Christmas has come and gone

I love Christmas time, and I am always sad to see it go! I must say this Christmas season was very different than the past, both better and a little more difficult.
It was great having Owen to share in Christmas traditions. As a family we continued several traditions from our past but we also included many new traditions-all focusing on Christ and His birth! One of our favorite Christmas moments was attending the Christmas Eve service with the Tomlinsons. We loved it for many reasons, but mainly because it was so much fun having Owen with us in the service! He was mesmerized by the music, lights, and especially the flickering candles at the conclusion of the service. I really loved it because Owen was especially snuggling that evening. So sweet!


Our Original plan for Christmas day was to wake up, have our "Happy Birthday Jesus" party, open presents and just take the day easy. BUT, after opening the presents, we decided we would rather go ahead and head up to GA, instead of leaving the following morning (at 4am). Our new plan to leave Christmas day, had us arrive at my parents around 9:30pm. Not too bad! Owen did great in the car! We were a little worried since he is much more active than he was the last time we traveled. His big Christmas present was a portable DVD player for the car. We decided this would be a good investment since we'll probably be traveling a lot. Our plan is that the DVD player will only be used for long trips...that's the goal! :-)


We spent several days with my parents where Owen was spoiled with love and gifts from his Grammy, Pops, Aunt Sissy, and Uncle Adam! Owen loves it all!



Then we headed up to TN to spend time with Joe's family. Once again Owen was loved on like crazy and got some really great gifts! Owen says "Thanks!" to his Grams, Gramps, Uncle Matt, Aunt Elise, Uncle Nick, Uncle Sam, Great Noonee, Great Pappa, and Great Aunt Lisa. The day we left TN we actually got to see snow! So fun!



The day before we left for home we were able to spend some much needed time with old friends! It was great to get together at the usual spot, The Brewton's house, and just have a fun time laughing, eating, and playing games! We miss our GA friends so much, but we are extremely thankful for our new FL friends!

Although the trip was fun, Joe and I have decided it was a little too long for a young family. I suppose the guilt of moving away influenced our decision to make it such a long trip, but thankfully we have a supportive family who understands too well the stress of traveling during the holidays. We're already planning what we'll do next year...it should be a little easier though because Matt and Elise should be living in GA and can hopefully host the Graziano Christmas! That should be so much fun for Elise! She deserves that!! :-)

2010 should be a great year! We'll get to experience winter and spring here in Fl, which I assume will be very different than GA, we'll celebrate Owen's 1st B-day, and we'll welcome Baby #2 in July! I'm not really making any New Year's resolutions...it's pretty much the same every year...Live a life that glorifies God to the fullest. Happy New Year!