Christmas 2012

 I'll attempt to recap our Christmas vacation and the travels.

We started our holiday with a Christmas exchanged with the Gillams on December 21st.  Keith, Jenni, and the girls came over for dinner and presents.  They gave R the Brave Movie so we watched a bit of that before bedtime.  Chris and Heather were also in town to visit his family so they spent some of the afternoon/evening with us as well.  After getting kids down, B & I spent the rest of the evening packing and getting ready for our 2 day trip to Katy, TX. 

We left at 3:30 am Saturday morning and drove all day.  We arrived in Hattiesburg Saturday afternoon around 4:00 and then went to visit Granddad in the hospital.  He had a knee replacement earlier that week and was still recovering.

Granddad had picked up a gift for each of the kids and they opened them while in the hospital.  We had dinner at home with AC, Uncle B, Aunt A, and Olivia.  Gram was able to join us for a short while before heading back to the hospital.  Our travels started the following day when we left at 5:30am with our destination for Texas.

It seems like forever but we finally got to Paul & Anna's house around 3pm Sunday afternoon.  Everyone was excited to see each other and the kids were very happy to see their cousins.  The rest of Sunday was spent relaxing and talking with the family which included a walk around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights.

before church 12/24/12

Grandkids after church 12/24/12

To take each day of the week would take forever but I'll hit the highlights.  Christmas Eve we went to a 3:30 pm service at P/A's church, Kingland Baptist.  The service was very nice and I was happy with out well the kids behaved.  We had Vicki's mac/cheese for dinner and then finished with a story.Christmas morning was exciting and a bit hectic.  We started with stockings, then breakfast, then presents.  Here are some pictures courtesy of Aunt Mo :)

After opening everything, the cousins spent a little time outside playing.  Again, thanks to Aunt Mo for taking pictures of these precious moments!

Marcus and Mandy had to leave Christmas evening (sad) but were getting ready for their ski trip to Colorado (fun).  Wednesday our group headed to IKEA for lunch and a bit of shopping. Wednesday night we dined at a local Mexican restaurant.  Thursday we went to the Katy Mills Mall so the kids could play.  Ginger bread houses and trains were assembled Thursday evening.

IKEA lunch

Snack at Katy Mills Mall

Houses and Trains

We had to leave Friday around lunch-time to head back to Mississippi before the long haul to NC.  After getting stuck in some traffic near Baton Rouge, we made it to Pass Christian around 8pm.  We tried to eat some and then the kids opened a few gifts from Nana & Tata. 

Saturday morning we met Grandmalupe at IHOP for breakfast before getting back on the road for North Carolina.  It was a long long day, but B is such a trooper.  He drove the entire time and finally pulled into our driveway at 11pm.


Our great friends brought us breakfast from McDonald's before church Sunday.  We had no groceries and I wasn't going at midnight either!  The Gillams are awesome and best friends.