Whew! Christmas this year was so crazy and so wonderful!
My mom asked me to help her decorate her house this year for Christmas and I really enjoyed the opportunity! She has a lot of fun decorations and it was fun to use my creative side a little bit.
It was also fun getting to decorate my house for the first time here in Mobile. It's such a unique circumstance to celebrate a holiday in a new place and make new memories. While it is fun to get to make those new memories, I also really struggled a little bit with missing Texas and my past memories too. I know this is something that will get better the longer we live here and make new memories.
It took waaaaaaaaaaay too long for me to find these bad boys. They made a late debut here in Alabama. But have no fear, arrive they did.... in my belly.
In the middle of the festivities, my little Shepherd boy got sick with strep throat. He laid around on the couch for several days which is VERY out of character for him. I finally got the hint that he might be more than a little under the weather and took him to our Pediatrician.
We continued our tradition of driving around a looking at lights. People here in the south wait a WHILE to get their lights up! It was well into December before the majority of lights were up. My personal theory is that everyone was waiting till the SEC Championship game was over before they took down their Alabama football decor for Christmas. Anyway, we did look, and this sweet little house turned out to be our favorite... I mean how fantastic is this house??
So then, LK jumped in a pile of leaves and sprained her ankle. It involved some X-rays and some Motrin, seasoned with a good amount of drama.
Um, this guy. Try not to smile at him. I dare you.
And then I dressed Shepherd up like a little Shepherd boy ON THE WRONG DAY. Somewhere in the strep throat missing school days, I got the days mixed up. Grace for the Mamas, yall. Grace for the Mamas.
Since we were leaving town for Christmas, my parents invited us over for a day of cookie decorating and decorating my mom's car (yes... she put antlers and rudolf's nose on her car).
About a week before Christmas, we loaded up and headed to the Lone Star State. Per our usual, we left crazy early, around 4:30am. Our kids just do so much better on the road earlier in the morning. We clearly take life really seriously.
We stayed with some good friends of ours (Hi Bowlings!) and we all had an absolute blast. There was a play, games, homemade Christmas gifts, and lots of giggles.
One way I've found to fit in seeing as many friends as possible is to plan a girl's night out. This trip we went to my favorite restaurant La Hacienda Ranch. I'm so thankful for my sweet friends and it did my heart so much good to see these sweet friends (several not pictured! Where was I ? Where was my camera??)
A lot of people ask us how we were able to manage for 7 years without living near family. And the answer is that the Lord gave us family through so many good friends. Leading that group of people is our sweet Fun Jen. She's like my sister, my kids' aunt, and we all adore her and truly feel like she is family to us. One morning of our trip before we headed to Lubbock, we went to Jen's apartment for a little Christmas morning. She had gifts for my babies and IKEA cinnamon rolls.
Friend time was so good all around and we all were able to see so many of our favorite people. Again, so many we didn't get pictures with that were were able to spend time and refresh our souls.
A few days before Christmas, we were back on the road for Lubbock. I was so excited to see my family. Even though we had all been together a few weeks earlier for Disney, it wasn't enough. Christmas eve and day were really special with them. I think our kids loved having time with their cousins and I sure loved snuggling them too.
While in Lubbock were able to get in even more friend time! Again, so so good for my heart!
Kyle's family has a tradition of celebrating on Christmas Eve morning. We had such a nice time with them and I'm so thankful for all that they do for us!
We also were able to spend some time with Kyle's aunt and uncle and cousins on Christmas Day. Some of our favorite people and we were so busy having fun that we didn't end up taking any pictures!
The day after Christmas, we headed back to the metroplex. We were able to worship with our previous church. It was really good to be back!
Even more sweet friend time! And baby time!! Lots happened in the time since we moved, including my best friend having a baby!!
On this end of the trip, we stayed with more sweet friends and gracious hosts who opened their home to us and loved on our babies and we loved on theirs!
And last but not least, is the favorite Christmas gift of the year.... Tonks!!
We had such a wonderful holiday this year. Thank you to all of our family, gracious hosts, friends and loved ones for making this Christmas so special!
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I sell Scentsy to help generate extra income for my family and to make the world smell better. Check out my website here: http://carriewiley.scentsy.us
An amazing Christmas, indeed, full of love and sweet memories. Thank you for sharing, Carrie!
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