Magical Christmas 2013

Picture Overload from Christmas this year. You've been warned. I can't find all the pictures I wanted to include, but I got some good ones. Again... No time to edit anything, so you get full on raw morning-ness! Like this guy:

Ask Alan--I LOVE Christmas. I love everything about this time of year, and actually my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving because it's when all the magic starts! I love family, food, chatting, games, service, twinkling lights, cold air. I LOVE Christmas! To kick it all off, we have a tradition of going to the symphony and watching their "Magic of Christmas" production. We love it. Here's the night we made our trip to the city for the show. The music gets stuck in your head and heart, and this year, an Elderly lady asked me if I was one of the performers during intermission! They had those dancers that climb and twirl on those long ribbons from the cieling. She thought I was That girl! She laughed when she saw me after the show and said "I look forward to seeing you perform next year!" So funny.

We were so lucky as Luis/Rachelle and the boys made a stop by the house to spend a couple days with our fam on their way to her family's for Christmas. It was so nice to get everyone together again, even if just for a couple days.  I can't find pictures for some reason, but we made gingerbread houses, chased those boys silly, and gabbed a ton! I am still so glad we got to spend time at Disney together... We surprised the boys with cheeseballs and gummy bears for their road trip and sent them off to visit the rest of their family. Mom and I kept plenty busy, getting plenty of shopping in, making beautiful tree skirts, and just enjoying each other's company before the rest of the family came in. Becky came from NYC, Danny and Dad came together, and we had so much fun just relaxing, eating, watching movies, and playing games. The boys went shooting while Luis was here, and I was at work. Seems they did a lot of fun things while I finished the last of my shifts for the month. We loved having everyone here!

 Dinner... Where else but Chima's Steakhouse! It was awesome introducing my peeps to our kind of dining:)

 We had a Christmas Eve party with lots of friends. We definitely stayed up past all our bed times, but Santa still found us and we opened gifts on Christmas morning. It was low key and we made sure to have plenty of Danishes and goodies to eat first thing. Alan, of course, prefers his rice and milk. 

 This is what shock looks like. iPad from the parents!

 Dad loves his shoes. Man--what good style:)

 I got some nice Sephora brushes from Rachelle. Love them!

 He knew what he was getting. I mean, he shopped for it himself. But still, look how happy he is!hehe

 Haha. This was a free CD they were handing out at his favorite store...Allen Edmonds. 

 Mom made us adorable aprons! So thoughtful.

 Remind me to get you a pic of the standing mirror/jewelry holder I adore! Oh sweet boy of mine. I love it.

 I will try to find the other family pics, but I love these two. Love.

The day my family left, Alan's family flew in. Andy, Jody, and Andrea had come in on Christmas. This was my first time meeting Jody, Alan's stepmother, and it was so fun to get to know them all again. We went down to Charleston after showing them our home, and met up with Chris and Becca. We got to walk around historic Charleston, and it was absolutely beautiful! We had dinner in an old brewery, and also got to take a carriage tour of one of the districts. So fun! We all piled in after that and drove back up to our house, and may or may not have gone to Chima's again. (ahem. oops.Oh well, it's the holidays.) We got a chance to play games, have another simple and thoughtful gift exchange, and just really enjoy each others' company. 

 All in all, it was a Fabulous Holiday season and we are so grateful for all the love shown to us and for all the family and friendship we have in our lives. I miss it already, however, we were definitely tired! New Year's Eve is looking to be a quiet evening. Can't wait to see what 2014 has to bring us, since it's gonna be hard to top 2013!

More Disney Magic

So many fun pictures! I don't know how to stop!!! 

Luis and his family left, but we still had a full day of fun left, so we stuck around and caught Beauty and the Beast and ate far too many cinnamon candied almonds while checking out this spectacular light show!

I haven't quite figured out how to get a good panoramic shot, but given that it was raining and people were trying to leave, not too bad. We just decided to hang out in the rain... We were having too much fun to leave!

This one is for Luis. Our Platinum member. Love it

Really, we just had so much fun.. and I couldn't help posting this pic of Whataburger. We seriously were so excited. Even if it is Just a burger. Now we know it's only about 6 hrs away whenever we want one. Haha. 

Disney Holidays 2013

We had such a fun filled and busy busy holiday season! We were so excited to be able to spend lots of time with family, and made some wonderful memories! The second week in December, we joined Luis, Rachelle, and their sweet boys at the most magical place on Earth. Disney World! I really wish I could post every picture we took, but you get the idea that we had a blast!!!

Here is my photo dump of raw fun footage: 

(We totally surprised everyone by getting mom to come up early and show up at the hotel. It was nice having some extra company on the 8 hr drive and so worth it to have her there with us!)

(I love Jacob's moves in this pic. We were waiting to eat at this excellent German restaurant. I told Jackson I was drinking a grown up drink so he wouldn't want my Diet Coke, but then I looked at all the giant beer steins and thought... Hmm...I think THOSE are the adult drinks!  haha. good times.) 

(Uncle Alan and Jackson... Buddies for the Dumbo ride.)

(love this sweet smile)

It was such a magical adventure, and I am so glad we got to experience it together! I have lots more pictures on my phone- I will try to get to those. We got to spend Wed night through Saturday with our favorite peeps, then Luis and his family had to leave for the airport, so Alan, mom and I explored around the rest of the day and left Saturday night. We were all so tired when we got home, but don't worry, there was a Whataburger on the way home in Florida! YUM!

Thanks to our sweet family for inviting us to join them. We loved riding the rides, hot chocolate with very emotional* fireworks, hanging out and chatting at night, and funnel cake. TWICE. haha. We could not have asked for more fun! Love my family!