December Rewind

We had a terribly busy

but wonderfully blessed December!

I'm doing one massive post to bring  you up to speed

on the happenings at the Brown household this past month.

I love traditions

and when thinking back to my own childhood

one of the most memorable {and favorite} memories

would have to be going to my friend Staci's during the Christmas season.

Each year her mom would begin her annual Christmas baking and

put them in jars on their mantle

for all of us to enjoy.

I'm not talking about a jar of cookies.

I mean the WHOLE mantel was covered with these jars!

I always hoped to be invited over during the holiday so

I could sneak one (or two or three or four) of the delicious goodies

Mrs Sheila had baked.
This year the tradition lived on

and the girls and I were invited over to

enjoy some of Mrs Sheila's yummy cookies & candies.

Crista waiting patiently for her goodies.

She chose peanut butter balls and a sugar cookie.

Watch out Zachary...

Crista's on the prowl :-)

All the kids had a blast.

I mean, who wouldn't.

Did you see those jars of goodies?!

Even though Addie Grace didn't eat any of the goodies,

she loved being with the big kids.

Papaw & Mamaw also came for a visit this month!

We had a great time and

packed in so much while they were here.

A church in Savannah does a huge production called

The Journey .

It was amazing and brought Jesus' birth to life
as we became characters in the story.

Click here to read more about it.
We also celebrated Christmas while they were down.

I think its safe to say that was Crista's favorite part of their visit.

The presents.

Another confirmation that she's a normal 4 year old!

Addie was still unsure of what to do with her gifts.

I think she tasted each one before opening them

Crista knew what to do

and there was a storm of wrapping paper that flew

as she unwrapped each gift.

She's a mad woman when it comes to opening gifts (and there were many to open!)

But her absolute favorite gift is one she's been asking for

for a while.

A camera.

A REAL camera.

And her reasoning behind this want...

and I quote, "So I can go on photoshoots with you Mama!"

I love this girl!!

And for the rest of the day

every picture of Crista looks just like this :-)

I think she may have the "eye" for it too.

You should see some of the pics she has taken!

I'm super proud and glad we have this commonality!

Thank you Papaw & Mamaw for another wonderful Christmas!

We miss you already

and can't wait for your next visit :-)

Crista has been practicing very hard each Sunday evening for months now

for the church's Christmas program.

Everyone did a great job and they were so cute up there singing!

I wasn't sure how Crista would do

since her personality doesn't really lend itself to this kind of thing.

She usually gets very quiet, refusing to smile or sing, and almost always

ending up abandoning the ranks to join me on the sidelines.

But Crista is definitely growing up.

She not only stayed the whole time up there, but she sang AND did the motions.

Still didn't smile but that's ok. 

Progress!

Crista was a star

and after the program

she demanded that we call her "Star".

Uncle Marcus & Miss Ashlie came to see Crista perform.

Crista was so excited to see them both.

Thanks for coming.

It meant the world to Crista!

Daddy & Mama with their bright star.

We love her SOOOOOOOO much!!!

Christmas morning came with a flurry of excitement.

Addie woke up early (around 6am)

but Crista slept in and we had to wake her up!

Crista didn't take long to jump out of the bed,

ready to see what was left for her in the living room.

Addie loved her gift from Santa

and seeing what was in her stocking.

Crista helping her little sister open the gift she gave her.

It was a baby camera.

Seems to be a theme around here :-)
But Crista picked it out herself and knew Addie would love it!

Crista asked for two things for Christmas,

a guitar and a real kitty cat.

I'm sorry to say she did not get the guitar

but Santa thought Crista would like a doll house better.

She also got lots of other great toys that she was super excited about

Crista opened each of her gifts and then said,

"I though Santa would bring me a cat."

She was a little disappointed that she didn't get one.

Shortly after that we noticed a letter in the tree with Crista's name on it.

She opened it and it was from Santa.

It was a clue to one last present but she had to find it!

Santa took Crista all over the house and even outside to Da & Grandma's.

When we got to Da & Grandma's she found her very own cat, Furball.

We brought it back home in the carrier

and Crista was so excited to play with Furball.

Unfortunately, the second Jake opened the carrier, little Furball bolted

and we haven't seen him since :-(

Crista was so sad but we told her when Uncle Walter's cats have another litter of kittens

we'll get one of them.

I'm hoping getting a young kitten will work out better for us.

We still keep food out for Furball

but I'm pretty sure we won't be seeing him again.

So if you wanted to see a picture of Crista with her new kitty cat on Christmas morning,

you're just plum out of luck.

Just imagine this picture of Crista and Furball was on Christmas instead!

After all the cat drama,

we came inside to hot, homemade cinnamon rolls.

They were SO yummy!!

For lunch we went over to Mama's

and Crista & Uncle Marcus watched the Disney Christmas Parade.

And then it was on to the presents!

This time Addie refrained from eating the gifts.

She was too intrigued with the wrapping paper.

She liked to tear each piece into a million tiny pieces.

Crista wanted to up the excitement

so she closed her eyes while opening presents.

For Supper we had the whole family over.

We had a great meal and played a rousing game of Dirty Santa.

Cousin Chase actually shares his birthday with Jesus

so I made a peppermint ice cream cake for his birthday.

We have lots of December birthday's in our family so I stuck in one candle

for each person with a December birthday.

6 total!

So there it is, our December in review.

It was busy, but it was great!!