Christmas

Christmas looked very diffrent this year. Due to my c-section and a 5 day old baby- we didn't do anything our "traditional way". (Round 1 was actually a week or so ago with the Nichols (see below) but as for the week of Christmas, here goes.

Abby began her crazy Christmas week with a visit to Santa. Honey and Buzz had to take her this year due to mom's recovery from the surgery. She loved it and especially loved playing in a car while they waited in line for 2 hours...

Round 1- Since the Penn Bs had to return to Costa Rica we opened presents with them before they left instead of mailing them. It was great fun to actually watch them open everything. Abby had fun opening a few of her own.

Due to the last minute of this and the craziness of the week..our fancy Christmas dinner was.... chicken nuggets, fries, and Logan's rolls--- hey you do what you can.....

The most exciting present of the evening was the Wii for the boys. They were super excited.

Round 2-Abby did get to go though with Buzz and Honey to my Great Uncle Roberts to celebrate with my extended family. She had a blast. Shad, Cooper and I hung out at home but the Abbster had a blast- she was exhausted though.

Here she is opening some presents with her cousin Ethan and a picture of Gene Pop and Heath.

Round 3- Christmas morning Shad, Abby, Coop and I celebrated for the first time as our own little family unit. We read the Christmas story and tried to talk with Abby of the meaning of Christmas but in her 21month old mind she could only concentrate on what was under the tree. Santa was very good to us this year. I do have pictures of this but they are on the video camera and I am still learning how to upload those, you will just have to trust me for now that it was cute. Abby ohhed and awed over her presents and we had fun watching her. She loved opening her "prizes".

Round 4- Honey, Buzz, and H came over for lunch and more "prizes". We all exchanged gifts and the highlight of Abbys day was opening her kitchen.... She played with it ALL afternoon and is still playing with it. She has quite an imagination and shops for her food and then brings it to us to sample. It is so fun!!

Round 5- The Herron clan celebrated at our house this year. We thougth a change of scenery might make the heartache of our first Christmas without Grandmother easier for everyone, plus it was easier on me to not have to travel. So, for dinner (which my mom cooked and was very low stress for me:)) Tio, Amy, Katie, Matthew, and Grandaddy joined the rest of us. This year for Christmas we all pitched in to help a family in need for their bills and Christmas presents so there weren't too many for us to open but Grandaddy made sure that Cooper and Abby had something to open. We also played a white elephant exchange which was fun and a good change of pace. (Usually after this the Inge's part of the family and Aunt Jean come to join us but this year was diffrent so we didn't get to see them).

Isn't Grandaddy so cute... here he is telling us about the "stuff" (mascara) that he found in Grandmother's drawer and used to darken his eyebrows.

Round 6 and 7 are still to come with the Pennington side of the family. Everything is out of the ordinary because of the extrodinary circumstances of the past two weeks. Praise the Lord that we have made it through and it is all due to his grace and peace. What a Christmas to remember.