Christmas 2016~ Part 1

Christmas 2016 was a whirlwind of fun! It's possible mama is still in recovery mode. Our Christmas was exciting, busy, and really special. We had the best time with our families and absolutely loved all of the celebrations we enjoyed. Here's my annual recap...

Part 1~

We always kick off Christmas with Terrell's side of the family on the 23rd, or Christmas Eve Eve as we like to call it. =) These cousins had tons of fun together!

We went over to Nana's and Pops' house Friday afternoon after Layton's nap and spent the whole evening there. The cousins played and then we ate our traditional Christmas Eve Eve meal of lasagna, salad, and garlic bread plus dessert. It's one of my favorite meals Terrell's mom makes. #deliciousness #weatesooogoodthisChristmas

After supper the kiddos were given instructions to head upstairs with their moms and get changed into new pjs and to remain in their respective rooms until they heard a knock at the door. The anticipation was great for my 3! Once they heard the knock at the door they ran downstairs and got to listen to Nana read a story about the birth of Jesus. This is a sweet (and entertaining) tradition every single year. =)

After the story the grands all went on a scavenger hunt with clues in search of pieces/characters to complete a nativity scene. They had so much fun on their hunt! And once all the pieces had been found they worked together to complete the scene. 

Since Nana and Pops gave big gifts this year to the grandkids that couldn't be wrapped, they only had 1 small gift to open at our family Christmas celebration. It was special gift handmade by Pops. So before opening their gift they all got in a picture with him. =)

He made each one of the grands a wooden, puzzle piece nativity scene! When you remove the pieces they can stand up in front of the stable to make a nativity scene but when it's time to put it up they fit back inside the stable like a puzzle. Each piece is initialed for each kid so they won't get mixed up. I know they will always love this special gift and that they will display it somewhere in their own homes one day at Christmas. 

Stair step cousins! Even though it was a little different not having lots of presents to open at Nana's and Pops' they had such a fun time celebrating Christmas with everyone.

After getting home and finally getting everyone in bed after a terrible meltdown by our littlest, we all crashed. And then we woke up to Christmas Eve and got ready for breakfast!

Before heading back over to Terrell's parents' house for our annual Christmas Eve breakfast we opened the last door on our Advent calendar and found Baby Jesus inside. The Greatest Gift.

Garrison read the verse for us and it was the perfect way to help us slow down and truly remember and give thanks for the Gift we've been given in Jesus.

Once we made our way across town it was time for breakfast! My side of the family is always invited to breakfast and it's just a special way to start off our Christmas Eve with both of our families together. Piper was our pre-meal entertainment and the cuteness was overflowing!

And my boys have become a little obsessed with picking Piper up now. #gracious #holdingmybreatheverytime #BECAREFUL

We had the BEST breakfast and such a great time together. This year Terrell's parents went with a waffle bar (YUM), plus grits, eggs, bacon, sausage, and hashbrown casserole. They did an amazing job! Everything was so good we were totally stuffed afterwards. Nobody needed lunch on Christmas Eve!!

The entire Selph fam!

The entire Garrison fam!

In the midst of our picture taking we were about to get a picture of our family of 5 when Frankie handed Piper to Terrell... so we took a picture with our 6th little member.... and Layton was done and Austin was in a TOTAL daze. Hahahaha! This picture makes me laugh! Garrison is still ever photogenic and Terrell and I were cracking up. #mysquintyeyes Oh memories. PS... A Party of 6 sure looks tempting.... and a little crazy! =)

And this is the best we could do. Clearly Austin was out of it. Ha!

We had an amazing 1st half of Christmas! I tried to be really intentional about enjoying it and soaking it up. My babies are growing fast and I had more than one moment of feeling pretty emotional over my blessings and the speed of time. So thankful for the fun we enjoyed and the memories we made! (And a place to document it all!!)

Christmas 2016~ Part 2 is coming up!