Christmas at Gigi and Papa's

The Grandkids

Christmas is my favorite time of year; no contest!  I love what Christmas represents and I love that I get to spend time with my family during this time.  It is true that most of my family lives in Blackshear and I see them often, but I especially love being with them during Christmas.  We all love each other, we are silly, and we have such a good time together!

Santa and his reindeer:)

Traditionally we have Christmas at my Mom and Dad's on Christmas Eve, but this year we did Christmas a day early because Lealane and her family were leaving to go to Paris on Christmas Eve (lucky!)  We had such a great time!  As I have said before in my posts, I love being from a big family.  All four of my siblings were there, my parents, my niece and nephew, and my bro-in-law.  It's a crowd when we get together!  We ate our traditional Christmas Eve meal of spaghetti and this year we also had ham, corn, mac-and-cheese, bread, etc. for those wanting something else.  My mother always cooks tons of food to make sure everyone has something they like!

After supper, we opened presents and continued with letting one person open at and going from youngest to oldest.  We love doing this so we can see everyone's face when they open their gifts!  Julianna got to go first!  She got some pretty little clothes, a dress, some trumpette socks, a backpack, some pretty bows & headbands, and some toys.  She is so easy to please right now!  This year Ava and Claire were really excited about opening gifts and had a few items they really wanted.  It was so fun to see them get those items and their reactions!  Claire got some headbands, some boots, a movie, a glitter dress, some clothes, a Polo jacket, and some Barbie clothes.  Ava got a pair of Twinkle Toes that she had been wanting for a while.  She was so excited!  She also got some pajamas, a Polo jacket, a Rapunzel dress, headbands, and a beautiful Eiffel Tower shirt!  She loves the Eiffel Tower for some reason and wanted so bad to go with Lealane to see it.  Maybe when she graduates high school we can make that trip!  In addition, Gigi and Papa got each grandkid a bouncy ball!  They loved them and started bouncing around everywhere!

My sisters got me a Kindle, which I think I will love if I ever get some time to actually read a book!  My parents got me some perfume and a gift certificate to get a facial.  I need that facial badly!  So looking forward to that!

Kelly got some things he needed as well.  A couple of gifts certificates to his favorite places (Lowe's, Bass Pro), some work gloves, and a pitchfork.  He and I couldn't resist taken an "American Gothic" picture with the pitchfork.  In addition, my Aunt Connie sent me a beautiful scarf she bought when she was in Italy this past summer.  She also made Kelly and I a gorgeous Christmas quilt!  She is so talented!

As a side note, this day a year ago Kelly and I found out we were pregnant with Julianna!  And now she is here celebrating her first Christmas!  Healthy, beautiful, and such a blessing!