Christmas 2011 Recap

Our Christmas has been very busy so far, but it's good busy. Thursday was DH's annual pot luck lunch holiday office party, so I went ahead and took the day off. They get to leave after lunch without taking vacation time for the remainder of the day, so we headed on down for the next stop on our tour: Vidalia. We hadn't see DH's dad's family since Labor Day 2010, so we were way overdue. Had a great dinner and really enjoyed the time visiting, though I somehow managed not to take a single picture! There were other out of town guests taking up most of the spare sleeping quarters in the various houses, so we went on and drove the remaining 2+ hours to my parents' house. It was a long but enjoyable day.



Friday, we didn't have many plans. Mom had to work part of the day, and Luke actually slept in (for Luke), so we met up with her for lunch, then did some shopping for Christmas clearance sales and groceries. As you know, we're usually at our house for Christmas, but with my grandfather having more frequent spells, it made more sense for everyone to be down there in case something happened. Luke doesn't remember ever being at Nana and Papa's house for Christmas, so it was a great novelty for him. Mom even had a small Christmas tree just for him to decorate.



We checked in on Luke before we went to bed Friday night. For a minute there, we thought we'd lost him! Where's Luke?


Can you see me now? LOL Crazy kid.


Saturday, Christmas Eve, was an absolutely insane day, but we did manage to get it all done, and miraculously without a single meltdown. First up was a portrait session with my friend Christi. This is the same Christi that I didn't get to see when I went to Virginia/Washington DC back in September due to all of the flooding in the area. She is an avid amateur photographer, and we really enjoyed the session. I'll post some of the images later when we get them. We invited Christi and her mom to lunch with us, then it was time to hit the road.

Our next destination was Waycross to visit my grandfather. He was having a pretty good day (though not a great one) and we enjoyed seeing him. I forgot to download those photos before we left, sorry. Next stop was Kingsland to visit DH's mom. We chatted for a while and played with the dog, then went to dinner, and back for a present opening session. Again, I somehow forgot to take pictures (bad case of camnesia this trip, except for Christmas morning, of course). The elves were busy while we were away, and nearly all of the gifts were wrapped and ready by the time we returned. Next stop, Christmas!

But first, we have to eat some breakfast.


And take pictures of the tree, though it is impossible to get one of those beautiful glowing long exposure shots of a tree that spins! (Mom's tree is on a turntable.)


Come on, Papa, is it time to open gifts yet?!


First, we pass them out.


Luke's first "real" stocking (that he can remember). He was very excited.


Okay, go!


Nope, can't open that one yet! It's "the big one" and needs to wait a bit


Try some others.


Yes, other people got gifts, too.


And just to be fair, here is a picture of me, and it's even a candid that I don't completely detest.


Still working on the "enjoying everyone else opening their gifts" part. He was (for the most part) very patient.


Okay, now it's your turn again.


You know you're getting old when...


... not only do you get luggage for Christmas, you are very excited about it! (He travels a lot, and he is going on a cruise over New Year's, so he needed it.)

Okay, Luke, *now* you can open "the big one." Wait for it....


Oh my gosh, is it?


Yes!!!!!


The look every parent wishes for on Christmas morning; success!! He's been wanting a Nintendo 3DS for months now (over a year, really), but he wasn't "ready" by his birthday. For the past several weeks, every time someone asked him what he wanted for Christmas, 3DS was always his one and only answer. His behavior and maturity have increased dramatically since then, so we granted his wish. Yes, we his parents, not Santa. A) You don't "go around" Mom and Dad and get what you want from Santa. And B) If you get it from Mom and Dad, then Mom and Dad can (more easily) impose rules on its use.



We got him all set up, then took a quick Christmas cake breakfast break for the adults. After that, it was time for Papa to open his "big one." Like a lot of fathers in this world, we all feel like Dad tends to get the short end of the stick most Christmases. He's fairly difficult to buy for. Either he buys himself anything he wants or needs, or the few things we can think of need to be specific types or models, so it is really better if he buys them himself. This year, however, my brother hit on the perfect gift.



It is called the Saint John's Bible, the first hand illuminated and lettered Bible since around the invention of the printing press. You can read more about it here. Jacob saw a segment on it on television one day and mentioned it to Mom and me as a possible Christmas gift for Dad. We loved the idea, so we all split the cost and purchased the reprint volumes of it.

I think he likes it, what do you think?


So that was our Christmas day. Mom and Jacob loved their box of "gourmet goodies" I gave them, DH adores his slippers (again, you know you're old when....), and I need to add on to my kitchen to hold all of my new kitchen gear (food processor, immersion blender, cast iron dutch oven, waffle maker). We'll be leaving Tuesday evening, and we don't really have any plans between now and then. Just chill, relax, enjoy each other's company, and eat lots of yummy food (will share some recipes after we get back). At least we know what Luke will be doing.



:-) Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Currently feeling: Christmased