Christmas Part 1

These posts will be long, but there is so much to tell! We've had an extra busy holiday season already and it is only Christmas Eve. There have been 2 birthdays, 2 Christmas sessions, 1 anniversary and Joe's 6 month birthday. It all begins with Pappy's birthday. We celebrated with dinner at Meme and Pappy's house. The whole family was there-so lots of kids running around. Libby and Aubree played while Mia and Joe watched from the sidelines. Dinner was great, but I have a sneaky suspicion that Pappy's favorite part was having all his grandkids together. See MeMe's blog to see more photos of that celebration.

After Pappy's birthday, our Christmas journey began. We left for Webster Springs to visit Aunt Debbie and Uncle John on December 20-which in one day was our 5th anniversary, John's birthday (no age disclosed!) and Joe's 6 month birthday. As usual, Webster was a laid back trip. We all rested and enjoyed the company. Libby had a great time opening her presents and Joe's too. He helped on the bags! Libby was tickled to get her first tricycle and also a whole set of baby play things-high chair, bed, stroller! I was tickled by the adorable outfits both kids received. Joe liked the paper, and the keyboard!

Libby was basically attached to John the whole weekend. They put together all the toys and played. As a surprise for all the grandkids, John and Deb bought a set of tents that connect with a tunnel. Needless to say Libby was in it all the time. She even had a picnic lunch in it! Joe even liked it-he crawled through the tunnel with minimal assistance from Mommy.

Corey and I had a great time too. It's always wonderful spending time with people who genuinely love you and your kids. John and Deb wore themselves out playing with Libby and Joe. We left on Monday morning stuffed to the gills with toys for both young and old. We had an ok trip until we got about halfway home. Joe decided to hate the car at that point! No idea why he started crying, but it was basically non stop for the rest of the drive.

We all survived though and got ready for Christmas number 2. We headed back out to MeMe and Pappy's house last night for pepperoni rolls and fun! I love our tradition of Collassesno's pepperoni rolls on Christmas-it's easy and stress free for all of us! So we ate and then geared up for presents again. Libby and Joe entered with adorable outfits that only lasted for about 10 minutes. We couldn't get a good picture, but there is always tomorrow. Libby got an awesome doll house that has entertained her all morning and Joe got some fun toys for boys-baseball and basketball toys and of course some drums. Daddy got his leatherman tool and I got a bunch of really fun stuff-of which my favorite is Christmas music and a beautiful teapot! (Libby called it a P pot).

Afterward, we all sat around and were entertained by the kids. Joe enjoyed wrapping paper in a box and Libby was into everything! My favorite part of the evening was Libby pretending to have hiccups. She would breath out and wave her hands in the air-then say "Hiccups!" Then we all had to have the hiccups as well. It was too funny!

We still have my family get together tonight so there will definitely be more posting!

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! It is a special time of year to celebrate the birth of Jesus-our Savior! Enjoy!