A Tale of Four Christmases - #4

Christmas #3 was with my (Cathy's) extended family and I'm waiting on a few photos before sharing that post. So we'll move to the 4th and final Christmas celebration. We left Brandon, MS on Sun 12/23 and used that beloved 2-3 hour naptime to travel to Baton Rouge to see Jeff's parents and brother. Typically we also meet Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Bob (Charlotte, NC) there but due to health reasons, they were unable to travel. We piped them in via Skype though and it was pretty close to having them there. So thankful for many offerings of modern technology, especially in this case! We enjoyed a restful and enjoyable 5 days there. We didn't really pump Santa this year because when Claire saw Santa in person a few weeks ago, she hit the roof in utter fear! We plan to acknowledge him and have fun but try to ensure she's taught about Christ primarily. So we started our Christmas morning with the 3 of us in her room reading the Christmas story from her Bible and down for breakfast. We enjoyed having a relaxed morning of exchanging gifts where there was no short of gifts for Claire. We tried once again to let her know that she was getting gifts because people loved her and she was giving gifts to others because she loved them. She wanted to open and play with each item she got. See the below slideshow for highlights. Grandmommy and Grandaddy gave her a Minnie Mouse battery powered car, of which you'll see in the video she had tons of fun with. It made packing for the trip home a bit tricky though. Thankfully they are coming in about 3 weeks and will bring some things with them we had to leave behind. The rest of the week was fun times together of riding the carousel at the mall, playing with her gifts, and giving mommy and daddy a date night where we enjoyed dessert fondue at Melting Pot and an overnight stay in Baton Rouge. I read in a book for a solid hour, which has not happened in I don't know when! What a treat! It was a fun conversation of reflecting back on all that had happened in 2012 - highlights and lowlights...all build character right?! :)) All I know is that Claire adores all her family, but there is something special when Uncle Bobby is around! We are back home and getting settled from our Tale or Tour of Four Chrismtases, depending on how you look at it! Merry Christmas to all and let's get ready for 2013!