I can't believe Christmas has come and gone. We have had such a fun celebration.
Our Christmas morning started with a visit from Santa. I absolute love the excitement that fills the house on Christmas morning. The girls had to wait for Bryce to do his vest, which was like torture for them. After checking out Santa toys we had a healthy breakfast that included donuts. Yep, donuts on Christmas morning are a tradition in our home. Actually it was a tradition we had when I was growing up that I have carried over to my family. Christmas morning isn't complete without a yummy chocolate Entemann's donut! After our breakfast we opened up the gifts under the tree. Two trash bags later we finished up with gifts and started getting ready for visits with family. As we walked up stairs to get ready for a busy day visiting family I noticed that it has started to snow. By the time we were heading out of the house to our first stop the snow was really coming down. It turned out to be a White Christmas in Georgia. It hasn't snowed on Christmas in Georgia in over 100 years. Crazy huh?! The kids were so excited about the snow, but I didn't share in the excitement. I am not a fan of snow or cold weather. It's a form of torture for me. BUT with that said...it made for very beautiful scenery.
Our first stop of the day was my Aunt Carole's house. I absolutely adore my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I love sitting around telling stories and laughing. We eat the yummiest food. It's southern food so it's pretty delicious. After lunch we watch the kids open gifts. This usually gives our tummy's a little time to make room for dessert! We did miss one special person at our Christmas celebration. My Uncle Bobby (my dad's older brother) is very ill with cancer. He is such a sweet man who brings everyone in the family a little gift each Christmas. Even though he was too weak to visit he still sent over a gift for each member of the family. I didn't open my gift from Bobby until I got home. In my gift bag was a package of Milky Way's, lotion and a little coin purse. Inside the purse was a $1.00 bill. That dollar made me smile, but made me very sad because I know this is the last gift I will get from Bobby at Christmas. The dollar is currently hanging on my refrigerator. We love you Uncle Bobby!
After a most enjoyable afternoon with my dad's side of the family we headed over to Bryan's parents house. By the time we got to Honey and Papa's house the snow was STILL coming down and everything was completely covered. Our evening with the Jones side of the family did not disappoint. We had fun opening gifts and watching the kids enjoy their new treasures. After gifts we ate a Mexican themed dinner, followed by more delicious desserts. Not sure how I fit all the food I ate in my body but I did! Due to the weather our Christmas celebration with Bryan's family was cut short. Our neighborhood is located off a curvy road and a rather large hill greats you at the front of our hood so we wanted to get a jump on that freezing over. I think we left just in time because we did a little slipping coming up the hill in our neighborhood and our driveway (which is flat) was completely iced over.
All in all it was a perfect day! Many new memories were made. Hands down one of my favorite Christmases to date. We are so very blessed to have such wonderful family to celebrate the birth of Jesus with. I hope everyone had a perfect Christmas as well.
My sweet hubby surprised me with an early Christmas present a few days before the Christmas festivities began. I refused to open it at first because I didn't want to open any gifts until Christmas. He insisted I would want to open this gift so I caved. And I'm so happy I did. Bryan surprised me with a new camera. I have been wanting a SLR camera for a few years now, but the funds weren't available to buy one. I was so shocked by the gift that I started crying. My parents, Bryan's parents and one of my brothers chipped in towards the purchase of the camera. I'm glad Bryan gave it to me early so I could figure how to use it before our Christmas celebration began.
We started our celebration off by going to a live nativity. I am so glad we decided to do this. The kids loved it. It was a bit cold, but the kids didn't seem to mind. Bryce was running all over the place like a crazy man petting the animals. He loved the little lamb. He even gave it a few kisses. After the nativity we headed home to make breakfast for dinner. Bryan and I have been in our current house for 6 years and every Christmas Eve we have my parents and brothers over for breakfast for dinner. We cooked up a delicious meal and enjoyed each others company. The evening turned out to be wonderful and one of my favorite Carter family get-together to date.
I took over 300 pictures just on Christmas Eve and have included just a few in the slide show below. These were some of my favorites...
I know...total cheese, but I couldn't resist considering the topic of this post. On December 23 Bryan and I took the girls to the Justin Beiber concert. We didn't tell them we were going until just before getting in the car to leave. I was expecting a little more excitement from the announcement, BUT in their defense I don't think they had any clue as to what a concert was. They enjoyed the show, but I think they were in a daze the entire time because it was LOUD and they pretty much had no idea what was going on. An area full of screaming little girls is one of the loudest experiences I have ever had...and they NEVER let up.
There were three opening acts, which I thought was a bit much. Two of the opening acts I had never heard of, but Sean Kingston came out before Justin and did a fun set. The opening acts started at 7:00 and Justin didn't hit the stage until 9:15. Keep in mind our girls are usually in bed at 8:30. Little Jordyn was sleepy and ready to go home, but she soldiered through. We skipped out on the last song, which meant we missed "Baby", but Jordyn was struggling to stay awake and we wanted to get a jump on the traffic. Neither girl seemed to mind that we left before the last song. Dare I say that the concert was really good. I expected a bunch of lip syncing from the Beibs, but he actually sang...and it was good! It was a fun show and I'm glad the girls got the experience. You never forget your first concert. Memories made for sure. They can look back on their first concert and laugh.
The girls just before we told them where we were going.
As we are telling / explaining to them they are going to a concert.
Giggles...
Beiber shirts on and we are ready to go!!
Just getting to our seats...
Sydney kept throwing the peace sign so I figured I would be cool and throw it too. Trying to keep up my "cool mom" status.
The Beibs!
Yep...he floated over the crowd in a heart while playing guitar. Girls like that right? He was singing "One Less Lonely Girl". Right before the song started he asked if there were any single ladies in the crowd (screaming ensued). Bryan and I were dying from laughter.
I THINK they fell asleep in under 5 mins once we got in the car. They were pooped!
Video of Justin coming onto the stage. As you can hear, it was loud. If you watch carefully you can see Jordyn say "What is going on?". Funny.
Video of Sydney dancing and singing.
What was your first concert?? My first concerts were MC Hammer and NKOTB. I even remember the outfit I wore to NKOTB!!
