some...LOL!

 Eppie the Elf kisses!

Brinkley's Holiday Hair, Reagan and Papa - 357/365

Reagan was going to spend the day with Nana, so I could run a few last minute Christmas errands. 

They played all day and Reagan just loved it. This evening, they went to dinner at Tippy and did some dancing, which Reagan just loves!

I dropped Brinkley off at his holiday beauty appointment, hit a few stores, then picked him up! He looks beautiful and smells so good! We just love when he's all fluffed up! 

Today, he also got his first Bark Box from Nana and Papa. Jim and I got Dexter a three month subscription last year for Christmas, and they just loved it. I asked Nana to get it for Brinkley this year, so we could give it a go. The first one came and it was so cute. It had Christmas coal dog treats, apple treats, three toys and a bandanna. It was ADORABLE! We can't wait for the next one!

Jim had a good but very slow day at work. 

Good day for everyone!

Brinkley's holiday hair!

Bark Box!

Papa and Reagan heading out to Tippy!

Browns and Salt Dough - 355/365

Today was going to be a lazy day. We were just going to hang around the house and relax before the busy Christmas week started. 

We watched the Browns game, which was another clunker. They played Carolina and Manziel AND Hoyer got hurt. They lost 17-13,  but at least they got a few points this week. 

Reagan played dress-up most of the day! She just loves wearing all her gowns!

This evening, we spent some time painting our salt dough ornaments we made the other day! Reagan had so much fun decorating them. We used paints and different types of glitter. She was in heaven! 

She loved picking special ones out to give to everyone, too!

Brinkley and "Anna" having a moment.

 Working hard on her salt dough ornaments. 

Breakfast with Santa - 354/365

This morning we were up and out early to the Akron Zoo to have breakfast with Santa and the Animals! 

We have gone the last two years and just love going. The zoo is closed until 11, except to the people who are there for the event. It's so nice! 

The have a huge buffet, visits with Santa, cookie decorating, and a craft. As a bonus, you get to feed the penguins. When you are all done with that, you are free to walk around the zoo. It's so nice!

We started with pictures with Santa. There was no line, so it was nice. Santa really took his time with Reagan. It was so sweet! Each child gets a little gift. There was a little stuffed elf in there, and some candy and pretzels. She was so excited. 

After Santa, we went and had our breakfast. The buffet was great! There were scrambled eggs, vegetable scrambled eggs, pancakes, hash browns, sausage, bacon and muffins. YUM! Reagan was loving the hot chocolate to drink, too. When we were all done, we were cleaning off our table and taking our garbage over to the trash. Their was a man, separating the garbage into three categories. Reagan had her cup of hot chocolate she was finishing and handed it to the man. He didn't quite grab it all the way and it fell right onto his shoe. There was still a bit still in there and it dumped right on his shoe. We felt so bad! He was a really good sport about it though and just said, "accidents happen!"

After that, we decided to take a walk around the zoo, while it was still technically closed.  We went up around Grizzly Ridge to check out the otters and bears. On the way up, there was a little gray cat that started following us everywhere. He was so cute and I thought for a second, we would have to take him home. When we got over to the coyotes, they went nuts trying to get the cat. It was crazy! They were pouncing and banging on the glass! We got a pretty cool video of the whole thing.
By this time, Reagan was crying that she was cold, so we went back down to the aquarium part for a little bit. She loved that and we couldn't get her out of there!
It was a great day!
Reagan and Santa

 The pouncing coyotes.

 Our traditional Akron Zoo picture with the sign.

Spirit Day, Santa Shopping - 350/365

Reagan was off to school today for spirit day!

We ordered our spirit wear earlier in the year and they finally got to wear it today! She was so excited and looked absolutely adorable in her tie dye!

The teacher also sent us home a gift from Reagan. They worked on a few special projects over the last couple school days, as gifts for the parents. Mrs. Sebastiani took their pictures and they decorated wreaths, to make magnets for the fridge. They were so cute. She also took their hand prints and helped them make them into angel wings. We loved our presents!

Nana picked her up from school today, so I could do a few Christmas chores this afternoon. She was going to stay and eat dinner over there, so Jim and I decided it was a good evening to go play Santa and pick out a few gifts for her. We spent a lot of time wandering around the Toys R Us and found some fun stuff for her. 

After our shopping, we decided to stop and have a quick dinner at Rise Pies. YUM!

Fun day!

Reagan and her friend, Audrina at Spirit Day!

 Reagan's little magnet wreath she made us. 

 Her hand print angel. 

Our Rise Pies dinner.