Holiday Fun: From Houston,TX to Vidor, TX :0)

So we began our holidays at home in Houston, and had a nice morning last Friday just opening our presents and then had a yummy breakfast. Jacey enjoyed getting a couple of presents from Mom and Dad. :0)

In Vidor, we had Christmas with my family Saturday night and then our extended family Sunday afternoon. All of my grandparents were able to make it and they all did really well, which was amazing! Maw-Maw didn't like Jacey though, she was afraid of her at first and then she starting trying to scare her, which was actually kind of funny. Adam and Ashley came over from Austin, my Uncle Jimmy from Dallas and my Aunt Jacque and Uncle Alan from Baytown. Jesse and Amber weren't able to come over from Germany this year, which everyone understood, airplane tickets aren't cheap!

These are a few picture my sister took, she is really getting good at her photography!!

Sunday we all of course went to church and then came home for a late Christmas lunch and extended family time. 

We always have a sneaky airplane that gets passed around each year. Uncle Alan bought two of these on a trip and one year Adam or Jesse put them in someone's present and ever since then we keep passing it back and forth. We've probably been doing it for about ten years. We think Jesse and Amber must have the other one because only one showed up this year! ;0)

We also do a cousin picture from oldest to youngest in front of the tree. We have these ever since we could sit up, which is really cool to see how we've grown over the years and the additions we've had to the family. Of course over the past few years we've had some of us who couldn't be at our family gatherings so we improvise. (That's Amber and Jesse on the iPad...)

Michael came to town on Monday so we got to celebrate Joanna and Michael's engagement that evening with dinner!

We gave Michael his Christmas gifts that night, and of course Jacey got into the bows again. They were definitely her favorite part of Christmas this year. :0)

So after all of these festivities and family spending time together, I realize just how amazing my family is. Our Lord has blessed us in so many ways, and my family is one of the best blessings He has given me. I thank Him for them everyday, but when we are all able to get together it becomes even more obvious that He has designed us all in a special way in that we complement each other but are also unique; we bring out the best in each other. I am thankful that He allowed me to play a part in this special family.