Merry Christmas, one and all.....

Christmas Day 2010

***(yes I know it's the middle of January. I'm kinda late....)

Our first Christmas at our own house! I love spending Christmas morning with parents, siblings and nieces and nephews, but it was kind of nice having our own quiet Christmas morning. We woke up around 8, turned on the Nutcracker Suite and brought Gracie out into our living room, where Santa had dropped by a few hours earlier. 

This is her first reaction to what Santa brought her, a hippo tent and a stroller. 

 Next, she looked in her stocking to find some fun surprises. She had pointed out her stocking  hanging on the mantle multiple times a day since we hung it weeks earlier, so she was surprised to see it full of toys and candy! 

 She got a kaleidoscope, but still hasn't been able to figure out the one eye open-one eye closed thing. 

 I got Jared some little stocking things, a lens for our camera and a gym membership! Exciting!

 I was so impressed with Jared. I honestly couldn't think of one thing that I really wanted, so he just surprised me with lots of thoughtful gifts that were perfect! It was very sweet. 

(love my new puma shoes)

 Lucy didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was she liked it. She basically got a couple of toys in her stocking and was a happy camper all morning. Sweet little thing...

 The biggest hit of Christmas morning was Gracie's Zhu-zhu pet! It's been scooting around our living room every day since Christmas. We call ours "Mousy".

 Opening gifts was over in probably 30 minutes, then we just played together and enjoyed the beautiful, sunny morning. Later, Jared's parents stopped by to see what Santa had brought us and visit. 

 We got ready for the day, then headed over to my parent's house. We exchanged gifts and visited...Gracie got an awesome bumblebee pillow pet that she can't get enough of! It is pretty cute. We named it Buzz.

 Lucy's first Christmas...

 From my parent's house we went to Grandpa Jones' house for lunch. There are lots of members of the Jones family, and this year they decided to take a group photo.  Even though there were still lots of people missing, there was still a pretty huge group! Yes, they are as fun as they look:

Lots of babies in the Jones family! And they're all within a few months of each other. Here they are left to right (oldest to youngest): Owen, Brittin, Lucy, Aila, Alivia, Lia and Luke. 

Aren't they a cute little bunch? You should have seen the huge group of parents dancing in front of the couch getting the babies to smile. Somebody should have gotten a picture of that! :)

The festivities didn't stop there, we celebrated all week long! Game night with Cafe Rio dinner, bowling and pizza, then a Jones cousin party at Jason and Jenn's house on New Year's Eve. So much fun...we're still recovering from it all.

New Years Day was the annual Jones family Ball Bash. They are some major basketball players in that family. It's very intense. And...there's lunch, too!

 Here's Jared doing the free-throw drill...

 Gracie loved running around the gym with all the little Jones kids. She even tried shooting the ball a few times...I think she's got some potential. 

 Here's everyone waiting for their turn for the drills. This year they had more people play then usual, and I ended up winning my division....the female married with children division! :) hehe

New Years Day is also Chad's birthday, so we spent the evening watching football and celebrating his birthday with the whole family. 

Jason and Jenn blessed little Lia on the Sunday after New Years. It was the last time we were all together as a family before Kiley and Eric headed back to Mississippi, so we took a big family picture...

The holidays were so wonderful this year and, like always, so eventful. I'm sad it's over but at the same time happy to get into a routine, to work on my resolutions and try to be better. 

Happy 2011!