making it rain in lawrence

We headed up to L-town to cheer on our beloved 'Hawks during Christmas break. The boys were excited to get all their KU gear on...

posing while we were still at home!

 this one's a bit blurry, as it's from my phone... we were in the tunnel area waiting for the players to come out so the boys could give them a high-five!

waiting with Dad...

 here comes Jeff Withey!!

 my new favorite picture :)

the view from our seats -- what a fun game!!

the following is a short video clip of the boys giving KU's star player, Ben McLemore, a high five!

christmas day

After doing our own family Christmas celebration, we headed over to Mom and Dad's for brunch and more celebrating...

 the boys found KU dogs at the top of their stockings :)

 Aunt Laura and her dog, Norman, came over for the day

 new Legos from Nana and Gramps!

 we FaceTimed Uncle Dave, Aunt Kristen, and Olive...

Uncle Brentley and Nana brought the boys soccer jerseys from their trip to Spain this fall

 more fun Legos from Aunt Laura

 birthday cakes for Jesus

and Fletch had a great Christmas as well, taking morning runs with Brett and being fed lots of Christmas ham when no one was looking... ;)

Merry Christmas 2012!

christmas morning

We enjoyed a nice, relaxing Christmas morning at our house... starting out with the boys running into our room and informing us that Santa DID come!!

 first pic of the morning in their matching jammies ~ Santa always seems to leave a stuffed animal in the top of their stockings

 lots of Legos!

 Carter has been asking for a remote control car for awhile now

 KU hoodies, t-shirts, and a winter hat

 then the boys found a note from Santa in MY stocking... :)

which led them downstairs to their final gift, a foosball table!

christmas eve

We started off our Christmas Eve morning by going out for breakfast and meeting Jerry for donuts. He had to go into work for a few hours beforehand.

 we are trying to get Grayson to find his real smile... this furrowed brow/scowly look just gets me...

 then we all went over to Nana and Gramps' house before lunch... Nana gave the boys "drinking glasses" which are straws in the form of glasses!! they had a ball sipping their punch with them!

 Christmas Eve lunch was at Stearman Field -- and Carter brought his glasses ;)

 

 the three youngest at the Christmas Eve candlelight service

 our family of four at Aunt Laura's for dinner that night

 the girls

the boys with Uncle Brentley... about to head home and wait for Santa!!

paint a snowman

The boys and I joined some other moms and kiddos on the first day of Christmas break to paint! We all met at a fun place called "Paint the Towne" to get creative. Grayson's birthday party was held here in 2011, and we'd all had a blast... so we were excited to be back!!

 getting ready to paint...

 one top tooth is starting to come in ;)

 brotherly love

the whole group with their masterpieces!

grayson's piano recital

It's hard to believe that Grayson has been taking piano lessons for 2 1/2 years now!! He started in the fall of his Kindergarten year, and has been playing ever since. For his Christmas recital, he got to play "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" -- which is very fitting with his toothless grin. :)

Here is a snippet of his song from the recital:

 

celebrating in lawrence

 the newly engaged couple with Mom and Dad

 in front of the Orange Bowl trophy

 All the Buchanan siblings, spouses, and kids

David, Olive, Kristen, Carter, Brett, Claire, Grayson, me, Jerry

 with the boys in front of Mr. Phog Allen

 with my sweet spouse -- we were engaged on Dec. 17th, 1999 -- 13 years ago yesterday!

 we then headed over to The Oread for drinks and appetizers -- there was a wedding happening on one of the rooftop terraces -- so cool!

 brothers-in-law

 we ran up to the top of The Oread to snap a few pics of Brett and Claire with the Campanile in the background

 with my sweet sisters-in-law :)

it was SO windy up there!!

On Sunday morning, we had brunch with Claire's family at the Marriott on the Plaza. The boys had already swam at the indoor pool (with Brett) and were happy to just play on the stairs. :)

What a fun weekend celebrating!!