Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Christmas 2016

Well, it is the 3rd day of the new year and since I took zero pictures of New Year's Eve, meaning I can't even prove that we actually stayed up well past midnight, my last post documenting 2016 will be of our Christmas festivities!

This was the first year that Henley could semi-comprehend Christmas, so we had a blast celebrating! She is still walking around saying "Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas," so I would definitely say she is like her mother and LOVES Christmas! 


Our Christmas festivities started on the 23rd and ended on the 26th, so we got plenty of celebrating in, plus plenty of pictures! On the 23rd, Ben's cousins came into town for a short lunch. They have twin girls who are only a year older than Henley, so we wanted to get the girls together and exchange presents. It was a wonderful way to start things out! 

My mother-in-law made a delicious lunch, and we got to play with the girls for a couple hours and had a blast catching up! 





Ben considers his cousins to be like sisters, so I tell Henley their kids are her cousins. She was beyond excited to get to hang out with more cousins and has been saying their names each time she plays with one of their presents. 

We went back home for nap and to pack up presents and all of our things for the next few days and then headed back to my in-laws for the night. We have always celebrated Christmas Eve with them, so we decided to spend the night this year, so we could wake up and have breakfast and maximize our day together! 

We had another delicious meal before Henley opened up her big present, a Radio Flyer horse! Y'all, she is obsessed with horses and just about anything that make her a "towgirl!" 




She was obsessed and pretty much played on the horse any spare second she had for the rest of the day! We played and let our food digest for a little while before we all headed to the gym together. We had some time to kill and why not head to the gym to make ourselves feel just a little bit better about all the food consumed over the weekend?! It felt good to get out of the house and sweat for a little while. 

After lunch and nap, we all got ready for a Christmas Eve service and then headed back home for dinner and presents. We had a blast the rest of the night watching Henley enjoy her gifts and giving gifts to everyone else. I love watching people open the presents I pick out for them! My love language is definitely gift giving, so Christmas is right up my alley! 







Henley got a set of fake donuts for her kitchen and tried to eat them for a solid 5 minutes! We wrapped everything up around 9:30 and headed to my parent's house. It's about a thirty minute drive and Henley has decided not to fall asleep in the car anymore at night, so we had one tired baby and mommy and daddy actually. 

The next morning we woke up to Christmas morning at my parent's house with my parents, my Papaw, and my little sisters. There were nine of all together and we had a blast celebrating the day away on the farm!

We headed up to find the cat and feed the chickens before breakfast which made Henley the happiest girl in the world! Then, we had breakfast and opened presents before heading back outside for most of the day. Henley was only semi-interested in her presents. She would much rather be outside all day long! 









We opted for a late lunch on Christmas Day, so that my Papaw would eat with us since he likes to be home before it gets dark. A full belly made for a wonderful nap time! We pretty much all napped when Henley napped, and since she is a stellar napper, my little sister and I even got to sneak in a walk. When we got back, Henley was up and out on the mule with my mom, loving life, of course! We spent the rest of the night putting fun things like ping pong tables and foosball tables together, before heading back inside to munch on leftovers and lay around for the rest of the night. It was a successful Christmas Day! 

We spent the night at my parents again on Christmas Day so that we could be there when my older sisters arrived with their families on the 26th. They couldn't make it Christmas Day, so we celebrated again. I can't say that any of the kids objected to this! 

We spent the morning outside while we waited for everyone to get there. I took this as an opportunity to take lots and lots of pictures! Henley was being a total ham, so she did not at all object! 













Once everyone arrived, they opened their presents, we played outside some more, we ate more leftovers, and then we headed home in the afternoon for nap. We were all absolutely worn out from all the fun we had with family! 




We had a blast with family, but we were definitely ready to get back home to our own beds and to clean up our mess of a house! 

I hope all of you had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and  HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Now, onto the things of 2017! 








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