Christmas 2008

Well the adventures began on Tuesday as we took off for my hometown and still the location of my wonderful family. We dropped off our things and went to see my PaPa Lewis. We enjoyed some laughs together and then went back home to see if my family was home yet. My dad was still at work, and my sister Julia was still at school. We visited with part of my family and waited for the rest of the family. Mom made my favorite dinner, which is taco salad. Finally, it was time for bed even though we debated opening presents early....it is hard for us to wait! :-)

The next day was Christmas Eve. We played a fun game of ultimate frisbee. My mom had a breakfast full of Matt and Vanessa requests. :-) We then played some more games, visited some more, and waited for present time. My family has changed their tradition a little since Matt and I got married. The kids basically open all of their presents on Christmas Eve and we have Christmas together on that day. Santa still brings a few things for the next day. Everyone loved the gifts we gave this year which made us very happy. One of my presents was Cranium Wow! I love this game. We had a great time playing it together too. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of some of the hilarious moments from that game!
Julia gave Matt a haircut. This was only her third male haircut...what a brave/kind brother-in-law.

LizzyMatt and Jimmy playing the Wii. This was the big family gift this year. These boys were intense. Posing with the youngest sister, Rachel. :-)

Late on Christmas Eve, we said our goodbyes and it was off to the second destination on our Christmas travels. We drove the 45 minutes to Matt's parents' house. We chatted for a while, but it was soon time for bed. We awoke early in the morning to find the beautiful scene of Christmas lights, presents, and a fire in the fireplace.

I think Kira is telling Jessi something funny here.

This picture is a little fuzzy, but I like it anyway. This was the scene on Christmas morning. Those are Matt's nutcrackers too that we will display someday when we have a place to do that.

There's Jessica all smiles and looking so cute on Christmas morning.

We had a wonderful time on Christmas day. We opened presents and more presents. We were definitely blessed again this year. We even have a trip to Asheville in 3 weeks with tickets to the Biltmore house! After presents, we ate a wonderful breakfast of crepes. This was followed by a failed attempt at a nap....but then replaced with a jog. :-) I know better choice.... We then watched movies, told stories, tried out new gifts, opened more gifts, and just enjoyed each other's company. It was nice to have the entire day to spend with each other with no place to rush off to.

Matt and I posing in front of the tree before we took off for Christmas destination number 3. (Notice the new red sweater I am wearing. This was a Christmas gift from Mom T. --Way to go, I love it!)

Our final destination was Athens, Georgia for a bigger celebration. We were able to visit with Matt's grandparents and some aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a great time had by all.

We ate good food

opened presents

played a "right and Left" present game with a story that we helped create

laughed and just enjoyed each other's company

Good food

My father-in-law is trying to take a picture at the same time as me...
Grandmother is showing us all the books that she made for us detailing our family history.
Checking out the awesome books

Matt and grandmother
Aunt Kacky and Uncle RogerOne of the seven dogs present for Christmas decided to take a nap in the wrapping paper

Rosie taking a nap under the tree.

Staying at our hotel in Georgia

Matt has decided that our Christmas journey has gone long enough...especially on our backroad trip down highway 78! So he decided to take a nap. We were so ready to see Welcome to South Carolina. :-)

We had a wonderful Christmas vacation this year. It was probably the best one we've had yet.