Whew!

The holiday season has come and nearly gone. I feel incredibly blessed and thankful for my family and friends. The Pulliams traveled up to Fayetteville for Thanksgiving, where we got to spend some great time with my parents, my grandmother, and my youngest brother, whom we had not seen in 2 years. It was so wonderful to catch up, relax, and eat lots of yummy foods. I think my brother hit it on the head when he says my dad's portions are out of control :).

Since Thanksgiving, we had been celebrating Advent in our home, as we prepared our hearts and minds for Christmas, the celebration of our Savior's birth. Each evening at dinner, our boys would take turns "opening the envelope." Inside a big red envelope would be a small card with a verse, as well as a couple of treats for the boys. They took great joy in hearing the verse each evening, adding it to the story, and recalling throughout the month important components of our Jesus' entrance into the world. The boys also surprised us with lots of Christmas songs this season--I would love to hear their little voices so merry and joyful.

Our Christmas plans were a bit out-of-the-ordinary for us this year since my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew were traveling to Arkansas. My parents came down to us the weekend before Christmas--we ate Christmas dinner, opened gifts, and looked at lights. Our kiddos love their "Molna and Ba" and always enjoy time with them. My brother and his family came through the following Wednesday and Thursday from North Carolina. We had not seen them in over a year, so it was wonderful to catch up and to see our sweet nephew/cousin. We exchanged gifts Thursday morning, then my sister-in-law and did some very last-minute shopping, then they took us out for sushi and hibachi that evening. We also learned that a new baby will join our family next summer!! Can't wait for a second niece/nephew!! We loved our time with the Middlebrooks and look forward to our road trip to their place next summer.

By Christmas Eve, it was just the five of us, all with some sniffles and snotty noses, but excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday nonetheless. The boys were super-excited to open presents Christmas morning; Violet was excited to eat paper :). We built Legos, tried on new shoes, shot Nerf guns, and made treats with Doctor Dreadful all morning. We then went to see a movie at the dollar theater and ate Christmas dinner at Waffle House. Merry Christmas!

So...as the title suggests, whew!!