It's Christmas Time, pretty Baby!

For Christmas, we headed to Abilene to see my mom! And guess what surprise there was Christmas eve morning!?!? SNOW!! We had a real white Christmas in who knows how long! Josh grew up with lots of snow in St. Louis & Chicago, but us Abilenians get real excited when it snows!

"It's a Christmas miracle!!"

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas..."

In my {meese} pants!

The Christmas spread @ Mom's

We loooooooove the Targets.

Andrew & Cari.

This was Cari's first time to see snow!

Another Christmas miracle!!

Katie loved her yellow flower from Cari!

Opening presents!

looking.grood. i mean good. i mean great.

family portrait 2009.

more like it.

Josh dressed up as a Christmas tree. Naturally.

Every Christmas Eve we have lunch with my grandmother in Tuscola. This year, we had to battle the elements to make it to Christmas. What should have been a 20 minute drive turned into an hour journey. Halfway there, we passed a car stuck on the highway. My bro helped get the car back on the road and on their way. Another Christmas miracle.

Lots o' snow. Luckily, Lindsay was not in our car. Word has it she was freaking out in the car with Mom & Drew. Mom likened driving in a blizzard to driving in a snow globe. Words to live by.

Snow at Granny-ma's.

Josh & Aunt Jill all decked out in Christmas spirit.

Me & Father Christmas.

Drew post tackle from Jason. He had it coming. He knew it. She knew it. We all knew it.

Jumping for Joy for Snow!

I love snow AND my husband. Win-Win situation

Linz & I in our MEESE pants.

It's a wonderful life, indeed.

"You are RUINING Christmas!"

So my sister is a teacher and has a student in class that gives her a run for her money. One day they were decorating Christmas ornaments and the little kid unraveled his string to hang the ornament. My sister told him that she didn't have any more string, and he promptly had a melt-down, screaming at my sister that "YOU ARE RUINING CHRISTMAS."

This became our Christmas chant anytime something happened. For example:

"Andrew, your dog peed on my carpet. YOU ARE RUINING CHRISTMAS!"

"We are out of milk. CHRISTMAS IS RUINED!"

"10 minutes waiting in Wendy's drive-thru... CHRISTMAS IS RUINED"

Anyways... to kick off the Christmas holidays, my family came to stay at our house for a night. Andrew and his girlfriend, Cari, drove in from Florida and Matt, Katie & my dad also came. We finished last minute Christmas shopping, ate dinner at the River Walk, and played some Wii. Fun times were had by all.

Andrew & Matt playing Wii.

Drew beat Matt. Which is pretty funny since Matthew has always been the "gamer" in our family. Right, Matt?

Drew & Cari's dog, Wilco. Such an awesome dog.

Linz & Steven at the River Walk.

Drew & Cari

Josh & Morgan

Matt & Katie

Smith Clan

the Girls.

Re-creating one of our first pictures together...

love the lights.

the end.

O Tannenbaum O Tannenbaum!

So I am a firm believer in having a real Christmas tree. I love the smell & everything about it! I also love going to pick out the perfect tree with Josh... it is one of my most favorite holiday traditions!

Josh scoping out the prospects.

Me being cold.

So many choices.

Josh picked the winner. I must admit... I had my doubts. But in the end, it was the best tree ever. A true Christmas miracle.

Me still cold.

Josh & I have different Christmas tree decorating philosophies. I love LOTS of ornaments... the more the better. Josh gets concerned when there are more than 7 ornaments. Fortunately, Lindsay lives with us and I had her vote. Josh was outnumbered by the Smith sisters once again!

Finally finished!

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."

And here is the final result of my Christmas decorations. I finally bought Josh & I's stockings... I absolutely adore them! The black bear is my stocking from when I was little. When my mom was pregnant with me, the doctors said I was going to be a boy. So my mom went ahead and bought me a boy stocking before I was born. But... surprise! I was a girl! My mom just kept my boy bear stocking and put a bow in its hair. I love it. Now it is Charlee Bear's stocking!

Merry Christmas!

love,

J&M