Christmas 2016

Christmas Eve fell on Saturday this year. Its always nice to have that day to sleep in. I think we all slept until almost 8. We had a leisurely morning and made sausage balls and grits that morning for breakfast. Austin had to get out late that morning to go pick up the big Santa gift so I had the job of getting the kiddos out the house for a bit. We ended up going by the post office and bakery then went to visit Aunt Lizzie for a bit. We got home in time for lunch and to just hang out. We were busy cooking that afternoon. Austin made his gumbo and I made potato salad. It was fun just being busy as a family and the kids enjoyed just being home I think.
That evening around 5 we left to go see my parent's and Randall and Lizzie for Christmas. This is tradition but this year we also had to include gifts. This is the 2nd year we have done this due to Christmas falling on a Sunday. The last time Colby was 3 and Lindsay was just a newborn. Its always fun just being together as family. My mom made us a nice homemade dinner. The company and visiting was great as always. After dinner we opened up presents and did our usual caroling and telling of Christmas stories. We concluded the night by celebrating my mom's b-day which had been earlier that week with some red velvet cake. We didn't end up leaving until after 8. Its always such a rush to get the kids home and do our traditions and get them off to bed for Santa. We enjoy it all though. The night got a little testy with Lindsay acting out and me losing my patience but all was made well by bedtime. I think we were all just tired and in need of some quiet. We got the kids to bed about 10 then we waited until time for Santa. We didn't have much to do this year since their big gift was the playground and there was no way we could build that in time. 
Christmas day was different this year. Again the last time we had a similar day was when Colby was 3 and Lindsay was a newborn. Ofcourse that was way more tiring and stressful. It was nice actually b/c we didn't have to leave for church until 10. We were actually able to have a pretty "slow" morning. The kids enjoyed time with their presents. We also had waffles for breakfast. We all got dressed and went to church though. It was a sweet time to be at church on christmas day. It was neat seeing our church family and friends. We got to sit together as a family which was wonderful as well. The kids got to go up on stage again with Pastor Michael. They just LOVE that! I love that our church does that! Church was about an hour long. Once we got home we were super busy getting lunch ready. My parents joined us for Christmas lunch. We have done this with them several years. I think my mom enjoys not having to cook and host. Its a nice gift to them! We had a good time visiting with them and of course the kids loved having them over to play. They left mid-afternoon and we cleaned up and took a break. that afternoon we were quite busy preparing for the trip to Hattiesburg. Austin had to prep the turkey. We also began working on the kids swing set. We didn't get much done but I was thankful to just get a start on it. 
That night we tried to get the kids to bed early since the fun wasn't over and we had a trip to Hattiesburg the next day!