Wednesday, December 2, 2009

A Happy ThanksChristmas!!

We may have started a new tradition last year without knowing it at the time!

This time last year, I was 8 months pregnant with Rhys, so we intentionally planned to celebrate Christmas during Thanksgiving with Russell's family in Louisiana...I was unable to travel for Christmas. Well, we all agreed to do this again this year, and it was FUN!!

We enjoyed good fellowship...the ladies and kiddos played all morning and day long, while the men went deer hunting early morning and early evening; good Joker games...one can never play too much Joker; good eats...thank you, Tami, for the yummy fried turkey, and Claudia and Kristie for the wonderful sides and desserts; thank you, Claudia, for the delicious and hearty seafood gumbo for "Christmas lunch" :); good visits with great family, etc!

I'll let the pictures tell the tales of our Thanksgiving & Christmas...

Grandmom holding her #1 granddaughter & #1 grandson :)Aunt Tami spoils these kiddos rotten! :) She is so GOOD to them, and I'm thankful that she's coming to visit us very soon!!I had to jump in there with my sweet niece, Sierra Grace, and Rhys. They played together SO well, and Sierra is so good at SHARING!!! "Thank you for sharing your toys with Rhys, sweet Sierra!!"See??? Playing so well together...
Rhys' first bike ride. :) We had a few hours before Sierra & Rhys' bedtime, so I suggested a fun bath!! I'm not sure who had more fun...they giggled and splashed and played, and the rest of us watched, laughed and cherrished each moment of their sweet play time. Rhys' "interaction" with the comb cracks me up! I remember he was talking in a HIGH pitch to it. :)Post bath...Baby Einstein video time.
Aunt Lynda & Cousin Traci came to visit...I LOVE these ladies! We can have so much fun 'carrying on' in fun conversations and they just care so much for other people. God has given them such compassionate hearts for others, and I appreciate my time with them. Samantha and her new little lady, Alora Lynn...only 7 weeks!!!!...came along, and I was so glad to get to see them!!! I got to hold this little bundle, and I couldn't remember Rhys being this tiny! Russell had his turn at holding Alora Lynn, too...so sweet! So, as I said earlier, we got to celebrate Christmas!! It was so fun, and Tami couldn't wait to get the party started with Rhys. :) I like Rhys' new, warm hat so much!!! I'm ready to take him for a walk to have an excuse to put it on him! It's on the list of 'things to do!' :)Look how much Aunt Tami pulled out of that stocking...yes, it's a HUGE stocking...it's still not as big as Aunt Tami's sweet heart...God has given her a sweet gift to GIVE...not just in things but of herself...she would do anything for this child!
Finally, just some of my favorite pictures of the wonderful vacation week...
Look how big our boy is getting!!!
Oh, how I LOVE this face!!! As my sweet friend, Missy, says, "I could just eat him up!" :)
And perhaps my favorite picture of all...Claudia with her handsome son and grandson. I know she is a proud mom and grandmom! (Don't you sometimes LOVE the pictures that you snap on a whim?!?! I'm so thankful we 'randomly' snapped this sweet memory!)

1 comment:

Ashley Matteo said...

it really does look like yall had a great time, which is such a praise from GOD. rhys is getting so big and looking more and more like a little boy. i love the curls, please keep them as long as you can.