Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010... Whew! It was a strange Christmas this year. It came up on us really fast and then it was gone in the blink of an eye. A lot of things changed and a lot of things stayed the same. The whole holiday we were super busy, but really enjoyed seeing our family.

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We decorated our house in an hour and spent a few hours figuring out the outside lights. We drove around to see some lights too.

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This is Nate and Claire at Chesapeake. This may be my favorite light display. I like clean and simple things so it kind of makes since.

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We had a few Christmas parties, but not nearly as many as usual.

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My small group got together. That was fun. We played a small and fast game of dirty santa, ate chex mix, and went shopping for our "Change for Children" family. The youth collects their change every year and we buy presents for a family. Good times.

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We had a Collide Christmas party the Wednesday night before the church was closed for the holiday. It was fun and funny, complete with an ugly sweater competition (or outfit).

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I was excited to be able to cook for our family things this year, because we have a kitchen and don't live four hours away. I usually always get asked to bring dessert.... why? I don't know.... Maybe my girlish figure tells people I like it or something. ha.

Anyway, I wanted to make something in bulk that was cheap and man did we ever make a huge bulk. ha

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Nate helped me make cake balls all day from 10am to 5pm one day. We took them everywhere we went and still have two baggies full in the freezer.

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. I also went to a "younger women of our church" party. That includes females under the age of 45. It ended up being just us girls that always hang out together + one. I wish others would have taken advantage of this great time. Melissa is always a great host and we had a blast.

You would think it was easy to shake ornaments out of a tiny box connected to your waste. You would be wrong. (unless you have some good junk in the trunk moves.... like Hollie) . . . We went to Nate's sister's house for his family Christmas... It was different but great. We always have a good time together. We brought presents not knowing they were doing "Gift Card Christmas." Ooops . . . We went to my parents the same day, which added to the weird Christmas thing. Usually we are able to stay with Nate's family for a whole day, and my family for a whole day. We had both of our "big" Christmas celebrations in one day. I wasn't there to help my mom get ready for everyone... in fact we were the last ones to arrive for the first time ever. I was frazzled and a little sad by the time we got there, but I quickly got over it and enjoyed getting to see my brothers, their wives, and my nephews. I wish that we would all get together more often. . We played a lot of wii. . . . Weird thing #2: My family decided not to have everyone get together with my Grandma for the first time since my birth. I missed seeing everyone. It gets really hard to find a time when everyone is married with kids. My mom says we may just get together for Grandma's birthday every year (which is also Nate's). . . . And last but not least, we went down to TX to be with Nate's grandparents for a few days. It is always great to help Mamaw make food and get ready for everyone. We drove back home on New Years Day.