Though last year was technically Oliver's first Christmas, this year was very special to us because it was his first Christmas home with his family.... and it turned out to be such a beautiful few days.... filled with the craziness that lots of family visiting and events bring, but bringing the greatest memories. The day before Christmas eve I played handbells in the morning and then ran around doing last minute shopping things. Then in the evening we celebrated the holidays with my family!
Then on Christmas Eve we wrapped all our presents.... Oliver helped ;) And Steve just wanted to know why he didn't get in trouble for playing with the ribbon like he would have lol
That night I played handbells again at the candle light service, I also got to sing with the choir which was so much fun! This is the Christmas picture with Jamie and Anna that we take every year, except last year because I didn't have time to commit to handbell practice with Oliver being in the hospital, which meant I didn't get to play Christmas, but it's always fun to spend time with them during the holidays when we're doing extra practices and everything :)
Next morning, Oliver slept in on his first Christmas home :) Which was nice for mommy and daddy so we could get the place ready for my inlaws to come over! When he finally woke up he was acting so silly, I love this boy!
Nate's parents and sister came over from about 8:45-11 for presents and breakfast!
Then we went back over my grandmother's for more craziness and finishing the leftovers from the party the few nights before! We went crazy opening gifts from each other, Oliver right in the middle of it all and there was wrapping paper everywhere.... it used to be like that when we were younger so it was a lot of fun and Oliver loved it! Santa brought some really wonderful things to everyone... Oliver got a membership to the zoo for this year and new bath tub toys and more animals for his fisher price ark... and of course some new clothes!
Lyla's First Christmas :)
Aunt Karen rocking her buddy Oliver to sleep
Andrew, Rachel and Lyla with the "nuttydog" blanket <3 Everyone has had such busy days and been stuffed with so much food that we all sat around and napped :)
Then this morning, Oliver slept in until TEN o'clock, wow! That never happens! With Nate going back to work, I had a chance to clean up our crazy living room and eat breakfast and drink some coffee in quite, while it started snowing outside! Oliver was intrigued when he finally did wake up because he's never seen that much snow before. He must be growing or super tired or something because he's already back to sleep for a nap, giving me a chance to do this :)
Though we get a little break to settle down, our fun isn't over yet! Tomorrow, my aunt Debbie and Uncle Danny, with hopefully my uncle Jeff and cousin Abby will come visit from North Carolina. We don't get to see them more than a few times a year so it's always exciting. Then on the 30th, we will get together with my college roommates and their families... we haven't all been in one place in two years! Usually we go to my friends, the Mackall's, for New Years, but this year they decided to have an End of the World party instead, the world didn't end go figure lol But we had a lot of fun dancing and chatting. Oliver made his social appearance and then went home with daddy for bed time, which mommy is glad he does well with a night time routine so she can party (in other words dance herself into feeling like a truck hit her the next morning!) And to everyone's surprise Lyndsay and her boyfriend drove from Georgia to join the party and her family for the holidays, so yay for getting to see Lyndsay and meet Aaron! We thought we would be nomads for new years, but our friends Tarik and Kim are having a party, so we are nomads no longer. They just had their first baby in November and only invite a few other friend couples, one of whom also has a son and the other is expecting a son in a few months, I'm so excited to start making some other family oriented friends for us to know well! Then in January we rest :)
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