christmas at mimi and papaw's

After our presents and breakfast on Christmas morning...

 ...and once we were ready...

 ...and all smiles...

...we headed to Mimi and Papaw's.

Loved driving out to my Mom and Dad's this year. I still feel like I'm driving 'home' even though I have been married for over 6 years now...still makes me smile. :) We ate when we got out there and then all of us 'kids' did our gift exchange. All of the Richmer clan and our spouses draw names and buy that person a gift. We never tell who we get (although some people are known to spill the beans on this) so we are surprised when we open it...not only about the gift, but who got it for us. It takes quite a while for this because we go one by one, and there are a lot of us!

 Allie with some baking stuff.

 Ash...gift certificate.

 Natalie...hair straightener.

 Stephen...new clothing.

 Aus...new game. And...Chels...always needing the attention. ;)

 Danielle...gift certificate.

 Courtney...gift certificate.

 Daniel...new clothes.

 Eric with a completely obnoxious hat...which he loves!!

 Don't want to forget the hilarious 'coupons' Stephen wrote and gave to him before he opened the hat. We were all dying laughing!

 A pic I gave to Chels from her wedding day...she was pretty much crying here. :)

 Dyli...new clothes.

Derek...money from Dyli.

 Me...with some nail polish, gift certificate and cute scarf.

Keith...some books he wanted.

 Momma. :)

My Daddy.


Then...the kiddos got to open some more gifts. :)

 Excited about some new earrings. :)

 
 
Sportin' a new purse.


The rest of they day was relaxing and laid back...just hanging out, enjoying the fire in the fireplace and good conversation.

 The Hester's

 Cora Jade

Some nice Memory action was happening at this table. 


We stayed for a long while, and then headed home. I had about as much pain as I could take from my mouth...ugh. Came home and went straight to bed. 
Keith's family was getting together the next day, but I didn't go...just knew there was no way  I could talk and I just felt so drained physically. Sooooo...I don't have any pics of that day. :(


Christmas was such a neat time for our family...I love the peacefulness of the season and just the whole reason we honor this holiday.
Jesus is our celebration!

christmas morning 2011

Keith left Christmas Eve to head to work. :( Duty calls, but it is just tough to be separated on a night like Christmas Eve. He tried really hard to help me get everything set up before he left, but there was just a lot after we got home...and not enough time. I was left to try and figure out a million piece train track to put together. Keith did a lot of it, but something wasn't right and I had to go back through all the directions and analyze each piece. I am not very talented at this! I am just not real good at little details, so this was a stretch. After about an hour, I got it though and was praising the Lord...literally. :)

I got to bed late, then up early to make a new tradition I am starting...cinnamon rolls from scratch. I had made the dough the day before because it had to sit, but I had to roll them out, add some 'goodness' to them and bake them that morning. It was all worth it...they were delish! 

Keith was a trooper and just stayed up when he got home Christmas morning...no time for sleep with three little kids excited about Christmas morning. We went in and got them all out of bed when we heard them stirring...there is such anticipation that morning. Then we all belted out a Happy Birthday song to Jesus. This sounded quite interesting first thing in the morning, but I don't think he minded. 

Keith's Dad came over to celebrate with us...just makin' his rounds. :)

Probably my favorite present this year was Kaden's drums...God provided and we knew that he would LOVE them! Keith and I were so excited for him to see them that we could hardly stand it. We sat them on the couch and uncovered them first thing.

 This was his sweet face when he first saw them!

 Love it.

 Beating away.

 

 Adders got to open a sleeping bag...and had to try it out. :)

 

 Pay-Pay's pillow pet. I'm especially loving her hair here. :)

 

 

 Kaden was not all about opening the presents...we even had to leave some for later. He wanted the drums or the airplanes. :)

A stationary set from Grandpa...that she loves!

 

 

 Love these books and that they will go right along with our theme of the Fruits of the Spirit we are starting.

 

 What's Christmas without a police car??!!

 And...the unveiling of the train table. :) This sure kept them occupied for awhile.

 

 Grandpa had to give 'em some pointers on what to do. :)

 Finally...

 we enjoyed our wonderful breakfast...of which we all ate way too much of.

Payton sure enjoyed it!

Then it was time to clean up, get dressed and head to Mimi and Papaw's...my Mom and Dad's.