So, better late than never for a Christmas recap…right? We had a great Christmas this last year! Lennox had a lot of fun and was so excited for Santa to come. I think next year is going to be the first MAJOR excitement year, I already can’t wait!
We started off our Christmas on Christmas Eve by heading over to my sister’s house for a bit before heading off to Kyle’s mom’s (Mimi) house. As we have the past 3 years, they had ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas read to them by papa, played some games, drank some eggnog and we had our family ornament exchange/Yankee swap.
At Mimi’s she opened up some presents, one after another, barely taking any time to look at what it even was — this little big girl was in present mode! Her big gift from Mimi was a Pink Radio Flyer bike — how much fun! She immediately started riding it around the house and she loves it. It has a handle on the back too (not shown in the picture) so that we can push her when she gets too tired — for mommy and daddy – this is a great feature!! I can’t wait for it to warm up a little bit so we can go for some night afternoon walks/rides around the neighborhood!
When we got home from Christmas Eve at Mimi’s, it was time for bed but first, Lennox had to say goodbye to HoHo the Elf. Let me tell you, she was a little sad about this all day. She didn’t want HoHo to leave and still asks for him almost on a daily basis. We explained he had to go home with Santa but that he would be back next year, she finally understood and said goodbye. HoHo the Elf was nice enough to leave her a little parting gift, a stuffed animal known as Chilly!
Cut to the morning… Christmas Morning! We were all awake before she was! What a sleepy head! She had fun opening all her gifts, although by the end I think she as pretty overwhelmed.. this girl got SO MANY GIFTS! It took us all morning to get them all opened. The highlights for her though, THE pink necklace she had been asking for all season — I love that I captured her reaction.. YES PINK NECKLACE!! She wanted a Foofa shirt and I actually found one the day before Christmas at the Children’s Place – score! She got a rocking horse, keyboard, and tons of other toys. But her favorite so far has been the Lalaloopsy blanket — so simple but she just loves that thing.
Later in the afternoon… AFTER the snow had started falling… yes! Snow in texas! More on that soon..! My sister and her family came over for dinner (yummy mongolian stir-fry thanks to my wonderful hubby!) and gifts. The kids were in present and no more sharing mode so you can imagine how that all went. We also attempted a family photo. It didn’t go so well — we did 10 takes on the automatic timer setting… this is the best we could get..
Better than nothing right? If ou are wondering who everyone is.. from left to right: Kyle, Me, Lennox, My Dad, My Mom, Kim (Sister) Henry (nephew), Mandy (SIL).
Christmas day was a good day all around – everyone had fun and the kids enjoyed all their gifts from Santa! As we have done the past few years, we have Christmas with Kyle’s side of the family after Christmas, this year we had it this past weekend. We headed to Tyler, TX (about 2 hours away from home) for some fun. It was quite the trip, as we stayed with Kyle’s Grannie Annie and Lennox want on a very RARE sleeping strike — waking up at 3:45AM.. ugh! But, we survived. Here are a few pictures:
Here is the full gang with Grannie Annie — all her grandkids (minus Lennox) + spouses.
And of course the customary family photo…. I’m impressed we are all smiling after the night we had!
It was a great Christmas, we had lots of fun, lots of love and family time and on top of it all, a white christmas – what more could we ask for down here in Texas? I hope you and yours had a great holiday! Now today, it’s back to reality — the holidays are over… the countdown to vacation (VEGAS!) starts.. NOW! 33 Days!
