Christmas in all it's Glory

The days following Christmas have been spent doing absolutely NOTHING!  Ahhh and it has been wonderful!  I have played with my Christmas presents, the boys have played with theirs, Ashley has played with hers, and Allen has been at work.  In short everyone has had a glorious time except for Allen. 

So here is a summary of our wonderful family Christmas.  Every year we always head to the great state of NC to spend Christmas eve and Christmas morning with my family.  This year was different.  Due to weather we choose to stay home (in Tennessee) and go to NC over New Years.  So it was up to me to create new family traditions on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning.  I think we did a great job!

Ashley was born and raised in Louisiana and loves Cajun food.  I was not raised in Louisiana and I do not love Cajun food.  Therefore I never fix Cajun type dishes.  In the spirit of creating new and wonderful memories we decided to make a Cajun meal for Christmas eve dinner and surprise Ashley.  It was wonderful!  Everyone enjoyed the meal (except for me but I enjoyed the memories!)  We then proceeded to make cookies for Santa, the boys were very involved and had a blast! 
As soon as the boys were in bed we rushed to wrap the last minute gifts and I began preparing to have Allen's mom and dad over Christmas morning for breakfast and to watch the boys open their gifts.  It is safe to say that sleep was greatly needed by the time Christmas afternoon rolled around...but I have a feeling that will be the "tradition" for many years to come. 

On Christmas morning we had to WAKE the boys up!  Yes you read that correctly they slept in!  They opened their gifts from Santa and we all had a wonderful family breakfast. They had a small amount of time to play with Santa's drop offs before it was time to head to Allen's family Christmas at his Grandparents.  Everyone was showered with love and presents and by the time the day was over everyone was VERY tired.  ESPECIALLY ME! 

This brief description of Christmas doesn't come close to telling of all the wonders of the day.  It was a wonderful time spent with family.  This upcoming weekend we head to North Carolina to spend Christmas with my family and I am more then excited to see everyone.  Here are some pictures of the events over the last few days!




Yes, we are the family that spends hours decorating the best cookies for Santa.




The stockings were hung by the chimney with care





The day is just beginning and we already look tired!




Gracie (the doggy) was disappointed that Santa didn't come for her too.




Papaw was the official "guy with knife who cuts stuff".