Christmas Vacation

Well, I know I'm a little late with this blog, but we were a LITTLE busy over Christmas. We left on Friday, December 18th when I got off work. First stop: Nashville. We arrived in time to catch the end of the dinner party with Chris, Pat, and Ann Wood (family friends of the Wrights). It was fun to see them and to visit for a little while. Saturday we enjoyed another Christmas party at the Wright house, this time with the Gillilands. Since we have lived in Memphis, Craig and I have never made this party, so we were excited to be there. We met baby Connor and enjoyed spending time with all of the Gillilands. On Sunday, Craig and his dad went to the Titans game. I decided to do some last minute shopping since it was so cold. Sunday night Charlie, Ashley, and Gentry came over for dinner. It was fun to spend some time with Craig's family.

On Monday, we left Nashville and headed to Florence. We were having Christmas with my mom's side of the family that night. It was the first year without my Aunt Cathy, which was hard. She always gave my sister and I a Christmas ornament for our birthdays, so we decided to start a new tradition of giving her granddaughters an ornament. Christmas was her favorite holiday!! One of the most touching moments (for me) was that my uncle remembered my aunt's tradition and gave me an ornament. I was not expecting it, and I appreciated his thoughtfulness. It was a fun night with my Spivey cousins. On Tuesday, we had a Tea Party with my Grandma and her great-granddaughters. The little girls had so much fun at the party and dressing up like princesses. I was glad I could be a part of the special day.

On Wednesday, we went back to Nashville. Things start to get a little blurry here because of all the travels back and forth. I can't remember all the details but I will share the highlights. Christmas Eve was spent in Nashville with Craig's family. We were very blessed that Charlie did not get paged and were able to all enjoy Christmas together. It was Gentry's first Christmas, and he loved opening his presents!! He is so cute and such a sweet baby!!

We left Nashville Christmas morning to go back to Florence to spend the day with my family. As many of you know, my birthday is on Christmas. Although I haven't always enjoyed this, I am thankful that I am able to spend time with my WHOLE family on my birthday. They always make it special and try to separate the two. We enjoyed a great day with my Grandma, Mom, Dad, Adam, Luke, Laura, and Bethany.

Saturday we went back to Nashville for Christmas with the Wrights (Craig's dad's side of the fam). We usually make it to Thanksgiving or Christmas each year, so we were glad to see most everyone this year. We went back to Florence that night to spend a few more days with my family.

Sunday-Wednesday was spent in Florence. We enjoyed hanging out with my family and playing plenty of games. Monday night I went to dinner with some of the bestest friends in the world. I have been blessed with amazing friends and each year we get together for a Christmas dinner. Melissa, Codi, Elizabeth, and I have been friends forever. We don't get to see each other as much as we would like but we always pick up like it was yesterday. Mary Brook, we missed you and hope you will be home next year!!

The rest of the break was spent in Gatlinburg with Craig's family. It was very relaxing. We stayed in our pajamas pretty much everyday. That is my kind of trip!! We had fun playing the arcade games, watching movies in the movie room, and hanging out.

I know that was a very LONG post, but I wanted to share what we did for the holidays. We were very blessed with safety, with time spent with family and friends, and with generous gifts. Thank you to everyone who made our holiday special!!