We have had quite a Christmas vacation this year. I got out of school on Friday the 16th and we spent that weekend & the first 3 days of the following week cleaning & painting rooms in our old house -- getting it ready for our renter to move in this upcoming week.
We left Austin on Wednesday afternoon, headed to Oklahoma to spend the night at my parents' house for the night. Thursday morning, we got up, had breakfast & headed to Arkansas. On the way to Justin's parents' house, we stopped by Rudy to see my Aunt Leon who babysat me & my brother when we were little; she is 98 years old & still doing amazingly well. Here we are with her!
We got to Berryville to Justin's parents' house Thursday in time for lunch, then his Mom, Kaylee & I went into Harrison for some last-minute Christmas shopping. (We've been so busy with the move that I hadn't yet finished my shopping & hadn't wrapped even one gift, so I was VERY last-minute this year!) That night, we enjoyed pizza (a favorite of mine in Berryville) & a game of Scrabble with Justin's Grandma Myrna.
Friday night, Justin's grandparents came over & Justin's sister, her husband & their daughter drove into town for the Christmas festivities. That night, Justin's Mom made a nice big turkey dinner & we all enjoyed some good food & family time.
The kids with their cousin, Emilee
Justin's sister, Shelcey, and her husband, Allen
Justin & his sister with their grandparents, Keith & June
Saturday was Christmas Eve, which meant "Christmas morning" at the Ham house.
The kids woke before dawn (we were staying at the cabin & had to drive down to Mimi & Pawpaw's house to get to the tree & the gifts), and we kept telling them to wait until the sun woke up before we got out of bed. About 30 seconds after the sun peeked into the sky, we were all out of bed & getting ready to head to Mimi & Pawpaw's for all of the fun awaiting us...
Including STOCKINGS!
And GIFTS!!
And lots of laughs & memories...
After opening gifts, everyone sat down for leftover turkey while I went to Justin's Aunts' house to meet up with her for a quick 6-mile run into town & back. I had been wanting to run for days & was so happy that I was able to squeeze in a nice hour run on Christmas Eve... especially with his Aunt who enjoys running as much as I do.
Christmas Eve night, we all headed back to his Aunt's house for the big family get-together... complete with lots of food, gifts & family!
Justin's sister made these adorable chocolate reindeer cupcakes for us all to enjoy. I LOVED how cute they turned out & vowed to make them for a class party or something next Christmas...
No Christmas Eve is complete without a family picture of the ENTIRE clan. Here's the 2011 edition!
The festivities were over by 8:30 & we were on the road to my parents' house again in Oklahoma.
The kids woke up on Christmas morning to full stockings & more fun ahead of them...
My family (Pugh family) met up at my Mama Bea's house for lunch -- we started the tradition of having breakfast for lunch last year & it was a hit again this year! (We figure that we're all sick of turkey by the time Christmas Day actually arrives that we've added this fun new tradition & I can say that I LOVE it!)
We ate & got ready for another new tradition that we started this year -- a Chinese Gift Exchange. It was a true hit with the family & quite a few gifts were shuffled around until everyone had just what they wanted. (I walked away with a Coach wristlet, so I was beyond happy!)
And, of course, we had to pose for family pics...
And Kaylee had to Ham it up with her Aunt Rachel...
After the fun at Mama Bea's, we headed back to Nanna & Pock's house to open gifts there. I was so busy wrangling excited kids that I didn't get a lot of pictures there, but loved this picture of Kaylee with her Pock. He is doing remarkably well after his open-heart surgery he had done in the early fall.
... more to come!
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