Four Christmases (Plus 3 more!!)

Well, as I mentioned before, we have quite large families!  This year, we attended 7 Christmases.    For once, I actually did a really good job of taking pictures...we have so many! To save space and a lengthy download, I put most of them into a collage.  We started out Christmas Eve Eve with the Voelker Christmas.  

Friday, Christmas Eve, we headed to my Aunt and Uncle's house for afternoon snacks and family time.  We did things a little differently this year.  We played a White Elephant game, but the gifts all included at least $25 cash.  The gift part was the packaging.  The total amount spent was to equal $35, so if your packaging cost $5, you gave $30 cash, and so on.  It worked out well.  Ruston didn't participate in the game....he got actual gifts. He did so much better at actually opening his gifts and got so excited about each one! He got lots of books (which he loves) and some really cute clothes. :)

After leaving the Tumlinson Christmas, we headed out to Rockdale to Nana's house.  It was great seeing all of Danny's family, but it was a little bittersweet.  We didn't have Christmas last year because Bop was in the hospital.  So this year was the first without him.  He was definitely missed.  Ruston racked up in the present department....he even tried to put his new pajamas on himself.  He got a CUTE camo scarf from Ricky and Tammy.  Precious.  He also spent some time in the old school chair, coloring a picture for Nana. :)

Ruston had a fantastic time with all the kiddos and Nana.  She got him a really cute tent that is in the shape of a dog.  He had so much fun crawling in and laughing at everyone on the outside.

How cute is this little guy watching his Christmas movies? :)

We headed home and got in bed so we'd be ready for Christmas the next morning! Ruston woke up at normal time, about 6.  Luckily, we were able to put him back in bed with us and get a little more sleep.  We got up about 9 and went to see what Santa brought us!  Ruston was really into opening the presents this time and LOVED all his gifts. :)  He got the Cars movie and some books from the movie.  Diesel got him a little rug with roads on it for him to drive his cars on.  His favorite was by far the tractor. haha

Diesel was a fan of his present too....treats and a rope toy!

Danny surprised me with an iPhone 4! It is so much faster than my old iPhone, it's just giving me some trouble as far as hooking it up to my computer. :/  Danny's big ticket item was tickets to George Strait and Reba in January!  Woohoo, can't wait!!

At noon, we headed over to my Dad's house.  We did Christmas with Dad, Benda, Andrew, Adam and Saoirse.  Ruston did well opening presents again.  He got the cutest books from my Dad and Benda! One of them is about puppies and has big googly eyes, one is about cars and has actual wheels, another is about all kinds of transportation and it has a little boy that moves from page to page to drive each thing, and then one is a recordable book about the 1st Christmas.  Adam and Saoirse got him the cutest Calvin Klein outfit.  Danny and I got some much needed money and giftcards to go towards some big items we've been wanting.

Around 2, the rest of the family showed up.  It's so different not having my Grandma there.  Just feels like something is different.  But I'm glad that we still all get together to celebrate.  I think Ruston enjoyed playing with his "daycare friends" on his turf.  He showed them the ropes. :)

Right before everyone headed out, Tyler pulled out his guitar.  He's been taking lessons for a while now and I'm amazed at how much better he is each time I hear him play.

We weren't finished yet! We packed up and headed home for a bit to recoup. (And cook some more! haha)  We got Ruston down for a nap and started working on the potatoes we were taking to Danny's parents house.  Ruston was so tired that we ended up having to wake him up to leave! He was in a good mood once we got there though.  He got some big ticket items at his Gigi and Pawpaw's house! They got him a rocking horse and an A&M recliner.  They gave Danny and I an external hard-drive to store all of our pictures and a Flip video camera.

We all 3 went home warn out from the past 2 days' events.  We had planned on going to church the next day, but we didn't make it up. :/  That's definitely one of our New Year's Resolutions....we need to get into a church more regularly.  We had one more Christmas left, but lucky for us, we didn't have to leave! My mom and clan came over for Christmas at our place around 12.  We grilled chicken, baked potatoes, made some green beans, salad, garlic bread, and cheesecake.  It was so laid back and calm! haha.  Saoirse brought her little sister, Zarah, over too.  Ruston liked having a new play friend.  When they both started getting a little cranky, we turned on Alvin & the Chipmunks and they were set. :)

It was a Christmas for the books! I LOVED all the family time we got, but man, am I glad it's over! ha.  It was really nice to just relax and not worry about anything this week.  I hope you all had a fantastic holiday with family and are looking forward to the New Year!!