Santa Definitely Came!

Disclosure: LOTS OF PICTURES (This is for you, Jay)

Derrick and I are very lucky to be able to see both of our families for each holiday. Our families only live about an hour and a half apart so it's easy to share time. For the last few years we have spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Derrick's family. He has young cousins that are up bright and early so it made sense to enjoy Christmas with them and then head to Hickory to do Christmas with my family that afternoon.  This year we switched things up so we could enjoy Christmas Eve with my family. 

I love being home for Christmas. Mom always has the house decorated so beautifully!

 

This year the whole family came over for Christmas Eve dinner. We had delicious peppermint martinis, ate amazing food, and played some games late into the night.

 Family Feud got heated but the girls ended up winning...obviously.

Mom and I stayed up late wrapping so by the time I got to bed I was exhausted. I remember when it used to be so hard to fall asleep on Christmas night! It's nice to have the issue behind me :) The next morning all the kids waited at the top of the stairs to come down and see what Santa brought. You never get too old for that.

Santa was very good to us this year!

Here's a bunch of pictures of the day!

That right there is pure joy over a new magazine subscription :)

Derrick bought me a beautiful watch that I'm excited to get sized tonight!

 These were from my Grandma. They were her Russian nesting dolls and I LOVE them! I am excited to pass them down to my daughter one day and tell her who they came from.

It was a great morning full of lots of laughter and love. Gifts are fun and exciting to open but my favorite part is enjoying the time with my family. It reminds me how lucky I am. I am also reminded how lucky I am that my family has so seamlessly included Derrick into our little world. We're a tight knit group and I love that they love him just as much as I do!

Alright, enough sap. Back to the gifts amiright? Here's our cutest present :)

Everything was opened and Dad said he had one more gift (dramatic pause) and it was for Jay. Hidden behind the little Santa next to the fireplace in a little velvet bag.
 

Do you see Mom in the background of this picture crying? Yeah, that's because it was a complete surprise to her too. Dad had wrapped up the key to his new-to-him Acura and gifted it to Jay. He took back Jay's old Explorer (named Gump) and gave Jay a more reliable car and everybody was shocked! No one was as shocked as Jay though.

I have so much respect for both of my parents. They are the true example of hard-work. They both worked extremely hard and had their fair share of trials to get where they are today. My mom turned to my dad and said "You love that car!" and my Dad, without hesitation said "Yeah, but I love him more".  Dad is so selfless and enjoys taking any opportunity he has to share everything he has worked so hard for with his family and my Mom was crying happy tears at the surprise because she has that exact same mentality. Sometimes I feel guilty about how blessed I am.

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas too! Derrick's side of the family is up to bat next!