We headed to Greenville after I got off work on 12/23 (Hays of course had been off the entire week because teachers have THE BEST schedules in the world). I really can't complain much about my work schedule because this year I got to be off from work (and at home with my family for Christmas) for a full 10 days! It was glorious, and the longest I have been home since I was in college. Our Christmas festivities started on Christmas Eve with breakfast with my mom's side of the family. The last several years we have had Christmas at my cousin, Jenny's, house. She has the perfect house for entertaining! It's big and open and just perfect! :)
We all ate a big breakfast (Plus dessert, because who doesn't eat dessert after breakfast, right? Certainly not a pregnant woman!), Nana and Poppy and the kiddos unwrapped their presents and then the other adults played a game. The last several years we have stopped doing presents with this side of the family, and instead we go DO SOMETHING together. This year it was the Rockette's in Nashville! We like giving the gift of TIME with each other much more than presents. I love it!
After the game (which actually did involve small presents this year, it was the Twas the Night Before Christmas game where you pass your present around in a circle- it was FUN!), we of course had to have a mini photo session- that's what we do! :)
Here's Nana and Poppy with our family! Brady's almost kicking Poppy in the shoulder here! ;) I love my family!
Me, Hays, and Brady. I think Hays MIGHT just love this little guy, don't you?
This is NOT Brady! ;) This is my baby cousin Sawyer, he's 7 months old and absolutely precious! He was such a sweet, easy-going baby all morning long! I looooooved holding him while he slept!
Mama and Poppy playing another one of our games, where you have to guess the Christmas song. Aren't they cute? I ended up winning this game (Where the prize was a bag of yummy candy! NOTE: If Nana plans the game, the prizes are awesome, so you should definitely try hard!)!
Poppy loved holding baby Sawyer too! He was such a good sleeper even though we were all definitely NOT quiet!
After we left Jenny's on Christmas Eve we headed to the Browning's to fix dinner (okay, Hays and Whitney fixed dinner- Brady and I took a nap) and eat with his parents, sister, and NanNell before heading to Christmas Candlelight at his church. We had yummy steaks and potatoes and chocolate eclair (my contribution to the dinner)! The food was good, but the family time was better! :) And, as always, the Christmas Candlelight was great at First Baptist! It was great to see many of our friends from high school at church too! Everyone comes in for Christmas! :)On Christmas morning we woke up to LOTS of snow (5-6 inches)! I think we were supposed to get 1-3 inches, but SURPRISE- there was more! It was beautiful!!!
It didn't stop Santa from visiting us, though! :) We even found one of Santa's reindeer....no wait, that's Hays' dog Jack! He's such a good sport!
Hays of course had to give Brady some Christmas morning love! :) Awwwwww!
One of our gifts to Hays' family was matching PJs to wear on Christmas Eve/Christmas morning and of course we had to take a pic of the girls!
We had a fabulous time getting our gifts from Santa and from each other. Brady even got some presents (like his crib bedding from Grammie and Poppa)! It was a super fun morning! Later that afternoon, Hays' mom's side of the family came over to celebrate Christmas (I hate that I didn't get any pictures, I think I was too busy playing with the kiddos and their dolls)! We ate lots of yummy food and opened gifts. We play a combined version of "dirty santa" where everyone brings a unisex gift! Always a fun time to watch people "steal" gifts and see what everyone ends up with. There are always some great gifts, so we have fun with it! :)
Later that night we headed to my house to see my family for Christmas. This year we tried something different and drew names (Rae's idea). It was a fun change! Of course, Brady also got some presents including a SUPER CUTE outfit for him to wear next Christmas! I can't wait to dress this little guy up!
The day after Christmas was Sunday, and Hays' uncle Bob (who married us in 2007!) was preaching at his parents church. He is a very gifted speaker, so it was a wonderful service and LOTS of our family was there! SO MUCH FUN! Then, after church everyone came over to Hays' parents to celebrate Christmas. I think there were 35 people at their Christmas this year- Hays' basement was FULL! It was so great though! We ate.....A LOT, played divided male/female dirty Santa, and then the games began! Hays' family's tradition is that the men always play Rook and the women play Shanghai. I had never played (or heard of) Rook before we started dating, but it is an institution in their family so I had to learn it! I ended up playing one game with Hays (we lost, I'm not very good!) and then played Wii with the kids! It was a fun, and exhausting, day! :)
Here's a pic of Hays' dad and his brothers (Bob, John, Joe, and Eddie)! LOVE these guys!
After Christmas Hays and I relaxed for a few days and enjoyed being on vacation! I had so much fun sleeping in (even though that's usually only 9AM, it's still better than 6:30!) and relaxing in my PJs and seeing our families! Daddy and I played a LOT of Monopoly...we are a bit obsessed. I think I won the first game and he won the next two! The last game was the blow out of all blow outs. It was sad, really! Daddy owned the green properties (Pacific, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania Avenues) with hotels and I only had the cheapy purple ones (Mediterranean and Baltic Avenues). I fought a good fight, but just couldn't last! He ended up getting all my properties and nearly all the $500 bills from the bank. It was sad....for me! He seems pretty happy, don't you think?
On New Year's Eve, Hays and I headed to Madisonville to meet two of our favorites: Jon and Carly! We met at Oasis for dinner and had a blast talking about babies (Carly is due 6 weeks before me- 2/11!) and of course sports (Jon is a basketball coach at Webster County)! We have so much in common with them and LOVE THEM to pieces! Aren't the hubbies cute?
And how about those "baby mamas"?!?! Jameson and Brady were high-fiving each other in this one! (BTW, we did not plan to match, but we SO do! Carly and I are twins in SO MANY ways!)
After dinner the Newtons and the Brownings went our separate ways (we were tired- it doesn't take much to get me tired anymore)! We watched the ball drop at my house with my mom (Daddy went to sleep and Rachel had to work), but it was fun! We celebrated new years on Eastern time in honor of Lexington and Central time in honor of Greenville and then hit the sack. We headed back to Lexington on Sunday the 2nd because I had to be back at work on Monday the 3rd. Booo! Hays actually had a professional day on the 3rd and didn't have to be back until the 4th (Have I mentioned I am jealous of the teacher schedule?!?). Anyway, we had a wonderful time at home with our families, but were excited to get back to Lexington and get things settled. Happy New Year Everyone! :)
I LOVE all of your pics! I just have to say that pic of you and Carly together is sooooo cute! I think it is great that you two are experiencing pregnancy together! I am SOOOOO happy for both of you girls! :)
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