Jackson's mom and I laughed at this because we asked her to go stand by the tree and smile and she gave us this little sassy pose. Funny girl!
cousins: Jackson, Mason, Kaden and Laine
Enjoying some hot chocolate
Jackson's cousin Dani and her family
Jackson's sister, Kristin and her husband and baby
Jackson's parents, Lainey and Kaden on Christmas Eve
This year Christmas was so fun because Laine really understood the concept of getting gifts and that Santa would come on Christmas Eve to bring her presents. I always build up so much anticipation for the holiday season and part of me is sort of sad once it passes. I just think it's so fun to drive around different parts of town and see the decorations and the mall is always bustling with people trying to get their Christmas shopping done. Even school is fun during the holidays because we're all doing fun holiday projects and decorating our halls for the season. Once that's all over, we're back to the "normalcy" of life and all of the things that come with that.
I wanted to make this Christmas really fun for Laine and myself, so we did some really fun things. We rode the North Pole Express and had a Christmas craft party at our house to gear up for the holidays. I hope to make new traditions next year like maybe paying to go see one of the light displays or go back to Northpark or the Galleria. We normally go to one of those malls during the holidays, but didn't get to them this year.
Christmas Eve is always spent at Jackson's parents' house. Before Jackson's grandma passed away she liked to get together on Christmas Eve and exchange presents and have a big dinner. We just sort of stuck with that tradition because Christmas Eve at my parents' house has never been a huge deal. Jackson's cousin and her husband and boys always spend that evening with us and we play games, eat and open presents. Laine had been sick the night before, but she recovered quickly so she wouldn't miss out on the fun! Normally after we spend the evening with Jackson's parents we go and spend the night with my mom and dad. My brothers are always there and we open gifts the next morning over there, but since Laine is getting older we wanted to start the tradition of them coming to our house and having Christmas morning at home instead. It was nice because we didn't have to pack up all our gifts twice (the first would be his parents' house) and Laine was able to play with her new toys before we we had to get ready and go to our third Christmas. Santa brought her a new table and chairs with new crayons, markers and paints. He also brought her a cute daisy floor pillow for her to read her books on in her room. She loved the items Santa brought her in her stocking and had a blast opening her bazillion gifts! My mom got sick during the night so she wasn't feeling great on Christmas day, but other than that it was a great morning.
Then, we pack up the car with the last load of gifts and head over to Jackson's grandparents' house. His family normally gets there bright and early, but since we spend the morning with my family we get there after they've opened gifts and eaten breakfast. When we got there we exchanged gifts and then hung out and watched Laine dance to Taylor Swift (her favorite singer). Our last stop is always back out to Weatherford to my aunt and uncle's house. Every other Christmas one of my cousin's and her husband go to Missouri to visit his family and this Christmas was their year to be gone, so it was just my family and my other cousin, her husband and their boys and aunt and uncle. It was fun to see them and play a Chinese gift exchange with them. We stayed there til about 6 and then finally headed home after a long weekend of gift giving, eating and spending precious time with family. I hope your family had an amazing holiday and I look forward to great things to come in 2012!
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