Ok, so we're scrooges. You got it.
But the holidays were uneventfully wonderful.
It started on Christmas Eve. Every year we are invited to breakfast with my dad at The Post House (a local old-fashioned restaurant). It's always busy there and we always have to wait for seats, but it's what they like to call 'tradition' - so we go.
Afterwards we got an oil change and did a little more preparing for our trip and Christmas day before a lunch with our dear friends the Woodlands.
That night, we unfortunately had a little bit of running around to do. Ryan and I for the past few years have been invited to his friend's house for their family gathering. Usually this collides with my family's get together, but we tried to squeeze them both in. We actually ended up having a great time and honestly didn't want to leave. But, we had other things to do. We got to my family's gathering just in time for them to begin eating dinner (they go to church first and so usually have a very late dinner). Everyone (except us) exchanged gifts and of course Jude got a bundle of stuff. Specifically he cashed in on PJ's and books - perfect gifts for our family.
This got us home late and Jude to bed past his bed time. As a result, he slept in a little the next morning (something I'm sure we won't be able to do for too many more years). We had some tentative plans for the day, but decided to take our time with the morning festivities.
We immediately brought Jude downstairs to 'open' gifts. I personally hadn't wrapped anything and just had his few gifts scattered under the tree. Of course, mommom and poppop's gift (a jeep power wheel) totally over shadowed my bucket of balls and tonka truck. He hopped into the Jeep and was a little weary of it. After abandoning it, he found the bucket of balls and his little face light up! He started yelling "ball!" and throwing them around. After the glory of such an amazing gift wore of he took the time to open a few small odds and ends from my parents and then was free to roam the house.
Ryan's dad was nice enough to come to us that morning and dropped off his gifts. He has been getting a Hess truck for Jude since we told him I was pregnant. Jude LOVES them and swooned when he saw that this years truck had an airplane!
Finally we needed to hit a couple of houses before we could call the holiday book closed. We went to my grandmother's (where my dad met us) and Ryan's grandmother's (where his mother met us). We really were hoping these people would come to OUR house, but two stops on Christmas isn't THAT bad.
'
In addition to some of the gifts listed above, Jude made out pretty well with some "big" gifts. He received a few savings bonds, a membership to a Children's Museum in NC (which in turn had reciprocal benefits with a couple in our area), a membership to the Philadelphia Zoo and a about 1/2 a music class (I guess we can say the other half is from mommy and daddy). Not too shabby a Christmas if you ask me.
Upon keeping up on the forecast for the east coast, we decided that it was probably best for us to cut Christmas short and leave for the first leg of our trip early. So, we rushed back from our visits, packed up vehicles and were on our way to Disney!
But the holidays were uneventfully wonderful.
It started on Christmas Eve. Every year we are invited to breakfast with my dad at The Post House (a local old-fashioned restaurant). It's always busy there and we always have to wait for seats, but it's what they like to call 'tradition' - so we go.
Afterwards we got an oil change and did a little more preparing for our trip and Christmas day before a lunch with our dear friends the Woodlands.
That night, we unfortunately had a little bit of running around to do. Ryan and I for the past few years have been invited to his friend's house for their family gathering. Usually this collides with my family's get together, but we tried to squeeze them both in. We actually ended up having a great time and honestly didn't want to leave. But, we had other things to do. We got to my family's gathering just in time for them to begin eating dinner (they go to church first and so usually have a very late dinner). Everyone (except us) exchanged gifts and of course Jude got a bundle of stuff. Specifically he cashed in on PJ's and books - perfect gifts for our family.
This got us home late and Jude to bed past his bed time. As a result, he slept in a little the next morning (something I'm sure we won't be able to do for too many more years). We had some tentative plans for the day, but decided to take our time with the morning festivities.
We immediately brought Jude downstairs to 'open' gifts. I personally hadn't wrapped anything and just had his few gifts scattered under the tree. Of course, mommom and poppop's gift (a jeep power wheel) totally over shadowed my bucket of balls and tonka truck. He hopped into the Jeep and was a little weary of it. After abandoning it, he found the bucket of balls and his little face light up! He started yelling "ball!" and throwing them around. After the glory of such an amazing gift wore of he took the time to open a few small odds and ends from my parents and then was free to roam the house.
Ryan's dad was nice enough to come to us that morning and dropped off his gifts. He has been getting a Hess truck for Jude since we told him I was pregnant. Jude LOVES them and swooned when he saw that this years truck had an airplane!
Finally we needed to hit a couple of houses before we could call the holiday book closed. We went to my grandmother's (where my dad met us) and Ryan's grandmother's (where his mother met us). We really were hoping these people would come to OUR house, but two stops on Christmas isn't THAT bad.
'
In addition to some of the gifts listed above, Jude made out pretty well with some "big" gifts. He received a few savings bonds, a membership to a Children's Museum in NC (which in turn had reciprocal benefits with a couple in our area), a membership to the Philadelphia Zoo and a about 1/2 a music class (I guess we can say the other half is from mommy and daddy). Not too shabby a Christmas if you ask me.
Upon keeping up on the forecast for the east coast, we decided that it was probably best for us to cut Christmas short and leave for the first leg of our trip early. So, we rushed back from our visits, packed up vehicles and were on our way to Disney!
