Christmas Shenanigans- Take 3

Christmas has come and gone. It seems to happen so fast. I wanted to blog about the week leading up to Christmas before I share about actual Christmas morning so that I can keep it in chronological order…

The weekend of the 18th, we took a road trip to Georgia to Devin’s Mom’s for our Christmas with her. She and her husband, George, have been working on some home renovations, but still managed to find the time to deck their halls! The house was all decorated and there were lots of lights in the yard. There was even a big snow globe, which AB referred to as a “noon” (balloon)! :) That was definitely her favorite!

We had a big lunch of Saturday and then it was present time, of course the favorite time for all of the kids!

George’s Dad, also lives up there and he dressed up as Santa to surprise the kids. AB wanted NOTHING to do with him, and we made sure to tell him it was nothing personal, she’s creeped out by all Santa’s right now. Maybe next year…

Speaking of AB and Santa, earlier that week, Ho-Ho dropped by the office. DW called me to take her down there to see him. (Ho-Ho was his cousin, who’d dressed up for his kids’ daycare Christmas party. How sweet is that?!?!? He was such a great Santa, too! My FIL dropped by the office and didn’t even recognize him! That’s how good his costume was! He even had tiny Santa glasses…

We thought for sure little miss would be more fond of him if he was somewhere familiar to her. She’s as comfortable at that office as she is our house, but when she saw Ho-Ho, she was sticking close to Daddy that day!

Ha!!! I zoomed in on her face in that picture…She’s thinking, “There ain’t NO WAY, Momma!!!”

Ho-Ho did finally manage a smile and a high-five out of her though!

 

Back to the Ga. trip---  Saturday night, Devin, Adam, AB, Lauren and I ran into town to get a couple things and decided to get some dinner. There was a restaurant we wanted to try, but ended up going into a different one. We were glad we did, too! We had some really good seafood that night! Sunday morning we headed back to Florida for a very busy week leading up to Christmas!

Wednesday we met up with Aunt Carrie, Allie Claire and Aunt Kate for a Christmas lunch at the Ivy House and a little gift exchanging. Aunt Kate gave the girls the CUTEST cupcake stands with wooden cupcakes and they were definitely the hit of the day with the girls. When we got back to Carrie’s, Allie and AB exchanged their gifts.

So sweet to watch them helping each other. Until they started snatching and pushing! We’re still working on the whole sharing thing.

Then, on Wednesday night, we went to to look at Christmas lights. This year’s lookers included Pappy, Granny, Aunt Kels, Uncle Adam & Aunt Nen. (We were missing Grammy & Pop this year…they spent Christmas in North GA with my brother and his family). Before the light-looking, we ate at Blue Highway for some yummy pizza first..

We went to the houses that were featured in last week’s Gainesville Sun. So neat to see how much work some people do and the creative things, too… like this one- there’s “Ho-Ho” on the porch!

The pilot & co-pilot.

My pictures are terrible, but this was the neighborhood that all decorated their houses! Love it! You could tell there was some competition going on! ha…

This next one was AB’s favorite because of the giant Elmo inflatable! I didn’t even try to count how many blow-up things they had in this yard. Wow. The entire house (sides and all) were also covered in lights.

Thursday was DW’s last day of work! That night, to keep from having to do it on Christmas Eve, we (meaning HE) put together AB’s big gift. I was a little worried when I saw all of the screws, nuts and bolts that came with it… but a little less than two hours later he was done!

Christmas Eve we went to Cracker Barrel for a big breakfast and then spent the rest of the day at home…getting ready for a big steak for dinner that night, and then the Christmas Eve service at our church. I love that we’ve been able to go to that service for the past couple of years. Our family did the reading and lit one of the last advent candles and even though I have a dislike for talking in front of people with in a microphone, I was glad to get to be a part of it. My favorite part of the whole service, though, is when we all light a candle and stand on the front steps of the church and sing “Silent Night.” I just love that part.

We got home in time to get AB down a little earlier than normal so that “Ho-Ho” could come pay a visit!

~amw~