And the Rest of Christmas.

After my brother and his family left,

the four of us and my mom headed to church for

Christmas Eve service.

Then we came home and hung out for a bit.

We had several sweet family members mail the kids presents,

so we put those under the tree and let them open them up

Christmas Eve night. We also let them open the gifts that they had

picked out for each other.

Before we left for MS my mom and I took the kids to Target and I gave them each $20 dollars to pick out whatever they wanted to for each other. I gave Dylan some hints about what London might want and I sort of steered London into the direction she should go. They were so proud of their gifts to each other. And I was so sure that they would each tell the other what they bought, but can you believe that neither of them let out a peep!! They must have gotten the tight lips from their daddy, because the sure didn't get it from me!

We laid out our cookies and milk and then tucked the kids into bed.

And then Jolly Saint Nick came for a visit.

And he sure was jolly this year.

Every year, I feel like I'm as excited as the kids for them to wake up and find their gifts.

I don't know what I'm going to do when the magic of Santa no longer lives in our house.

I guess I'll have to steel a toddler for the day.

Although, I think Christmas magic make even teens have the joy of little children.

All that to say, I do not take these years for granted. Not one little moment of magic.

Ya'll. If this ain't pure joy... nothin is.

I might start waking up extra early to do my hair and make up on Christmas morning from now on.

And that is Christmas 2011.

362 days until Christmas 2012.

Christmas Eve with the Fam

We hosted Christmas Eve lunch our at house for my Brother and his family and our mom.

Yes, we drove 12 hours home and got in at 3:30 am on Friday, the day before.

No, I did not have groceries bought.

Yes, I did learn a lesson.

Once preparations (i.e. surviving the grocery store on December 23) were made,

everything else was actually very smooth sailing.

My big brother and the fam came over Saturday morning and everyone lent a hand in getting things ready. Then we sat down and enjoyed a yummy lunch and fabulous company.

My brother always makes fun me for taking food pictures.

The food each year is part of the memories though.

(You only think I'm joking.)

Then we did what the kids (big and little) like best...

GIFT OPENING!

First, I made them all sit still in front of the tree for a picture

(so mean!).

The picture bellow makes me laugh so hard. It is PURE sass from sister.

Lordy be.

My mom surprised my nephew with a Kindle Fire, and his reaction was amazing. I wish we had been recording it. He really did not see the gift coming.

And this, my friends, is my brother out gifting me.

He made my mom a beautiful photo book.

It doesn't even matter what I bought her,

a gift from the heart -that is beautiful to boot?

Game over. Bubba wins.

This picture makes me smile too.

London was literally dancing with joy when she opened

this present. It was a "bike with no wheels" aka Fisher Price Smart Cycle

that she had been talking about all month.

And I mean...

look at her face when the doll house was opened.

I think I'm as excited about that one as she is.

And then it was time for our annual family picture...

I think this was one of the most relaxed and enjoyable Christmas Eve's yet.

A Week of Christmas in Mississippi

Last week we began our official Christmas with Family celebrations in Mississippi.

Its a 8-9 hour drive to my sister's house.

The kids did an AMAZING job traveling.

I would say that Mommy was the most grumpy on the road (did I just admit that?)

I'm so thankful that London is getting better at being on road trips. Until very recently she has not been a good little traveler. Dylan was always easy, but not our princess. But this year she is old enough to play with phones and electronics, watch a movie, color, ect...

Thank the Lord!

So our first stop was my big sister, Dee Dee's house. My oldest sister and her kids came over and so did some other family and we had Christmas that night.

Dylan was so excited when he opened his gifts. He cracked me up because he told me "That was so generous" when talking about his gifts. This kid amazes me. I love his beautiful heart and big vocabulary.

London was beyond thrilled with her karaoke machine and super duper cudley teddy bear.

These are two of my favorite girls.

My niece is 14 years old and is such a beauty.

The thing I love most about her is that she is as beautiful on

the inside as she is on the outside (which is something, because

girlfriend is GORGEOUS!)

And here is part of my family.

My two big sister are on either side of me and all our kiddos.

The above sentence makes me laugh because the guy towering over me

and the beautiful lady on the far right are my oldest sister's kids,

so they are (obviously) my niece and nephew, but they are actually several years

older than me. lol. I use to LOVE reminding them that I'm their aunt.

I woke up super excited on Sunday because we were having lunch with my Daddy.

If you know me, you already know this, but my Daddy is my heart. It makes me so sad

to only see him 3 or 4 times a year, but I cherrish each day I get to spend with him.

I know my dad will love this picture beacuse its him with almost all of his girls.

My other niece and my other Sister couldn't make it, but it was special to have this many of us together at once.

My dad always says he think my sister and I look a like, I see it in this picture.

And this picture will be framed ASAP because these are my two favortie men in the whole wide world.

Monday: McComb

On Monday we packed up and drove two hours to from my sister's house down to Daniel's parents house. The live in the middle of no where on a river. No one gets cell phone reception or interenet. But its peaceful and cozy and its actually very nice to be "off the grid" for a couple of days, completely focused on family.

When we got to the house, the kids were beside themselves with excitement.

Daniel's siblings both drove in (all of us are at least 10 hours away) so it was a very special time to all be together. Our niece is a year younger than Dyaln and our nephew is just 3 months younger than London. This makes for an amazingly (loud and crazy) good time for the kiddos.

We spent lots of time playing outside. London's favorite thing at Memom and Umpa's house is always the hammock. Maybe we should think about getting one. She asked Umpa if he built it just for her! haha!

There's not much that is better than sitting on a swing or rocking chair with family and watching my babies run and stomp and have the time or their lives.

PS How cute are my babies in their matching Santa shirts!? Thanks Grammy

This picture makes me smile.

London not only loved playing on the hammock she loved snuggle time on it.

Daniel couldn't walk past her with out her saying

"Daddy, can you snuggle me on the hammock!?"

And how can you say no to that!?

Memom had lots of fun activities planned for the little ones.

They loved playing this fun game (why can't I think of the name of it!?)

Once the kids had gotten lots of fresh air and playtime in outside,

we headed in and put on a Christmas movie. We put all the kids on a pallet in the floor,

snug as little bugs.

Ya'll know I LOVE myself a Christmas movie.

I wish I could tell you it was cute, but shortly after we turned it on...

I found myself waking up from a nice little nap.

When I sat up, I looked over and saw this:

Memom making Christmas cookies with the kids. They are so blessed to have a sweet Memom that invest in making memories with them. I know they'll have lots of speical ones with her and Umpa.

That night we had a yummy supper

(thank the Lord for redbeans and rice that have been a cooking all day!)

and then Umpa treated us all to a bonfire.

We made smores and even sang a Christmas carol or two.

My sappy christmas-loving-memory-making-loving-cheesy ole heart could have burst.

Let me just tell ya'll. The picture above is so so funny to me. Dylan looks and acts just like Daniel. I mean JUST like him. But this whole stance, could serriously BE Daniel. Its so funny to me.

Umpa drug out this platform thing for the kids to sit on, but they quickly turned into a stage.

All the kids played on it, but London was pretty sure she was the fetured artist of this show.

Whats better than a cozy fire with your precious family?!?

And how cute is this sweet thing?