Christmas 2009

The first weekend of December we enjoyed our annual Breakfast with Santa. A group of teachers from school all get together with our kids, bring a breakfast food to share, and take pictures with Santa. Molly and I have had breakfast with Santa since she was in kindergarten! It is a great tradition. December can be such a hectic month, but we found lots of time to enjoy our friends and family. Darryl took vacation starting on the 18th, so he was able to come up to school for Molly's class Christmas party. That evening we celebrated an early Christmas with my dad, Rise, Becky, Daniel, and Philip. We left for Birmingham on the 22nd, but split the drive into 2 days. We had lunch with my friend Lori and her 9 month old, Eli, when we passed through Waco. Lori and Eli live in Anchorage, AK, so we were so glad for the chance to see them! We stayed with Carolyn, Kimberly, and Molly Robin in Shreveport that night. Carolyn fixed a great dinner for us and we sat around the fire pit (when it wasn't raining on us!). I think Carolyn could start a fire with a wet rock--she is queen of great campfires! We also got to see Daniel Prothero, Wiley's son, but were sorry to miss Wiley and Madeline. We got to Birmingham the afternoon of the 23rd. That night we went to ZooLight Safari with my mom, Jimmy, Johnny, Tara, and Jack. It was lots of fun. We had Christmas Eve at my mom's house and then went to Johnny and Tara's on Christmas day. We really enjoyed playing with Jack! Molly was so good to her cousin and enjoyed having him around! While we were in Birmingham we drove around showing Darryl my old school and the house where I grew up. Darryl lived in Birmingham for a few years when he was in his twenties, so he showed us where he used to work and the places he used to go. We had Sunday brunch with everyone (except Mama who was teaching Children's Church) and got to meet Jimmy's girlfriend, Laura, and see my friend, Rachel. We left early Monday morning to make the drive back home. We had good weather and were fortunate to be on the other side of the interstate when traffic backed up for construction! We were glad to be home, but had a great Christmas in Birmingham!