Christmas 2012

We had such a lovely time celebrating the birth of Jesus this year. We were able to spend a lot of time with both of our families, and we made a lot of wonderful memories! 
Normally we drive to the Dallas area (where all of my grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins, etc.) are a few days before Christmas, and then Jeff and I drive back to Houston (four hours) on Christmas Day so we can see both families. This year, my parents decided to stay at their house in Houston rather than going to Dallas, so we stayed too, and we didn't have to make the four-hour drive on Christmas Day (or at all), which was really nice! We missed seeing my grandparents, but it was nice to replace all those hours of driving with quality family time. 
On Christmas Eve we had lunch with Jeff's family, and then met my parents at their church for Christmas Eve Mass. 

All dressed up for Church with the tree at my parents' house!

Here's the whole family! 

We had a Christmas Eve dinner with my family, but instead of a big sit-down dinner, we decided to just make a ton of appetizers and finger food-type stuff, which was so perfect. It was nice and casual and not stressful to prepare and who doesn't love appetizers? I made zucchini cakes, caprese skewers, rosemary bread (modified my no-knead bread recipe), and pizza puffs, and my mom did meatballs, fruit, a few dips, and some other things, and it was all delicious!

Cooking with my sisters! 

Mom with the table full of food!

We just casually ate in the living room, and it was so nice!

My mom always gives us all matching pajamas on Christmas Eve (which has been even funnier since Jeff married into the family), so here we are with this year's new pajamas! 

Before going to bed, we read the Christmas story from the Bible, and we sang Christmas carols (accompanied by my dad on the guitar, Dad's super-organized Christmas carol lyric notebooks, and some maracas and a tambourine!). So fun! 

We spent the night at my parents' house in Cypress to avoid the 45-minute drive back to Humble. On Christmas morning we woke up and there were so many presents! Santa definitely came! Santa brought Karoline this giant stuffed bear!

We spent the morning opening gifts from each other and our extended family. Such fun! 

We got Karoline Just Dance for her Wii, and I think Kristen was just as excited about it as Karoline was!

My "house divided" parents! 

We got my dad this protective iPod speaker to take with him to the lake/beach, and he was pretty excited. I'm not sure what the salute was about! Haha.

My parents gave us a new tailgating tent and a cookbook of tailgating recipes. I can't wait to use them both next fall! 

We had a big Christmas lunch (steak, crab, and lots of side dishes!), and then Jeff and I left to go to his parents' house. The seven-minute drive was MUCH appreciated after years of driving four and a half hours to make it there by dinner! 

The Christmas tree at Jeff's parents' house

Grandma and Grandaddy

Jeff's brother, Tim, was born on Christmas Day, and we celebrated his 21st birthday this year! 

Tim's "first" alcohol. Haha!

I made him a little bouquet of mini-bottles and a liquor store gift card. 

Blowing out candles!

We opened gifts and Christmas crackers with Jeff's family, had a yummy dinner, and spent the night at their house. The next day, we had a big "Boxing Day" dinner at Jeff's parents' house... my family and Jeff's brother's girlfriend and her family all came over, and we made shrimp and grits. Delicious! 
When we arrived back home to Humble, we felt like we'd been in Cypress for weeks! We crammed so much fun into just three days. It's such a blessing to make wonderful memories with the people we love. I feel very blessed that it's such a joy to spend time with our families. So many people have parent issues or sibling issues or in-law issues, but we genuinely love hanging out with all of our parents and siblings. I love that. 
When we got home, we unpacked the car and put all our Christmas gifts in a stack on the floor, and we couldn't believe how big the pile was! This doesn't even include the Keurig Jeff got me or the tailgating tent from my parents. 

Christmas is much more about the birth of Jesus and the importance of love and family, but we do enjoy exchanging gifts with our big, generous families! They blessed us with such thoughtful gifts this year!

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas, and that you're still rejoicing in the birth of our Savior! Glory to the newborn King!