Christmas 2009

Christmas always seems like a whirlwind for us because we are so busy and because we have so much family to celebrate with.  We started our celebrations with Matt’s dad and Michelle on the 20th.  They came to our house this year for a yummy dinner of roast, mashed potatoes, and green beans, boudin dip for appetizer, and key lime pie for dessert.  We also celebrated Matt’s birthday the same night.  Unfortunately…there are no pictures from this evening on my camera.

On the 23rd, we took gifts to Ben and Jack and had dinner with the Donaldson’s.  Because Jack is so little, they didn’t come to Christmas at the grandparents’ house this year, so we gave the boys’ their presents early.

Christmas Eve, we spent some time with my family when they got to town and then headed to Cypress to celebrate with Matt’s mom, Kevin, Danielle, and grandma.  We had minestrone soup, turkey, lots of dips, cheeses, fresh veggies, and of course, the cookies.  We had dinner, visited for a while, and then opened presents.  Again, same story…no pictures.

Christmas Day we got up early and made blueberry muffins and coffee and then started opening presents at our house with my parents and sister and brother.  We had a really nice morning and then loaded up in the Tahoe and drove to Beaumont to enjoy the rest of the day with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We ate ALLLL day long, opened presents, visited, told stories, and laughed a lot.

the “kid” tree at Nana & Papa’s house…it is decorated with ornaments we made as little kids in school

getting the snacks ready…

the “BIG” tree…with new and different ornaments every.single.year.

roasting marshmallows…

We had a great Christmas with our families!  We are truly blessed and that was abundantly obvious this year as we all gathered together to celebrate and be thankful.