Ice Ice Baby - roadtrip!

John took off the week after Christmas this year. Since the boys and I had A LOT of quality time prior to Christmas, John and I decided to change it up a bit. We took a quick day trip to Nashville!

Apologies to anyone I wasn't able to see in Nashville while we were there. We literally were in Nashville for 24 hours!

When we got in town we met up with Annie, Greg, and their two boys who are the same age as Luke. After lunch, we didn't see the boys for about 2 hours...or when they got hungry for a snack! It was great for them to run off some energy after a 3 hour car drive. They literally were gone and playing so long that I didn't get one single picture of them! But I got the picture that did matter!

We then headed to Heather and Shane's house to meet up with their family! Their girls were SUPER excited to host 'the boys'.

On Friday we headed out to ICE at Gaylord Opryland. We couldn't leave without a proper breakfast, some snuggle time, and a little art session.

ICE was COOOOLD! It contains TWO MILLION pounds of colorful ice sculptures kept at a chilly 9 degrees. NINE. My southern blood is too thin!

See if you can find Luke and Evan! LOL!

The sculptures tell the story of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Luke has been obsessed with everything Charlie Brown Christmas this year. He even heard Hark the Herald Angels sing and excitedly told me, "Mommy mommy!! I know this song! It's from Charlie Brown Christmas!!"

The visit ends with a beautiful nativity scene is crystal clear ice. I really wanted to take a lot of pictures of that, but my hands were so cold!!

There was a 2 story ice slide that Luke went down twice. I sent Evan ahead because he was cold. By the time Luke got down the second time, I really couldn't feel most of my extremities! We still had about half of the exhibit to go, but my picture taking reduced dramatically.

When we got done Luke exclaimed, "This is the most awesome thing I have ever seen!!"  

We also went ice tubing. And by WE, I mean, the boys. And by the boys, I mean Evan. Luke is not my risk taker. He'll try most things with his brother by his side, but if he decides he doesn't like it, you can't talk him into doing it again. After his one trip down, he put up his tube so fast, I didn't even get a picture!

But this guy could have gone for hours!

We did a little more walking around the hotel, but by the end of the afternoon, both youngest were melting before our very eyes. Thankfully after 32 years of friendship, melting 3 and 7 year old can't phase us! See how calm and unphased we are?!?

Luke slept the ENTIRE three hours back to Memphis. To say he was tired is an understatement. He was exhausted! But I always think that is the sign of a good trip...even if it was only 24 hours! 

Christmas Magic

Christmas morning is always the most magical time!

This year Luke was insistent we start with the stockings. They found some great treats in there from Snata.

We then started the opening presents frenzy!! I love the way we open presents. Everybody gets their own turn and we oooh and ahhhh over each gift. Having a brother means instant teamwork when the wrapping paper is too tough!

We always spend Christmas afternoon at Grandmom's! This year Gran and Jed joined us! It was great to have the two families come together.

And, of course, we had more presents!

Gran and Jed came back to our house for presents. 

It was a great Christmas. Fun, food, and family! What more could a gal need?!?

Christmas Eve and our empty chairs

For as long as I can remember, John and I have had a big Christmas Eve party. It all started after we got married and realized, no one had anything to do after church on Christmas Eve. We love having our house full of friends and family, so we decided to host an Annual Christmas Eve party.

This not only allowed everyone to see the out of town family but also spend time with the people across our two families. We had many years when friends who are just as close as family stop by. We had years when it was just our family. We have some of our best memories from this party. It would go on well after Santa's sleigh flew over our house at midnight. The kids would keep their eyes open for as long as they could, mostly pooping out around midnight, though it never hindered them from getting up before 6am on Christmas mornings!

As we entered this most recent stage of life commitments starting popping up. Christmas Eve started to feel like more of an obligation rather than a fun family event. We started to pare it down...and try to get everyone in bed before Santa came down the chimney.

This year was it was pared down to just 6 of us. The smallest Christmas Eve in 15 years. 

We were able to go to the Lawson's church for Christmas Eve service. The boys thought it was cool to see Terry play with the worship team. There is a reason God knew we needed to be there on this particular Christmas Eve. The pastor talked about empty chairs at Christmas. The people who are missing this Christmas. That's what we were experiencing this Christmas Eve. Empty chairs.

There have been several big changes in our family over the past couple years. Things that have caused our family to change and evolve. It's what families do, but it doesn't make seeing those empty chairs any easier.

After the service, we headed home to meet Nonna and Pop. We ate, we laughed, we ate some more, we laughed some more. It was perfect. 

I had to give my sweet Uncle Buck a nod...one of our missing chairs. He brought me LeCrema every Christmas Eve. This is my favorite pinot by miles, but I don't buy it often (it's not in my 'weeknight wine' budget if you know what I mean). Uncle Buck and his kids always brought the party. His laughter would fill up the room and even if you had no clue why he was laughing, you'd join in.

No Christmas Eve will pass without the BOW PICTURE!!! Now, I am sure you remember this from years past. Evan's very first Christmas I took a picture of Evan sitting on Nonna's lap. Just to be funny, she put a Christmas bow on his head. When it's your first kid, everything is cute. Evan left behind a little more than just a bow when we were done. It required a change of clothes for both Evan AND Nonna. Every year since the boys have taken a bow picture with Nonna. I really hope they understand this will continue well into adulthood.

Finally! Present time!

We then continued a Christmas tradition and played several rounds of Jenga. Luke is still crazy good at this game. No one can figure out his secret.

Even though it was different than what we are used to, some things will never change. We left cookies for Santa (remember, the big jolly fellow negotiated five cookies), threw the reindeer some food, and Luke said goodbye to our elf.

It was so much different than what we are used to on Christmas Eve. In 2018 I going to try to let go of expectations of how I believe my day, my month, my life should go and actually live it. Even when it contains empty chairs. We lived a great Christmas Eve.