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Christmastime!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Ours was pretty exhausting, but I can't complain at all. It was all great! We stayed pretty busy and on the go for most of the holidays so I've given you fair warning........this may be a pretty long post!
We started off the weekend before Christmas by going to my Dad's for the weekend. We have done this the past couple of years and it works out really well. It's a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas to help us not have to be on the road so much. It really just works and I hope we are able to continue this new tradition.
I just love this photo of Isaac and a little Santa that Papa had on the porch!

Little Miss Callie Grace is getting so big!! (I absolutely loved her little dress. Too cute!!)


The two of them got a long really well and were so cute together!


Darren



My brother, Uncle Patrick



Aunt Amanda


Isaac playing with Uncle Patrick's present, which was awesome. He got Isaac a John Deere set and he just LOVES it. Thanks Uncle Patrick!


This is the guys trying to figure out Isaac's race car set from Papa and Mama Hope. They finally got it together and think they all had fun with it! You shake the cars to make them go and then they crash and make the crashing sounds too. This is another one of Isaac's favorites. Thanks Papa and Mama Hope!


Amanda and Callie Grace


My little cutie pie!


Isaac trying out Papa's new head phones!


Isaac and Callie Grace reading a book


One of Papa's gifts was a pair of boxers with the Smurfs (Papa Murf-Papa Smurf, get it??) Anyway, Isaac just had to try them on too for whatever reason, but it did make a cute shot!


My little man again


Isaac playing with another one of his toys from Papa and Mama Hope. This one is a little hunting club set so he can be a little hunter just like his daddy.


Of course, he also had a fit to go outside before we left, even though it was FREEZING! We made him bundle up and out we went.



We didn't get to play out long because it was time to hit the road home. Thanks for a wonderful Christmas/Thanksgiving weekend Dad and Hope. We love you all and will see you again soon!
We had to get home because our Christmas program at church was that night. We had tried a couple of weeks ago at the Christmas parade to get Isaac's picture made with Santa, but for 2 years in a row now, we were unsuccessful. He kept saying "I don't like him Mama" and I didn't have the heart to force him up on his lap. So, I was hoping that since Santa was going to be at the church program and he just happened to be someone very close to Isaac, I might get my chance. Well, Isaac was still a little hesitant and this was the best I could get.
(Can you tell who Santa is?)

So, fast forward a few days to the 23rd. Darren was off work that day due to his Mom's stint and I left work after lunch so we could hit the road to Carthage. We stayed at my Mom's house that night and after sleeping most of the ride in, Isaac had a case of the sillies!




The next day, which was Christmas Eve, we hung around Mom's house for awhile before going to my Grandmother's for dinner. Patrick wasn't there for the very first time because he had to work. We missed you Uncle Patrick!

Isaac and Grandma under her tree

Family shot

When we got to my Grandmother's, we opened our gifts from each other before the rest of the family arrived.

Isaac and Moms

We tried, and tried, and TRIED to get a decent family shot but as you can see, Isaac was not cooperating at all! This was about as good as we could get!


Isaac had a big time playing with his cousins (the "big kids"). If you know my family at all, you can tell who each kid belongs to simply by looking at them. Apparently, we have some pretty strong genes! If you don't, from left to right is Nick, Isaac, Preston, and Elizabeth.


Isaac being silly!


Isaac even helped our cousin Jane play the piano a bit


We got to stick around awhile before we headed home to Savannah. Darren and I made a deal a couple of years ago to come home Christmas Eve night so that Isaac would be able to wake up Christmas morning at his own house and see what Santa had brought him. It was almost 8:00 when we left Carthage and had a 3 hour drive before we got home. Of course, Isaac slept the entire way in, which was good since he had missed his nap that day anyway. When we got home, we had to unload the truck and then get all the gifts ready. By the time we finally got to lay down, it was almost 2:00 am and we were exhausted!
Isaac first woke up Christmas morning at 5:00 am and said "I'm ready to get up". Unfortunately, I was no where near ready to get up yet so I got him some water and turned on the tv and went back to sleep. Eventually, he did too! Darren and I got up around 9:00 and were able to get the cameras ready and all before Isaac got up.
He was sleeping so good!

We just couldn't take it anymore so Darren, with the video camera in hand, woke him up so he could see what Santa brought him. He didn't know what to think at first, but it didn't take him long to get into it!!


Isaac checking out his new John Deere tractor and trailer


Isaac riding his new tricycle, although he calls it a bicycle. He even knows how to pedal it too!


After we did all our Santa stuff at our house, it was time to head to Mimi and Papa's to do gifts. Uncle Derek, Aunt Jill, Jakob, and Ethan were there but were getting ready to leave so we didn't get much time at all. They had all already done their gifts to each other and Santa gifts too, but we didn't get to see that part. We got lots of cool stuff though and thanks to everyone for everything!

Isaac loved his goggles that were in his stocking!


Isaac and Ethan with their goggles on


All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas. We are so very blessed to have our family and to all have the opportunity to spend time together. We look forward to more Christmases to come.
2010 looks to be a pretty promising year and hopefully we'll have many blessings this year too.


Happy New Year to all!!!

2 comments:

Zan said...

LOVE this post. I'm so glad to have the chance to see your little man grow through your blog. You will not regret taking the time to document his sweet life. Love to you.

The Howard Family said...

Thanks Julianne! I beat myself up sometimes for not posting more than I do. It takes a lot of effort to make the time, but like you said, I'm glad I will have this all documented so we can look back on things one day. Hope you all are well and hope to see you soon!