christmas 2013

well christmas is over. no worries. i've been listening to christmas music since oct and had my decorations out since nov 15. NO SHAME.

truth = i did take down all my christmas stuff and clean my house before we left town on dec 22. again, no shame. i like to come home to a clean house.

we celebrated christmas with my family last saturday. i started the day with a 10 mile run (4 of them with a friend, yay julia!) and then got myself ready to go my folks.

my mom told me the day before that we were having a "different" meal but there would be something for everyone. haha. she wasn't kidding! it was awesome and hilarious. listen to this...

for the men:  steaks. and they were DELISH. i think it was beef tenderloin.

for the kids: pancakes! chocolate chip, regular and an assortment of fruit to eat on top or with it.

also: some egg souffle that was so good. tomato gravy, rolls (i think?)

for me: sweet potatoes

for everyone: homemade eclairs (YUM) and homemade chocolate cake and ice cream.

so.darn.good.

we ate first and then opened gifts. i am pretty sure we opened for 2 hours.

G still isn't too into opening gifts. we did most of that for him. but we did have a blast watching everyone open gifts and seeing the joy that came with it :)

we came home with some pretty good loot ourselves!

sunday was kinda normal.

then monday we left for jays family christmas.

this year we changed things up and rented two side by side townhouses in gulf shores so all the family could stay together. it really was fantastic!

we left around 11:45 monday. we stopped in montgomery for lunch. i tend to get really bored after about 2 hours of driving. i did drive a little bit this time so that helped me stay alert and entertained.

G slept some. watched a little curious george and snacked. but the last hour he'd had ENOUGH. he was a GRUMP.

we finally arrived around 5 (GA time.) we walked right into some yummy snacks! BLT dip, cheese ball, etc. mmm. i went right to snacking.

we played for a while and then had spaghetti (with gregs deer meat!) and then played spoons, catch phrase and go fish (for Truly!) she was so cute. she would ask for a "Q" :)

i went to bed late (for me, ha!)  got up the next morning and we did "christmas." it was christmas eve but we didn't bring that up :)

after drinking a TON of coffee and eating breakfast i took off for a run. my vacation mileage is 6. sometimes i'll run 10 out of town but most of the time i stick with 6.

i almost always run on an empty stomach. (i prefer it!) but i can say that i am MUCH faster with coffee in me! i was booking it.

gabe had a blast with his cousins! i loved watching him play with them. he hardly left his cousin John Wills side. it was precious. JW is 11. he was so so so loving to g. it made my heart happy!

jay and i hit the outlet mall on christmas eve. the family let us leave g and have some grown up time. it was fun and relaxing. we did pretty good too. i love shopping (when i have money.)

jays family is hilarious and fun to hang out with! it's fun to watch everyone in their family "roles"

jays dad is the cleaner. (he's always cleaning!)
his brother in laws (Brian, Greg and Jayson) are the cooks!  AND AMAZING ONES AT THAT!
missy is the life of the party :)  and a very patient mom!
kim is calm one. even playing games she's calm! :)
dana is the wise, motherly type :)  she makes me feel "safe!"
jays mom is the funny one. nothing gets by her!
i am the weird runner and healthy eater.
and jay is "perfect" which is completely annoying ha!

i would go through all the kids too but that would take forever!

thanks ViVi though for putting this trip together!!

we took some family pictures on the beach. i loved it.

i feel like we opened gifts for two days there as well. it was never ending!

let's talk about some more good food we had...

deer meat taco salad. (Greg is a very good hunter!)
Brian made his FABULOUS chocolate cake (from scratch.) he also made delicious pancakes for bfast one morning. gabe ate at least 5.
jayson made lunch wed. OH LAWD. i KILLED it.  smoked turkey, boston butt, yams, turnips (and i liked them?!), rolls, mac n cheese, potato salad, green beans and dressing...i feel like i am forgetting stuff.

y'all my dad makes a mean dressing. but jaysons was just as good. i cant even believe i am saying that.

that meal was AMAZING. in fact, my mouth is watering just typing about it.

but i think i overdid it a tad. i couldn't eat supper that night and i was STILL feeling lunch on my run the next morning with meghan. shwew.

kim threatened the life of anyone who took the last piece of Brians cake. so she had that!

i made a plate for G to eat in the car heading home. (he napped on granddaddy during lunch!)

confession: he ate the yams. i ate the rest. (oopsy.)

the drive home was alright.

we stopped at a gas station in Evergreen AL. (i think.) and no lie. i saw jay throw his hands in the air when he got out. i couldn't figure out why...

then i looked over...and it was CHAS JORDAN!!!!!!!!! (our friend who lives in Kentucky.)

I screamed (scared the whole place) and ran over to hug him. that was so much fun!!

after stealing some of his peanut m&ms we headed home.

the past two days i have been in PJs by 2pm. i love it.

being on vacation is awesome.

i think this is the end of my pointless blog. i do love me some Lesleys, Pipers, Fosters, Bonners and Dunlaps!

we are definitely blessed.

Jay is preaching tomorrow at CCC. COME hear my man do his thang :)