casting my cares: December in Review

Believe it or not, December was fairly low-key for us. We pretty much stayed put in Lex until Christmas. But we got to see lots of friends and spend some good quality time with them. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics from getting together with any of the friends (too busy enjoying the quality time!).......

.......so, on to Christmastime!!!

Sunday, December 23, 2012: Celebrating Justin's Birthday

We traveled to C-ville the day before Christmas Eve. Brandon's sister had the family over to celebrate her son, Justin's, birthday. I didn't get any pics of him, because my camera seemed to stay pointed at sweet Little A, Justin's daughter (and our great niece). Isn't she a doll?

Monday, Christmas Eve 2012 Lunchtime:

The next day was Christmas Eve and we had a great Christmas Eve lunch with Brandon's family!

The whole fam.....

.....including a funny pic.

Brandon's parents

Brandon's sister, Kim; her hubby, Billy; her son, Justin; and Justin's daughter, A.

Me and The Hubs.

I thought this one was sweet.

And again, couldn't keep my camera off the little one.....

Bev had gotten A a book with her voice reading the words. It was really neat!

Kim & Billy collect shot glasses from different places, so we brought them back one from Munich, Germany.

We got Jimmy an actual Swiss Army Knife from Switzerland.

A loved to help open presents!

Bev asked for towels, so we loaded her up! We also got her a coffee mug from Munich, Germany (her fam is German).

Monday, Christmas Eve 2012 Suppertime:

About 3:00pm, we left C-ville and headed to the Ville for Christmas Eve supper with my dad's side of the family.

My uncles, Jeff & Eddie

Cousin LaRessia (middle), her daughter, D, on the left and her mom, Aunt Paula, on the right.

My Dad - always a ham - starting a paper fight - my mom on the right behind him and my cousin Jennifer on the left.

Mamaw opening her gifts.

My cousin's daughter, A, was overjoyed to get a sock monkey! Hers didn't roll around & laugh like Brandon's though. Aunt Brenda is behind her.

My cousin's daughter, A, playing with her new toy.

Best Cousins Forever, Jennifer and Me

After eating and opening presents, we pulled out monopoly.

My cousin's fiance, Heather, my dad and Mamaw.

Monday, Christmas Eve 2012 Nighttime:

After celebrating with my Dad's family, we came back to my parents house and had Christmas with them.

We got my dad a magnet with our family name and crest on it in London.

We framed a pic from our photoshoot back in November for mom (dad got one too).

Mom also got a small ceramic bowl from Bayeux, France.

Mom loaded dad up with new Red Sox gear, including a new hat and bath robe!

Tuesday, Christmas Day 2012 Morning:

Before heading out of the Ville to D-ville for Christmas with my mom's side of the family, Brandon and I stopped in to see his Mammaw (his mom's mother) who also lives in the Ville. Unfortunately she was in a rehab center over Christmas because she had a fall and needed some recuperation time. We visited with her for a few hours before hitting the road again.

Tuesday, Christmas Day 2012 Afternoon:

We arrived in D-ville in the afternoon at my Granny & Granpa's house to celebrate with my mom's family.

Granny, cousin Benjamin and Granpa

Granny opening gifts.

Granpa with the new hat we gave him, handsome huh?

My Granny is a very talented artist. She gave me a very meaningful and wonderful painting of the church that I helped build in Honduras in 2009.

Sadly, I didn't take any pics in D-ville (how or why I don't know!!), and the above pics are from my mom and "borrowed" from my cousin's facebook page! :) I wish I had more of the family gathered there.

Tuesday, Christmas Day 2012 Evening:

After leaving D-ville, we drove 45 minutes back home to Lex. for our own little Christmas.

We actually had already gotten each other a present - we pooled our Christmas money and Brandon installed an audio jack in our car so we can plug our iPods into the car stereo!! So, otherwise, we set a $10 limit on gifts for each other.

I had already gifted some songs to Brandon through iTunes - he really wanted Trans Siberian Orchestra Christmas songs and I had some store credit and got them - which corresponded great with the car jack we got for each other.

So the rest of my gift to him was kind of basic - some of his favorite treats!

And a UK mug!

Brandon did great in getting me a perfect gift! It's an organizer for my bedside. It hangs off the side of the bed. It has several compartments for storage and even has a place for a box of tissues! My night stand is pretty small and always overflowing with stuff, so this was perfect! Now I always have a place for my chapstick and know exactly where my book is....plus my nightstand isn't so junky!