Christmas 2015

After the kids played with their new toys and we got dressed, we headed over to the farm for a big breakfast! I need to add, it was coming a downpour and it rained SO hard all.day.long. I'm pretty sure we had record setting floods in Middle Tennessee on Christmas Day. Just the day before the weather was so warm and perfect! Crazy how quickly Tennessee weather can change!

The food was delicious and everyone enjoyed opening gifts. I have to admit, as weird as this sounds, I kind of enjoyed the rain on that day. It just seemed like we did things much slower and there is something about lounging on a couch with family around while the rain falls that is comforting. We arrived early and left around 1:30 or so. Typically, we would head to my parents afterwards but this year due to different schedules, we went home and celebrated Christmas with Christopher, Brandy and Hunter the following day (Saturday). They traveled from Florida on Christmas Day since Hunter is at an age where he is understanding more about Santa, how fun opening presents can be, etc. So I definitely understood why they wanted to be in their home for him to wake up to all of that!

We had a FULL day on Christmas Eve, then up super early Christmas morning, by the time we were headed home in the pouring down rain, we were all ready for a nice, long nap! So that's just what we did. We went through Hillsboro on the way home and so much flooding was happening that fence rows were almost completely under water. You could just barely see the tips of the fence post sticking out. So many farms were just flooded, it was unbelievable. 

When we arrived home, we put our new goodies away and put on our pajamas and put the kids to bed. Adam and I fell asleep as well and we slept for around 3 hours. 

Mommas- you feel me when I say it was GLORIOUS.

When we woke up, we played with all of their new toys in the living room. Adam and I decided we didn't feel like cooking so what did we decide to have for our Christmas dinner?

Subway.

lol

I kind of like how "uncommon" it was to have that as your Christmas meal. Adam headed to town (it was still pouring rain) and the kids and I kept on playing. 

We both admitted we really enjoyed how easy the day was. The rain caused us all to relax and not keep ourselves busy. With all the flooding, it is definitely a Christmas to remember!

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We woke up Saturday morning to clear skies and warm temperatures. Just the day before I thought we were going to need an ark to get around. Again, that's Tennessee weather for you! We made our way to my parents to celebrate Christmas with all of us together. My two love having Hunter around and having someone else to play with. We had a delicious, huge breakfast then opened presents. The rest of the day we played outside, lounged around, ate, and had a bonfire. 

Aunt Brandy and Uncle Christopher got the best gift award. Landon had a blast with this ninja turtle water gun

Hunter is ALL about tractors. I remember Landon being obsessed with tractors when he was 2 as well! So Uncle Adam fed some hay and the kids happily hopped on the tractor with him. 

Such a fun morning, afternoon and night!

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Monday came and we headed to Patsy and Bo's house to spend the day with them. We left early but made a pit stop at Wal-Mart to buy headphones for the kids. 

Game. Changer.

When we go on long trips, we put the DVD players in the car so they can watch movies. Up until this point, Adam and I could hear the movie too. Something about having silence as you travel can be golden. hahaha

They wore the headphones, watched their movies, and Adam and I were able to talk! Like, not get interrupted and actually have a conversation! ;) 

Again, I know you momma's understand!

We enjoyed our day with them and I always LOVE visiting their house. It is so peaceful and makes you feel relaxed instantly. 

We left late afternoon and hit Chattanooga rush hour traffic, plus, it was raining cats and dogs. But, we made it home safely and the kids instantly went back to playing with their toys before bed time. 

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I know it's almost March, but I'm just now getting around to blogging about our Christmas break! I definitely want this season of our life documented so I can look by over this in the years to come and treasure it.

The next day, Tuesday, we celebrated Christmas yet again! This time with my uncle Stephen, Aunt Erin, Casey and Autumn like we always do. They spent their Christmas in Pennsylvania this year so we scooted our celebration back a few days. 

Again, we had a wonderful day! Great company, excellent food, and yet another bonfire. It was perfect!

It was late when everyone left and we put the kids in the shower and put pajamas on them because we knew they would fall asleep on our way home. 

Adalyn got ahold of my camera and told my mom exactly what she wanted us to do while she took our pictures. haha Adalyn got a kick out of this!

We got home late and we crashed! 

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That Saturday, we celebrated with my mom's side of the family who all live in Alabama. My kids have a blast with them, we just hate we only get to see each other a few times throughout the year!

We had Alaskan salmon and different type of Alaskan fish for a big lunch and the kids played outside, the guys shot guns, and we did lots of talking!

I didn't take a lot of pictures though for some reason.

You guys, after that last Christmas celebration, I was ready to hibernate in my house!! We had been on the go for well over a week and we were just exhausted. 

I forgot to mention New Years Eve we celebrated with Dustin and Christina and the kids like we do every year. We went to their house and grilled burgers and the kids played their little hearts out. We brought our left over fire works from the fourth of July and shot those off that night as well. We had lots of fun! 

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And ONE more Christmas celebration to talk about! lol  Thankfully though, we had a break after New Years weekend to rest up for a few weeks before we went at it again. :) 

We celebrate Christmas in January with the Clark's. Every Martin Luther King Jr. weekend is when we ALL get together for our big Christmas celebration with Adam's entire family! As you know, Christmas time can be so so busy going from one place to the next, and because Adam's family is so large, and some live out of state, we had always just celebrated that weekend in January since it's an extra long weekend. Which makes it soooo nice! We are able to recuperate from all the Christmas festivities, as are they, then we can dedicate an entire weekend to our Clark Christmas.  

Everyone signs up for different types of appetizers, dips, desserts, etc and we have a huge spread to eat on all day. All the kids play upstairs at Melissa's house and they have a ball! I don't think they slow down for a minute! The adults enjoy talking, eating, and playing card games. It always such a fun time when we get together. Sarah and Tommy spent the night with us that Saturday night so both kids were in heaven.

Spoons is INTENSE! beware!! haha

Cousins

Cousins and their spouses

All the cousins!

Whew, if you made it through this extremely long post about Christmas, thanks for sticking it out. We had such a fun Christmas season and I wanted to be sure to document it so I can look back on this one day, even if it is almost March! hahaha

Now to talk about 2016!