Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow

Christmas continuted:

My parent's house on Christmas Day.

 This snow isn't such a big deal now, considering there's been a lot more to fall since this. But it was a HUGE deal to us on Christmas Day. I have never seen a white Christmas quite like this one and considering how rare snow like this is down south, I may never seen it again.

Andrea and Robert are chasing each other with snowballs on the way in the door.

I could NOT WAIT to get out in this snow to play. We played in the snow before we opened presents. 

Wil was not a big fan of the cold, wet, white stuff all over the place. I think he was ready to get back to Florida.

Feeling like a little kid again.

Making a snow angel.

Sledding down the hill on a box top.

More sledding.

Laughing until we were out of breath.

And enjoying the beauty.

It was an absolutely beautiful Christmas Day. We headed in to warm up and open presents with my family.

Christmas lunch and more snow!

After presents with Matt's family, we headed back across the river to my Grandma's house. 

We had chili for lunch with all the trimmings. It was delish!

There was a little more snow in Colbert County than in Lauderdale. I was so happy to get these photos of the house with the magical winter weather all around.

Robert got a super nice DSLR Canon camera for Christmas so I had a competing photographer. 

So fun to compare shots.

 Jeremy brought his sweet little dog, Ginger. 

She's adorable and her personality is awesome.

After lunch we headed to my parent's house. 

Luckily we had Robert's big four-wheel drive to get us up the mountain.

I'm including this out of focus shot just because I think it looks cool.

Sometimes accidents look kinda cool, right?

Speaking of photos I think are cool, I've started a photography blog. This was on my list of things to do before I turn 30. Right now it's just experiments and Photoshopped edits, but it's a fun hobby and I wanted a place to share and save the pictures. I've added a link to it in the bar on the left.

Christmas morning breakfast and presents....

After taking pictures of the snow outside, I was ready to come in and warm up by the fire.

Martin and Gray had the same idea.

Gray was a champ at taking presents out of his Christmas bags. 

We went with kid friendly wrapping for him.

Ed got a Vandy Santa hat and wore it while opening presents. 

Gray helped him open presents.

Michael showing off a new shirt.

Margret showing off her angel gift which has become a running joke in the family. She's gotten that same angel in some for years. We always find where she's hidden it and rewrap it.

Gray got a little tired during the present opening but he was happy to snuggle in my lap and play with his peg board and hammer.

He also really liked playing with his blocks. Ikea toys have been great for us as gifts this year.

I got some beautiful candlesticks, Steve Martin's new book, the Miranda Lambert CD, and some other great treats. Very fun Christmas celebration.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

Early Christmas morning I heard my phone buzz with a text message. It scared me because I couldn't imagine someone texting me at that hour with good news. It was my mom and there was a photo attached....I downloaded the photo, feeling relieved that she wasn't sending me bad news and I saw my parent's front porch covered in snow. I woke Matt up to show him the picture and then I jumped out of bed to see if there was snow in Florence.

The actual phone message photo!

There was! I ran out to the front porch with my camera and started snapping away. I think I woke the whole house.

I have never seen snow like this on Christmas. It was amazing. Just like that moment at the end of White Christmas when they open the barn doors and everyone sees the snow and there's this huge gasp. It was a moment just like that. Absolutely magical.
(of course I called my mom back and started singing "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas". Bing Crosby would have been so proud.)

I love that you can see the snow with the Christmas tree in the background. A rare sight in North Alabama.

Matt and Ed braved the winter weather to head straight to the hot tub.

The Crockett's house.

There's snow in my hair!

My snowman. With M&M eyes and a baby carrot nose.

So fun to wake up to such a fun surprise on Christmas. It was absolutely beautiful and made our breakfast and family time that much more cozy.

Christmas Eve with the Willinghams

After dinner and stockings with Matt's family we headed across the river and up the mountain to celebrate Christmas with my dad's side of the family.


The first great grandchild in the family. This is my cousin's little boy having a blast with his Pop, my uncle. I gave him the hammer and peg board. He's such a cutie and was so well behaved. He just played and played.

More playing and hammering. We had such a fun time watching him.

I made a photo book for PawPaw of all his carvings and creations. He's extremely talented and so creative. I have a couple carvings of his that I am very proud of. He made a little Stevie and Wil that are so awesome. He also made Matt a wooden truck filled with watermelons (painted pecans) our first Christmas.

He seemed proud of it and I was proud he liked it. He sells some of his stuff so I'm glad I got photos of it to save for him.

We headed back to Florence so we'd be there Christmas morning for breakfast with Matt's family. I'm still such a little kid when it comes to Christmas Eve. It takes me forever to get to sleep. It used to be because I was excited about Santa, but now I'm excited about the present we're giving people!

Christmas Eve at the Crocketts

We spent Christmas Eve afternoon and early evening with the Crockett's at Matt's parent's house. They have a tradition of seafood for dinner each Christmas Eve. So it's always a really tasty meal of fresh shrimp, crab cakes and salads.

This is my nephew, Gray's, first Christmas. I think he was sufficiently excited.


This kid is hilarious.

Our stockings laid by the chimney with care.
From left to right: Ashley, Gray, Martin, Michael, Margaret, Tyson and Matt.
(It's not hard to spot mine or Matt's if you know us)

It's quite an honor to have this stocking at my in-laws. They are Auburn and Vanderbilt fans.

I have always wanted party poppers for the holidays and Dale found them for our stockings this year. We had so much fun popping them open to find the toys, paper hats and jokes inside. Probably one of my most favorite stocking stuffers ever (besides the Chick fil A coupons.) I'm going to have to continue this tradition.

A merry Christmas Eve was had by all. Delicious food and great company. Wish I could go back in time and do it all over and over again.