Christmas Day

Christmas morning was slow and relaxed and wonderful! Mom found vintage Christmas outfits in her store for everybody to wear so that explains Jack's silk pajamas. 

And the mannequin head holding the santa hat. Welcome to a Williams Christmas.

Can anyone leave their stockings hanging on the mantle once they are stuffed? That seems impossible. Ours always end up on the couch.

We had to keep Crosby from opening the presents. She'll actually open them and she'll go after other people's if we don't keep an eye on her.

Real Ferrari glasses from an estate sale. They fold into the size of that case in Jay's hand.

Socks for Christmas. Obviously, fist pump worthy.

There was a lot of deception going on this Christmas. We've been told we go big for Christmas and it's true...  Jay received this scope early on and wasn't sure what to think of it at first.

Dad sent mom on a scavenger hunt through the house in order to earn her big gift.

One of my favorite gifts was this Crosby ramp for the dock! Mom and Dad's house is on a pretty steep incline and Crosby doesn't have easy access to the lake. She loves to swim though so Dad and Jack built her a ramp that will connect to the dock that she can easily get in and out of the lake on. It was so thoughtful and I can't for it to warm up!  Bear was only interested in the tennis ball footies.

Remember that scope that Jay got? He was re-gifted a BB gun and Dad made these amazing targets to shoot at in the backyard.

Dad and I each got a drone and we're still mastering flying them. Dad's first flight landed him in a neighbor's tree so, off he went to cut it out.

Has anyone tried these virtual reality goggles? They are hilarious and kind of scary! You have to buy into what you're watching but I was surprised by how well they actually worked.

Overall, it was decided it was one of our best Christmas' ever between the scavenger hunt, the BB gun targets, Crosby's ramp and....oh yeah... the ESCAPE ROOM!

Derrick and I pulled it off again! I'll give it it's own post tomorrow but Jay got a very familiar looking gift at the end of Christmas morning.

More Christmas Eve

I found more Christmas Eve pictures on my phone so I'm posting about Christmas Eve again! Christmas day will take more than one post so Christmas Eve can have two too. 

Mom and I had a wrapping party in the middle of the living room and it left the living room in complete chaos. We both enjoy wrapping though and, with a Christmas movie on in the background, it took no time at all. 

 Mom and Dad's house is so beautiful. We usually have a big Christmas Eve dinner with all of the cousins but most people decided not to travel in so it was just our family and three extended family members. The upside is we all fit at one table!

You try to get a nice picture of the kids in front of the tree... 

And the boys always ruin it....brothers....

 

We played a lot of Codenames which is a new favorite family game. My dad even likes it and he's not a big game guy. 

 

 Ok..next post will be Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Wow! What a Christmas! Derrick and I had a fabulous Christmas in Hickory with my family. We just got home and, while it's good to be home, I'm already missing the relaxed and unplugged atmosphere that comes with December 24, 25, and 26.

We missed seeing Derrick's family for Christmas but we love being able to facetime them and stay in touch that way. We'll be heading to Winston in January to celebrate with them.

Christmas eve was laid back with just the immediate family and my Aunt, Uncle, and cousin. We had a delicious meal, played games (codenames anyone? If you haven't heard of it, look it up and buy it!) and christmas carols where we struggled to remember the words and sing in tune.

We facetimed with Derrick's family and they let Ellie open the barn early while we were on facetime. She LOVED it and I was soo happy! It definitely made the 5 hours of shingling worth every minute.

Bonus perk, Elli fits inside.

I have so many pictures to sort through from Christmas morning. There was a lot of secret surprises happening so more posts to come! I hope you all had the best and merriest Christmas!

Wishing you a Golden Christmas!

Our Christmas cards should have arrived by now so it's outtake day! Our card last year was one of our best yet so it was pretty hard to think of something that would top a yoda Crosby. We had two options for big events this year...the Olympics and the election. 

We decided Crosby would look better in medals then she would in a toupee so here's where we landed!

Front

Back

We think Crosby just nailed it! Look at that golden smirk.

The props for this one were a little more intensive since I built the podium and made the medals but I think it was worth it.

My neighbors never have any idea what's going on in our garage so they couldn't have thought it was so weird when this popped up after a few hours of banging and sawing.

Derrick and I perched on our sides but it needed to be able to hold all of Crosby so she reluctantly tested it for me. She always gets this look in her eye when I finish a project and call her over.

Also..I'm not sure what it is about these screws but they are awesome! No pilot hole needed and they sink so they aren't sticking up all over the place.

I LOVE how Derrick got Morrisville and the Rio logo incorporated. I just transferred it to the podium and got to painting. Alison was in town that weekend so we spoiled the surprise so she could help me paint. She's very good at that type of stuff and I was happy to have the help.

Ok..Blooper time!

I could not get her to look at me. She was mad at me and didn't want to make eye contact.

Saddest olympian ever.

This next series is my favorite....Crosby is so over it and looks so embarrassed by us.

This one almost won because I think Derrick nailed his pose but Crosby ruined this one.

Happy to ambivalent to win gold, thrilled to win silver, and mad to win bronze.