Rocking Around the Christmas Tree

I love Christmas. I am sure this comes as a major shock, what with me saying that about 300 times in the last month of posts. This year was probably the best one yet and I only say that every year. Well, not every year. Christmas 2006 was not good...I was newly pregnant with Colin and very VERY sick...but other than that small glitch, I ALWAYS LOVE CHRISTMAS. We got to my parents house in Tyler on Wednesday evening, the day before Christmas Eve. I think the moment that I walked into that house made my whole year. Everything was warm and cozy, bathed in soft lights and the glow of decorations. Nothing in the whole world beats my childhood home dressed up for Christmas. It smelled like home...cookies, fudge, apple cider and egg nog. Every corner of the house was covered in family memories; ornaments spanning decades, the stuffed reindeer that my dad adores, and my mother's Santa collection just to name a few. Her tree is always the most wonderful thing that I have ever seen and this year did not disappoint. There were presents EVERYWHERE and my sisters were in the middle of the living room floor with wrapping paper and ribbon strewn all around them. Cory was on the couch with a sleeping Pryce in his arms, my mom was helping wrap and Jackson was building with blocks on the kitchen floor. My dad arrived home at the same moment we did and his booming voice filled the air with happiness. My immediate family all under one perfectly decorated sweet smelling roof. Perfection. We spent that night eating chex mix, fudge, tea cakes, cracker cookies, and Chick-Fil-A while wrapping presents and playing with Colin, Jackson and Pryce. It was after 10:30pm when Colin got to bed, which is insanely late for him. We were just all having too much fun. The grown-ups stayed up late into the night putting together the giant Thomas trains that my mom got the boys and wrapping more presents. Christmas Eve dawned bright and COLD and we spent the day drinking hot spiced cider, eating everything we could get our hands on, watching Christmas specials from the DVR and having a blast. We were all sitting around when it happened...SNOW. IT SNOWED!!!!!! We were running around like little children, taking pictures, hugging and even jumping up and down at one point. (I should say that my sisters and I were jumping up and down while Jer shook his head in disbelief) :-) I have only witnessed one white Christmas in my whole life, the year I could not get home from PA. It was wonderful, but I was very homesick at the time. There has been no snow in Texas on Christmas in my lifetime at least. It was like magic and it made my memory of this year one of my most treasured to date. It was like every Christmas song was coming true before my eyes. That night, my sisters and I put on our annual Christmas pj's and we had a huge feast cooked by my mom...chicken spaghetti, baked beans, potato salad, seven layer salad, cornbread salad, two kinds of cheese dips with crackers, and the half ton of desserts. HEAVEN! We stayed up super late that night after Colin went to bed (getting ready for Santa) and Christmas Day was upon us in what felt like an instant. I slept with Colin in one of the extra bedrooms because we forgot to bring his bed rails and Jer slept in the living room. That morning, Colin sat straight up in bed and said, "Mommy! Big presents?!?!". It took my breath away....he got it!! I alerted Jer and we walked into the living room to see the spread from Santa. A work bench with lots of tools and equipment (including a working drill!), car sets, a battery operated train that was chugging around the track when we walked in, and a giant fire truck...not to mention the stockings and other goodies. Colin gasped and ran for everything, shouting "Look! Look at this!". He also ran over and noted that Santa ate his cookies and drank all his milk, which was insanely adorable. By the time my sister Meredith and her family arrived, I had my famous "monkey muffins" cooking in the oven and the cider and coffee were flowing. We had the most wonderful day opening presents (my parents got me TWO cast iron skillets and a deep fryer!!), eating and just loving each other. Oh, and laughing hysterically at Cory and Jer at any given moment. Those two are keepers. ;-) I know that I get long winded when talking about Christmas, so I will end this post for now, but don't be surprised if I wax poetic on the subject again. There are so many cute little individual moments that I want to remember. What a spectacular holiday!! Happy Birthday, Jesus! Here come the pictures...

Sitting with my sisters on Christmas morning in our matching pj's...may we never get too old for this. :-) My mom was so proud of herself because they have little white kittens on them that look just like Musette, which is an old childhood movie that we obsessed over. As you would imagine, they were a hit.

Colin with his awesome new work bench on Christmas morning...Aunt Alieson in the background on the laptop.

Colin and Jackson opening presents together. They were SO PRECIOUS in those pj's from my parents.

My mom and Colin opening gifts...my dad is sitting there in the chair.

Colin and Jackson went absolutely INSANE over the Thomas trains from my parents. You have never seen such joy. I will never forget this moment!

Colin and his precious baby cousin, Pryce. He loves her SO MUCH. He is also rocking a pretty messy spaghetti face. :-)

Hugging my wonderful husband in the SNOW. ON CHRISTMAS EVE! Did I mention the snow? ;-)

We were such dorks...this was when the snow first started and we were running around in the driveway jumping up and down. :-)

Colin and Mommy in the snow outside my parents front door.

It would not be Christmas if I was not acting silly. Nice antlers. :-)

One view of the tree when we walked into my parents house on the 23rd. There are no words for how much I love this tree and every memory on it.