Christmas!

Warning, this post is mostly pictures. :) 

Instead of writing lots of boring details, I will just put captions under all the pics and you can read along. :) 

We went to Santa's Village with our friends, the Treadaways. Next year, we will choose another weekend- the last weekend they have Santa's Village is the MOST CROWDED and OVER-POPULATED event EVER.
Never the less, Lucy was a trooper in the cold weather and LOVED seeing all the characters!

Family pic at Santa's Village! And, crazy mom that I am, thought that Lucy's little cold was nothing and she'd be fine in the cold weather ("just give her some Tylenol, she'll be fine")- the next day, we took her to the doctor's office because she had a fever and had been up 3 times the night before...well, she had her first ear infection and RSV! What a great mom I am!

I really wanted to take Lucy to see Santa. Again, timing is everything. Note to self, if you don't want to wait 2.5 hours in line with an 8 month old to see Santa, go the first week of December, not the week of Christmas. Thankfully, Aunt Liz joined us and Lucy was a trooper while we waited. 

We hosted Mexican Christmas (my dad's side of the family's Christmas Eve dinner). We had 30 people come and were able to accommodate all 30 people down one giant table (3 tables put together). It was so fun!!

Our Christmas tree with all the loot

eating dinner...all 30 of us!

All the family!

Certainly couldn't have pulled off having 30 people over without my Mom!! It takes a village...

Lucy opening her stocking at Grandmommy and Papi's house on Christmas Day!

GG opening her very special gift- the grandkids all made a donation to Jack C. Binion Elementary School library (my grandfather's elementary school that they named after him). He and Grandmommy (GG) have placed so much importance on education and reading and supported us all through college, that we wanted to do something in their honor. She loved it!

Liz's Christmas gift to me- she made these uuber-cute wreaths for our front-door! 

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas! It actually started on the 23rd, at Mike's parents' house with his side of the family (sad that I didn't get any pics!), then continued on the 24th with Mexican Christmas at our house, as well as Christmas Eve service at Watermark, then ended on Christmas Day. We woke up on Christmas morning, opened our presents as our little family (Lucy got this really cute Radio Flyer walker and started walking all over the place with it!), then went to my parents' house for Serna Christmas and spent most of the day there (ending the afternoon with tamales, rice and black beans). It was fabulous!!

I do have to say that I really wanted to enjoy the Christmas season, not be a "Martha" but be a "Mary." I truly feel like I was able to have a continual heart of gratitude, thanking God for His gift to us, sending His Son to earth, which is why we celebrate Christmas. Praise God for His peace that surpasses all understanding and guards our hearts and minds- it's what kept me going!