Our First Christmas

We had our first Christmas this year! Obviously.

It was a happy one that I'll be glad to remember in many years.

We spent the 23rd with my dad and the 24th with my mom and grandparents. That was different for obvious reasons but was better than expected. It is good to be with family during the holidays, despite the circumstance. Sadly, I don't think anyone, including myself, took any pictures. Now that is a real first.

On Christmas day Brad and I stayed at our apartment. Before we were married we decided that we would spend the days leading up to and the days following Christmas with our parents and families but that Christmas day would be with just our family. We started the tradition this year, even though the purpose if it is so that our kids will always have Christmas morning at our house. That is a tradition Brad & I both grew up with that we want our kids to experience as well.

Here are the pictures we took on our first Christmas...

I can't look at this picture without LOLing. I love it.

A few days before Christmas we went on a Christmas date to the Gaylord to see the ICE exhibit. I've wanted to go for a long time and it was worth the wait!



Someone forgot to do their job of charging the camera so these are the 2 pics we got before it died.

Then, as tradition would have it, we had besties Christmas! This year the husbands got to join. Lucky guys.

We went to dinner, had a gift exchange, and ate desserts. Apparently it wasn't enough entertainment for the guys though. They spent the evening making "homemade ice cream" out of peppermint coffee creamer, sugar cookie coffee creamer, vanilla, and vanilla ice cream. The girls spent the rest of the evening laughing at their stupidity creativity.  



And, a month later, that sums it up.

Thanksgiving 2011

Now I know that Thanksgiving was over a month ago and we are now in a completely different year. BUT who really wanted the holidays to end? Not me. So, for your enjoyment & because of my lack of blogging will, I am stretching out the holidays, beginning with Thanksgiving!


The weekend before Thanksgiving Tyler & Erin were in town so we got the little besties together for a Thanksgiving feast. Anyone should know that when 2 elementary teachers plan a dinner there will be crafting & integration of a history lesson. As you can see in the picture, some of us are Indians and some are Pilgrims. I'm sure this is exactly what it was like at the first Thanksgiving.

There were a few cases of John Smith & Pocahontas...or vice versa

Thanksgiving was especially noteable this year because it was our first married holiday. We spent a few days in Arkansas with Brad's family. I love getting together with Brad's extended family because it is so different than what I grew up with. At a Thomas/Stovall family Thanksgiving there are 6 people, we all sit at the same table, eat off holiday china, and Clay & I are the "kids". At a Ringler/Underwoods/Darcey/Frost/ect family Thanksgiving there are 45ish people, kids running in and out of the house, the food is served buffet style, everyone sits wherever they can fit, and there is more food than we are able to eat. I love that mine & Brad's families are totally different.

T5 of our Thanksgiving break in Arkansas:
1. Thanksgiving day & Teresa's Kentucky Nut Pie
2. Hanging out with our niece Jordyn.
3. Dollar game w/ the whole family
4. Taking the Darcey kids to a movie.
5. Farkle with John

These are the "Darcey kids."

 

On our way home from Arkansas we stopped and cut down our first Christmas tree. Hopefully it will  be a family tradition. And hopefully in the years to come there won't be 30mph winds, a drought leaving half dead trees to choose from, and a swamp to walk through because of the fall's first rain the day before.

Happy Holidays!