I love the holidays but I am glad it is over this year! John and I had a fast pace holiday season. We started our journey traveling to Cali to see my family on Friday (the 19th) after work. Of course, there was just rain and no possibility of snow in So Cal. My mom told me to look up in the mountains to see snow. She said see it is pretty up there on the mountain tops, we don’t need it down here. I just rolled my eyes and said it wasn’t the same as being in it!
When I arrived I was greeted with one of the best surprises ever…a full body pillow! Now, this may not seem like a great thing to some of you, but if you are pregnant or have ever been you might be sharing in my joy right now. My sister had made my year! She knew I wanted one but hadn’t had the time to go and buy one yet. I am still excited to this day over it. John calls it our bed divider, like when kids divide their rooms with tape. You get that side and I get this side. I don’t care though because it is by far the best thing ever!
On Saturday, we had a very relaxing day. We started with breakfast burritos, which John and I insist on having a least once when we go to visit. Later in the day, we had the traditional Fadely Christmas dinner and it was the best. I ate way too much, but I am eating for two you know. Then we opened presents and headed out to look at lights. We went down to Riverside to the Mission Inn. Every year they decorate the whole place for Christmas; it is amazing. We love to look at Christmas lights.
Sunday evening we drove back to Phx, so we could finish packing to head for South Carolina. What a crazy week that was. After both flights were delayed, we finally arrived at 1am. I was ready to go to bed. I didn’t sleep very much on the plane because it was uncomfortable. John, of course, was content because he could watch a movie! I told him next time I am pregnant we aren’t going anywhere or we are upgrading to first class! I was a little sad when we landed because I was praying hard for snow and just got more rain. Such is life, right?
John and I got to meet our nephew, CJ for the first time! Let me tell you he is so cute and such a happy baby. I loved watching John interact with him and can’t wait to see him with Jalyn. The funniest thing was when CJ would start making noise and doing his “baby talk”, John would scream and make noise right along with them. At times, you didn’t know who was the one making the noise or who was the loudest. CJ got a kick out of it; he would just smile, laugh and continue making noise!
This year, the whole family was together for Christmas. It is the first Christmas in three years that we have all been able to spend together! We opened presents on Christmas Eve because we knew the next day would be too busy. Mama B usually wins out receiving the most presents, however this year CJ won out. He creamed everyone by a landslide. It was fun to tease Mama B about it! However, Jalyn didn’t do too bad herself and she isn’t even born yet! But, in all honesty it was so much fun to just be with everyone. We didn’t really need the presents, that was just fun.
On Christmas day, John’s Uncle Sonny, Aunt Lisa, Erin and Rashad came to spend the day with us. Cousin Liz and Kathy came later in the day, also. It was great to see everyone! I always love talking and laughing with everyone. They tell some of the best stories about being overseas together. Of course what is a Barnes-Jackson Family time without some friendly competition? Some individuals played ping pong and started a little tournament. I stayed far away from that, I can barely walk a straight line let alone hit a small ball back and forth. (Poor Jalyn, I hope she gets her daddy’s coordination!) Later, we also played Family Feud. The game version isn’t as good as the real game show, but it was still fun.
On Saturday, we went to see Uncle Charles and Aunt Jeanie in no man’s land. On the drive I questioned if we were in the right place because we just kept winding around roads forever. They love living in the mountains but I need more city. It was great seeing them though! Uncle Charles told us stories about when he used to live in Scarsdale, NY for some time in high school. I love to hear stories about when people were growing up. John decided to Google the city to learn more about it. He came back and told me to win the lottery so we could live there. I told him to play, which was the wrong thing to say because that just start him rambling about is theory that the lottery is racist. I just rolled my eyes, laughed at him and moved on. If you really want to know the story you can listen to him ramble about it on your own, I have heard my fair share on it.
Once we returned from SC, John took off for a tournament in Tucson the next day. He returned just in time for New Year’s Eve. This year we went over to our friend’s house, Paul and Amanda. We had dinner, played board games and played with Clay. I am going to have to remember to take my camera with me next time. Clay is getting so big so fast. He was having a blast with all his toys and making noises with John and Paul! It was a nice quiet evening and the best thing after a crazy week. Although, I was ready for it to be midnight at 10pm so I could go to sleep.
We had an amazing holiday season even though we didn’t get any snow. We feel so fortunate that we were able to see so much family! We hope everyone had a great season as well, whatever you celebrate!
No comments :
Post a Comment