Christmas 2011

We had such a special Christmas this year. It was a different experience from years past when it was full of hustle and bustle and chaos. I got most of my shopping done 3 weeks before Christmas which is a first for me and it was so much more enjoyable. With me staying at home with Sawyer and Keith's month being slow, because that's how the month of December is in sales, I felt like we soaked up all of the Holiday as a family. Now that Sawyer is older and he can understand a little bit more, it made Christmas even more exciting.

We kicked off the month with the annual Christmas Party at Inverness CC hosted by Keith's cousins. We look forward to going to it every year for many reasons but this year the best part was skipping all the long lines at the mall to see Santa. He comes every year and even brings Mrs. Claus! We weren't quite sure how Sawyer would react to Santa so we tried not to have too high of expectations. Well, he wasn't a fan...That's ok, we will look back on this picture one day and laugh.

A few weeks later, we went to Keith's cousin's Engagement/Tacky Christmas Party. If anyone knows Keith, they know how much he gets into dressing up and this was no exception. He went to several thrift stores to see how ugly he could make us and I think he did a pretty good job! We had a really good time and it was great to celebrate Weezie and Bryan's Engagement.

Both sets of Grandparents joined us for Zoolight Safari. I was so impressed by how much work they put into this event. Everywhere you looked there were Christmas lights and activities for the kids to do. This will definitely be an annual tradition for us!

Sawyer and I made a couple of visits to the McWane Center to check out the new Snow Exhibit. I wasn't too impressed with it to be honest but the trains were really neat and more Sawyer's speed.

We went to the Church of the Highlands Christmas Service the Thursday before Christmas and it was sooo good. Pastor Chris did Christmas in a perspective that most people probably have never heard. On Christmas Eve, we went to the Scott's for brunch and exchange gifts. Honey and Papa D got him a slide and he was beyond thrilled!



That night, we wanted to start a new tradition by going to go eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Mandarin House. It was such a nice change and we knew we were going to eat all of the traditional Christmas food twice the next day. After dinner, we set up the Barney DVD for Sawyer and headed to Starbucks followed by looking at Christmas lights. After we put Sawyer to bed, we got all of his toys out and on display for Christmas morning. We actually all slept in until 8 on Christmas, which is very late for us, then we woke up Sawyer and headed downstairs to see what Santa brought him. He was so overwhelmed and really didn't know what to think about all the toys and why his parents were being so crazy!

The boots Keith got Sawyer were his favorite!!

Keith got me a blingin watch and a Tory Burch purse/diaper bag. He is too good to me!

We then headed back to Keith's parents house for lunch with his extended family.

Aunt Pam made a Birthday cake for Jesus!

That afternoon, we headed to my parents for dinner and to exchange gifts. It was so great to see my brother Jeff and his fiance, Rita who were in town from El Paso, TX. The kiddos were wired and had a blast running through the house being silly!

Too many Christmas parties or 15 weeks pregnant?