Christmas 2007

I haven't taken time to write about our Christmas holiday because we have had a lot going on. Just like I've heard many of you say, the past two months have gone by so quickly that I barely remembered to breathe. We have had such a wonderful time and I'm a little sad that the holidays have passed. I love being around my extended family because they are just loads of fun.

We enjoyed a wonderful worship service with our church family bout 6:00p.m. Afterwards, as per tradition, we spent Christmas Eve night with Jeff's family. His mom always cooks a huge meal and this year was no exception. We enjoyed spiral sliced ham, cubed steak in gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli, biscuits, her world famous mac 'n' cheese, and a bunch of other goodies that made me gain five pounds! We enjoyed eating, looking at her pretty decorations, opening gifts together, and playing Scattergories. We were having so much fun that when we looked at the clock, it was 2:30a.m!

The girls had fun posing for pictures

They were even able to get a quick shot of me and Jeff

Christmas morning we all slept in. Once everyone was awake, we enjoyed opening gifts together. Caroline was thrilled to get a Liberty doll from Vision Forum and Logan was equally thrilled to receive several books, including Jane Austen's complete works and the Love Comes Softly series. Hubby got an awesome orange UT dress shirt that the girls picked out. He surprised me with a set of videos from Franklin Springs Family Media. If you have never heard of Franklin Springs, please check them out. They are a small company making wonderful, meaningful videos.

In the evening, as per tradition, we drove a little more than an hour to spend time with my family. We arrived around 5:00 to find aunts, uncles, cousins, my mom, and grandmother all waiting for us. We enjoyed another big supper and then spent lots of time chatting. We opened gifts and then spent an hour or so singing Christmas songs. Jeff was kind enough to play guitar for us and we were amazed at how many songs we forgot the lyrics to! It was great fun and I think it'll remain part of our yearly tradition. My grandmother seemed to really enjoy herself and I am so thankful that we were able to spend another Christmas with her.

Me & My Grandmother

My mom, oldest daughter (I'm not sure why she has such a look on her face), and grandmother

This Christmas was such a wonderful time. We made so many special memories and I'm already looking forward to next year! I have decided that I want to exchange homemade gifts with everyone next year so I've got to get to work.