Love is... CHRISTmas

Christmas brings alot of different emotions. Excitement, caring, giving, loving, sharing. But sometimes I catch myself being negative... with the hectic schedule, attempting "fairness", spending too much money. Priorities and prospective I'm reminded of.
Bottomline, it's a time of year that I get to spend the most time with my family. And that, is love.
We went to Chattanooga with the Summers/Pounders/Carroll families the weekend before Christmas. We had a wonderful lodge overlooking downtown. Brian, Ava & I had the "basement" level... I affectionately named the "basement bungalow". We spent a day downtown at their riverfront carousel & dinner at Sticky Fingers. We also went on a train ride, which was a big hit. We have Christmas tradition where my brother-in-law reads the Christmas story & my dad says the Christmas prayer. My sister makes this amazing breakfast, her homemade biscuits included! Then we let all the kids open their gifts first, they get to play while the adults open their gifts. It seems to work out great for all.
Christmas day we stay at our home & Brian's mom is there for the morning festivities. Big breakfast where chocolate gravy is a tradition. Ava took a bit of time to get excited that morning, but once she started opening gifts, she loved it. We are all about "less is more". Her "big" gift was an art easel.
New Years around the corner, we are up in the mountains of Gatlinburg with friends. I love vacations and am so thankful that we are blessed to be able to "go and go". I joke that Ava has seen more of God's country in her 2 years, then I did before being an adult. It's nice to be able to enjoy all these firsts with her.
Happy 2010 to all!!