Merry Christmas 2010! Wanna catch a glimpse of what Christmas looks like for us each year in South Carolina with Daddy's family?
What made THIS Christmas unique was the number of gluten-free eaters now in our family! Since Marc's brother was diagnosed with celiac disease (aka gluten intolerance) 1 1/2 years ago, several members of the family have discovered their own various health issues being resolved & greatly improved from going gluten free! (it's crazy how it's helped everything from migraines to stomach pain to fatigue...are we spreading the gluten-free gospel or what?!? ha ha)
So here's the current gluten-free gang in our family. (We gluten eaters are quickly being outnumbered on Daddy's side of the family!!) Did you notice who's missing from this picture??
That's right. I'm not in there.
And that's because I'm back on GLUTEN. (gasp! shock!) More on this later, but for my scheduled endoscopy in February, I've got to be on a little gluten each day for at least a month until then. (more coming soon on this....)
So what always makes our Christmas SO fun in recent years is these guys! Though they've been around for the past 2 Christmases, my aunt & uncle now have permanent custody of 5 of these siblings, and they are a joy and delight to our family! (not to mention fun cousins for me to play with!)
So on Christmas Eve we all went to Nanny & Papa's church.
After the service we all go back to spend the night at Nanny's house, have lots of FUN, and eat, eat, EAT!
In the morning, all the family gathers upstairs for Nanny to read the Christmas story from the Bible, sing Christmas songs & "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, and pray together. And THEN... it's time to head down the stairs to open presents!!
THIS is the chaotic scene and we LOVE it! This year I was a big helper by helping to pass out the gifts to everybody.
And then, when it was finally time to open my presents, I LOVED it!
I carefully tore open the paper, and with each gift, I wanted to open it up and play with it first before I ever thought of opening another one. Mommy & Daddy were proud of me for savoring each gift, although it took so long that we didn't even get to finish opening them all!
Some things I got this year were: a bean bag chair, some games, lots of toy foods & pots/pans so I can cook like Mommy!, some stuffed animals, a book, a set of blocks, my first digital camera, a Little People nativity set, a set of musical instruments, a music player, and more. It'll take me all year just to enjoy it all, and can you believe I've got a birthday right around the corner?!
After presents came a delicious pancake breakfast made by Nanny. (who chose to make a gluten-free batch and a regular batch for everybody...) And not long after breakfast we had a delicious Christmas dinner: turkey, mashed potatoes, gluten-free mac-n-cheese, sweet potato souffle, squash casserole, peas, collared greens, a gluten-free pecan pie, a gluten-free red velvet cake, homemade fudge, and loooooots more. (you definitely don't have to go hungry when you're gluten free!!) It was SO delicious, Nanny. Thank you for all you do each year to make Christmas special for our family.
Hope y'all had a merry Christmas, too!
such a great job capturing the highlights! The 'chaotic scene' pic is perfect.
ReplyDeleteIt was a wonderful Christmas. I enjoy every minute of making it special. Even though I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, it is worth it! I may not get the opportunity to play some of the games, but I enjoy watching everyone else play and listening to all the talking, playing and laughing going on by everyone. I'm so blessed and thankful to have such a wonderful family to enjoy each year. I hope there are many, many more Christmases for us to have such a great time together. The chaotic times, the quiet times and the wonderful times we have. Thank you all for being here. Love you all.
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