Christmas 2007

Here's a quick rundown of what all we did during Christmas...

Christmas began for us on the 23rd as we celebrated with half of John's family at his grandmother's (a.k.a. Mema) house. As you can tell from this picture both Trent and Ella were getting a bit tired, and Christmas was just beginning!

Grammy and PawPaw got the kids lots of toys but Sydnie and Ella enjoyed their Barbie heads the most...

That was, until Grammy and PawPaw gave them the pink guitars. Unfortunately, we couldn't figure out a way to leave them with Grammy and PawPaw to take home.

Trent and Dylan really enjoyed the Superman hats and shirts from Uncle Larry, Grace, Daniel, and Mark.

The next day was Christmas Eve and Pops came over to our house to put in the new dishwasher he and Mom gave John and me for Christmas. It was quite exciting! While Dad was finishing the dishwasher installation Mom, Abby, Ella, Trent, and I went for a quick lunch at the kid's favorite restaurant (McDonald's) and then took off to the Christmas Tree Festival downtown. There were about 20 trees and they enjoyed the Elvis tree the most.

After our downtown trip we went home, took a quick nap, and then trucked on over to Aunt Rinkie's for Christmas Eve dinner and opening presents with another part of John's family. One of the things about having a cousin close to the same age is that you always get matching gifts at Christmas...however, Sidney and Ella's matching pj's are just so cute!

After dinner, we made one last stop at Aunt Mary and Uncle Clay's house to finish up celebrating Christmas with John's side of the family (he has a lot more aunts, uncles, and cousins than I do). Ella is not unhappy in this picture, just tired...it was about 10:00 or so.

Leaving out cookies and milk for Santa was the last job that had to be performed before we could go to bed. Ella was so excited this year that Santa was coming!! I've never seen her so happy about going to bed before.

Finally, Christmas Day arrived and Santa had made a stop at our house!! Santa left Trent a Nintendo DS (the top item on his list), Rubix Cube (can you believe these things are making a come-back??), a Braves Andruw Jones figure (that will now stay inside the box since he has been traded to L.A. - maybe it will eventually become a collector's item and worth a lot), and several packs of baseball cards. Santa left Ella a baby doll(at the top of her list), a Teresa Barbie doll(her collection is getting bigger), a Barbie talking camera (what was Santa thinking??), and some Barbie clothes.

Grammy, PawPaw, Pops, Purson, and Abby came over to eat breakfast and watch the kiddies open up the rest of their presents. Trent was excited to get the Baseball game for his new DS and a carrying case. Trent and Daddy spent the rest of the time engrossed in the DS while Ella opened her gifts. Ella received a new pair of Dora the Explorer bedroom slippers, a Barbie hair and makeup kit (that goes well with the Barbie head she opened on the 23rd), a Cinderella Barbie doll, and the Barbie Hot Tub Party Bus...Daddy really enjoyed putting together this glorified motor home and then applying the hundreds of stickers!

After Grammy and PawPaw left for Dylan and Sydnie's house, we opened gifts from Pops, Purson, and Abby. Pops and Purson gave Ella a beautiful pink coat with matching hat and Abby gave her a jewelry box. Pops and Purson gave Trent a Lego Remote Controlled Dinosaur that Pops and Trent will be able to put together during our visit to Atlanta after Christmas. Abby gave Trent a Batman Lego set...the last one he needed in the series which Daddy and Trent spent the rest of Christmas morning putting together.

Christmas Day is traditionally the day that is spent with Carrie's family. We all meet at Aunt Hazel's house for opening gifts and eating a late lunch. Trent was most excited by the Mario Cart DS game Aunt Hazel gave him and Ella liked the Barbie car from Pops and Purson.

The most exciting part of the day for Ella was that she "graduated" to sitting downstairs with the other kids. Ever since she was born she has been sitting upstairs with the adults at the kitchen table (mainly due to messy eating). However, this year we all felt she was big enough to take her plate into the family room so she was able to eat with Henry and Cole at the coffee table!

Our finally Christmas stop was back at Mema's for Grammy's annual Open House. What a great way to finish the holiday! Here Trent shows Dylan his newest favorite toy.